Slipping Joe Biden needs to take the same approach as LBJ did and drop out

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on lowering prices for American families during an event at the YMCA Allard Center, Monday, March 11, 2024, in Goffstown, New Hampshire. AP

Joe Biden is toast.

The only choice he has is the timing of his announcement that he will not seek re-election.

In short order, the calls for him to quit the race went from a whisper to a shout — and the clamor is still growing.

That’s how bad his debate performance was.

It’s also how much the left hates and fears Donald Trump.

The Biden death blow came from The New York Times editorial board, which serves as the Enforcement Arm of the Democratic Party.

The Times, after more than three years of shamefully defending Biden’s corruption and pretending not to see his cognitive decline and the damage he has done to America, finally tossed him overboard, saying he should quit the race for the good of the country.

The good of the country in this case has nothing to do with fixing Biden’s failed polices.

The Times isn’t worried about the impact of millions of illegal immigrants who crossed the open border, inflation eating up family budgets or the dangerous march of the new Axis of Evil.

The Times only cares about the chance that Trump could be elected.

Stopping him is all that matters.

This mania wraps itself in the banner of protecting democracy, but Biden and the left are doing more damage to democracy than Trump could do in 10 lifetimes.

By using the Justice Department and the courts to try to bankrupt and imprison him, Dems reveal that defending democracy is just a talking point.

Indeed, the push to get Biden off the ticket ignores the will of millions of primary voters who picked him as the party’s nominee.

Democracy, you see, is bubba bait for little people that can be tossed overboard when it’s inconvenient for the ruling class.

Notice, too, no single name is being floated to replace Biden.

Would any of the also-rans make a better candidate or a better president?

Who knows?

The Trump-haters will rally around a dead raccoon if they think it can win the White House.

It’s understandable that the president and his Lady Macbeth are saying no, hell no, to the nasty offer of a bum’s rush.

Still, their position isn’t tenable.

Give them time, days or weeks, at most a month, and Biden will be gone from the race.

Bet on it.

Even the Titanic didn’t sink immediately.

In Biden’s case, falling polls and fundraising problems will be the final proof that he’s dug himself a hole he can’t escape.

He does, however, have one big card to play: If he’s pushed too hard, he can threaten to
resign immediately, making Kamala Harris president.

Yikes!

The shrieks and groans of horror would instantly win Biden a respectful exit plan from the race.

For now, the White House is trying to save him by trotting out Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to urge the faithful to ride out the storm.

Biden tried to make his case in a Friday speech.

“I know I am not a young man,” he said, and later: “I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down, you get back up.”

Of course, somebody wrote those words and he read them off a teleprompter.

And he was shielded from media questions — a perfect summary of what he’s done since taking office.

Can’t be unseen

The problem is that his wax museum, deathlike debate appearance is not something the public can unsee.

He was incoherent and often inaudible, and at one point weirdly declared, “We finally beat Medicare.”

And his errors — millions became billions, which became trillions — and false claims, such as that the border agents union endorsed him and no soldiers died on his watch, were not an aberration.

They were par for his lying course.

Biden’s mental and physical decline have visibly increased since taking office, and there is no reason to believe the process will stop.

He’s survived politically only because aides minimized his public appearances, and a compliant media — led by the Times, CNN and the broadcast networks — pretended not to see the truth, lest it help Trump.

That’s not journalism. It’s political activism.

Just think of how many times aides walked back something Biden said, including his call for regime change in Russia and vowing to send the US military to defend Taiwan.

Hiding him was getting harder as his condition worsened and as the campaign heated up.

Lately, aides reverted to ridiculous claims that unedited videos of his shaky wanderings were “cheap fakes.”

The debate performance ends any hope of selling those lies.

The man is spent and the prospect that he could be president for nearly five more years is absurd.

The seven months left in his term are frightening enough.

Suppose he has a debate-like frozen spell during a national security emergency.

What then?

More likely he already has, and that explains some odd behavior.

Why did he let that Chinese spy balloon float cross America’s heartland, sucking up vital data?

And why has Biden flip-flopped repeatedly on support for Israel, confusing allies and adversaries?

Fortunately, there is a roadmap out the door and into retirement.

Johnson gives a roadmap for Biden if the president decides to not seek re-election. AP

It was forged by Lyndon Johnson and Biden should do the right thing and follow it.

LBJ is one of the most accomplished presidents ever, with his remarkable record on civil rights putting him in a class of one.

But he also knew when to step aside.

His popularity destroyed by the war in Vietnam, Johnson bowed out of his re-election campaign in late March of 1968.

A classy exit

Coming at the end of a speech about his devotion to a resolution of the war, Johnson shocked a TV audience by declaring: “Accordingly, I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president.”

The two situations are not identical, but there are enough similarities for Biden to make the same decision.

For one thing, Johnson’s health was wrecked, and he was sicker than most people knew.

For another, he had worn out his welcome with his party and was being challenged for the nomination by Sens. Eugene McCarthy and Robert F. Kennedy.

Third, the nation was in turmoil and Johnson didn’t have the goodwill or political capital to bridge the divide.

The only substantive difference is that Biden has effectively secured his party’s nomination.

Although there are hurdles to releasing his delegates, it can happen if he and the party want it to.

The only other hurdles are his willingness and that of First Lady Jill Biden.

My guess is that when post-debate polls show Trump adding to his lead in battleground states and putting more blue states in play, close associates will tell both Bidens there is no chance of winning another term.

Obama’s voice will be crucial and he won’t defer to his former veep if he believes Trump will win and Republicans will take Congress.

The clock is ticking.