This is not a sport
If a candidate should drop out for the good of the country, it's the one who watched as his supporters attacked law enforcement officers and hunted members of Congress. Period.
I didn’t watch it - I couldn’t bring myself to. Debates like that one are traps for sensationalist rhetoric and, worse, they replace a focus on substance with our national obsessions with performative entertainment.
I also chose not to read most of the post-debate panic-mongering. Coverage of campaigns this important should be so much more than “who looked best? who is raising the most money? who has the lead in the polls of swing voters in three states that could make a difference?” That kind of reporting does a huge disservice to the democratic process.
This is not sport, conducted for entertainment’s sake. Voters are being asked to decide which vision of our country they support, and should be given plenty of opportunities to understand the candidate’s true plans. One candidate has been leading a government for the last three years and its accomplishments are available for all to see. If editorial boards want “stronger candidates,” they should ensure their news outlets explain these outcomes of low unemployment, higher wages, stabilized inflation, protection of Dreamers, and a rules-based international order with depth and clarity.
Meanwhile, the candidate whose Project 2025 outlines plans for dismantling most of the governmental structures that protect people and the environment, stripping more rights from women and couples, and focusing on loyalty above all else; the candidate whose debate performance was (when the word salad was decipherable) full of lies and misinformation; the candidate who watched on television for hours while his supporters violently attacked law enforcement officers, hunted for elected representatives, and dumped garbage at the Capitol, all following his lies that the election of 2020 was not legitimate, that is the candidate who should drop out.
Period.
Be safe and well, never lose heart, and focus on the work that must be done to keep our democracy alive.
