Francesca Rudkin: The Democrats need to make a move on replacing Biden now

2024 is a fascinating year for democracy, with more than 80 countries holding elections. It’s the biggest election year in global history.

Roughly half the world’s population will have the opportunity to cast a vote in local, regional, legislative and presidential elections.

Democracy is being tested as countries deal with voter apathy, attempts to suppress opposition groups and the impact of sophisticated disinformation campaigns. Many of these election results are not just important locally, the impact will be felt across the world’s complicated web of geo-political linkages, issues and tensions.

Elections have already been held in places such as South Africa, India, and Taiwan, with interesting results, and this Thursday the UK goes to the polls, where it’s predicted the Labour Party will return to 10 Downing Street for the first time in 14 years.

But the big show, the one capturing global audiences. is the US Presidential Election – which doesn’t even take place until November.

Even if you didn’t watch the Trump-Biden debate on Friday afternoon, you have surely heard all about it. After 20 minutes of watching Biden stumble his way through answers with a frail voice and meandering train of thought, and looking at his podium as though desperately seeking answers or direction, I felt uncomfortable watching the train wreck and could feel the panic rising within the Democratic Party from my couch in Auckland.

We knew what this debate would be and how it would unfold. We knew it would involve the current President defending his record, attacking his opponent’s character, and most importantly, confirming his mental acuity.

Biden’s team called this debate, and set the rules. Struggling in the polls and constantly having to answer concerns about his age and ability to lead for another 4 years, they decided to debate early and calm all those fears.

So, it all came down to performance and delivery. Neither candidate shone. Trump’s performance was full of bluster and inaccuracies. He struggled to answer questions and at times made no sense.

But Biden had a even worse day. This has sent the Democratic Party into a spin, and rightly so - if you weren’t concerned about Biden’s mental capacity a couple of days ago, you surely are now.

Post-Friday’s debate, President Biden and his team have been doing everything they can to demonstrate he still has the energy and capacity to lead. But the damage is done. Biden got the job to beat Trump in the November election largely because he has done it before.

The Democrats may need to widen the job requirements. Replacing the Biden ticket is not something the Democrats will do lightly, and it can only be done if Biden steps down – but it surely must be considered now.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from newstalksb SO.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Twenty twenty four is a fascinating year for democracy, with
more than eighty countries holding elections. It is the biggest
election year in global history, so roughly half the world's
population will have the opportunity to cast a vote in local, regional,
legislative or presidential elections. Democracy is being tested as countries

(00:33):
deal with voter apathy, attempts to suppress opposition groups, and
the impact of sophisticated disinformation campaigns. Many of these election
results are not just important locally, the impact will be
felt across the world's complicated web of geopolitical linkages, issues,
and tensions. Elections have already been held in places such

(00:54):
as South Africa and India and Taiwan with interesting results,
and this Thursday, the UK goes to the polls, where
it's predicted the Labor Party will return to number ten
for the first time in fourteen years. But the big show,
the one capturing global audiences, is the US presidential election,
which doesn't even take place until November. Even if you

(01:17):
didn't watch the Trump Biden debate on Friday, afternoon, you've
surely heard about it. After twenty minutes watching Biden stumble
his way through answers with a frail voice and meandering
train of thought, and looking at his podium as though
desperately seeking answers or direction, I felt uncomfortable watching this
train wreck and could feel the panic rising within the

(01:39):
Democratic Party. From my couch in Auckland, we knew what
this debate would be in Heartwood Unfold. We knew it
would involve the current president defending his record, attacking his
opponent's character, and most importantly, confirming his mental acuity. Biden's
team called this debate and set the rules. Struggling in

(02:00):
the polls and constantly having to answer concerns about his
age and ability to lead for another four years, they
decided to early and calm all those fears. So it
all came down to performance and delivery. Neither candidate Sean
Trump's performance was full of bluster and inaccuracies. He struggled
to answer questions and at time made no sense. But

(02:22):
Biden had an even worse day. This has sent the
Democratic Party into a spin, and rightly so. If you
weren't concerned about Biden's mental capacity a couple of days ago.
You surely are now. Post Friday's debate, President Biden and
his team have been doing everything they can to demonstrate
he still has the energy and capacity to lead, but
the damage is done. Biden got the job to beat

(02:44):
Trump in the November election largely because he's done it before.
The Democrats may need to widen the job requirements. Replacing
Biden on the ticket is not something the Democrats will
do lightly, and it can only be done if Biden
steps down, but surely it must be done now.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it Be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio