Is it time to take President Biden's keys?

If you have an elderly parent, you know this conversation. Except Biden has the keys to America-for now.

It’s the “time to take the car keys” conversation.

Anyone who has an elderly parent or relative they care for knows what this conversation is. Usually after a bad wreck, or parking badly, or some type of medical episode while driving, the dreaded conversation occurs.

“We need to take your keys. You can’t drive anymore.”

It’s usually very traumatic. Recriminations. Tears. Guilt. Sometimes, you steal the car in the middle of the night and hide it. (don’t ask)

The conversation about President Biden dropping out of the race is exactly this. People who care about him, the election and the party are all making the noises you make when you want to take those keys, lock them up, and park the car someplace where your loved one can’t get to it. Except these keys are the keys to America.

Worse, the keys may be the keys that keep democracy going, or the keys that will be turned over to someone who DEFINITELY should NOT be driving. A person who is a reckless driver, and may give the keys over to the Heritage foundation and Putin.

I have been watching this conversation about Biden with great interest, consternation, and sadness. I met him in March of this year. I even wrote a substack about it.  He seemed sharp and witty to me on St Patricks’s day, and I didn’t have any doubts about his fitness then.

Since the debate, he seems deflated. Every mistake, every time he confuses a name, we all shrink a little. We all know what it feels like to be badgered, to be taken apart in front of everyone. I watched the press conference, and I cringed every time he stumbled or stuttered, or wandered a bit when answering the questions.

I don’t know what the right answer here is, but I know I am afraid for all of us, but I also don’t want a dictator on day one.

Here’s the other thing.

Every democratic voter should be part of the conversation. But we can’t. Delegates are already pledged to Biden. If the decides not to run, then there would be an open convention in August. You and I (unless you’re a delegate) won’t have a say in that. Which brings up the other problem with taking the keys.

Everyone must agree the keys need to be taken. Right now, that’s not the case. We’re hearing from George Clooney, Nancy Pelosi, Democrats, and every pundit about whether he should stay in the race. But those of us outside the press and the beltway don’t have a say. That leads me to talk about the last thing, and the only thing that is important in this race.

Democracy.

Democracy is on the ballot, as they say, and there is reason to think given Project 2025 and the RNC party platform, that democracy will not be a major concern for a Trump administration, and the policies they hope to enact will erode it even more.

For Democrats, the fact that voters didn’t have a contested primary, is troubling. Now, dealing with a candidate who is being diminished every day brings a new sleepless night.

There is a distinct possibility Democrats may repeat 1968 all over again. President Johnson decided in March 1968 not to run for office because of the unpopularity of the Vietnam war. Less than a month later Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in April 1968. Riots broke out across the country. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in June 1968, and in August 1968 the contentious  and violent Democratic convention happened. The Democratic nominee, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, lost to Richard Nixon.

We are. again, at a crossroads in America. Violence surrounding election cycles is not normal, but is also not an anomaly in America. It can happen again. While we are having an important conversation about taking the keys, the whole car could be taken. Except in this case, the car is America, and we are heading down a dangerous highway in the back seat, while the folks up front are arguing about who should drive.