The great American ship of state has been righted. Go out on deck and look at the waves. They are choppy, but not deep red.
Votes are still being counted, though, and when it’s all over, we will still have a politically divided country. And there is still plenty to bail out of the boat: inflation, crime, immigration, energy issues, voting rights, assault weapons, and what happens with abortion.
The division is actually a little worse than before, with the House of Representatives likely to fall under Republican control. The saving grace is that in the House, there is no filibuster. Whether Kevin McCarthy becomes Speaker is an open question, but whoever that is will have to unite a deeply fractured caucus. Republicans may be cheering the expected ouster of Democrat Nancy Pelosi from the Speaker’s chair, but she was really good at herding cats, as they say, and she had years to perfect that skill.
Looming over much of this, of course, is Donald Trump. But I think the election demonstrated clearly that his light is fading, Soon, there may only be enough left of it to brighten the walls of a prison cell, either a federal one, or one in Georgia. Ironically, if there is a second Civil War, that’s the state where it will be fought, via the runoff for an important US Senate seat.
What of President Biden? You have heard me on this topic before, but to repeat, it’s my view that he should not run for a second term. I say that in the spirit that he should quit while he’s ahead, and he is definitely ahead, having accomplished arguably more than any of his recent predecessors. Yes, he has made some mistakes, but what President hasn’t?
The other reason I think he should step aside for 2024 is that it will take the steam out of any investigations a Republican-led House may have in mind for him or any drive for impeachment. His son Hunter’s activities will be old news. Biden wouldn’t be resigning. He will still be around for two more years, and not forced to please anyone just for the sake of re-election.
Such a decision by Mr. Biden – and perhaps another, to stay away from endorsing a successor -- would open the door to new Democratic talent, and there is plenty of it available, as the midterm elections have shown us. That goes for the Republicans too, by the way. Our ship can’t just float. It’s time to start charting a new course and get underway.
