Democracy-loving Americans must rally behind Biden | READER COMMENTARY
Will McCorkle’s recent commentary (“I was in D.C. on Jan. 6th; Biden must drop out to save our republic,” May 22) submits that, based on his first-hand observations of Jan. 6, 2021, a second Donald Trump presidency would be devastating to America. He warns that our “democratic republic will be that in name only” as Trump “cements his power” and “destroys any checks and balances built into the system”.
The writer therefore concludes that Trump is so unfit for office and a such a dangerous threat to our democracy that there is only one logical response: President Joe Biden should drop out of the race. No, that’s not a typo. He is not calling for Trump to drop out, but that Biden should step aside because “a Biden win is off the table.”
This is just one more of a long series of commentaries all reaching the same conclusion. Biden is down in polls so “to preserve democracy” he must quit. But these articles all have one glaring omission. They never offer who should run in Biden’s place. If you want to propose that Biden should step down because he is behind in some early polls, then aren’t you obligated to recommend an alternative?
In my opinion, Biden was the only viable candidate capable of defeating Trump in 2020. He appealed to the democratic base, while attracting independent voters who longed for a less chaotic president. The same is true today.
If Professor McCorkle is being sincere in his desire to preserve democracy, he should stop equivocating Trump-generated chaos with the legitimate troubles in our world today. Smart people like the professor should be rallying to support Biden’s reelection efforts. They should be educating the electorate that the economy is strong, inflation is in retreat without the widely predicted recession and that President Biden is using his vast experience to walk the fine line of attempting to ease the suffering in Gaza while simultaneously supporting an important national ally in Israel.
— Mitch Vitullo, Columbia
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