AP – Even though United States (US) President Joe Biden won’t be on the ballot this November, voters still will be weighing his legacy.
As Vice President Kamala Harris moves to take his place as the Democratic standard-bearer, Biden’s accomplishments remain very much at risk should Republican Donald Trump prevail.
How Biden’s single term – and his decision to step aside – are remembered will be intertwined with Harris’ electoral success in November, particularly as the vice president runs tightly on the achievements of the Biden administration.
Biden had an opportunity to make a case for his legacy – sweeping domestic legislation, renewal of alliances abroad, defense of democracy – yesterday when he delivered an Oval Office address about his decision to bow out of the race and “what lies ahead”.
And no matter how frustrated Biden is at being pushed aside by his party – and he’s plenty upset – he has too much at stake simply to wash his hands of this election.
Biden endorsed Harris shortly after he announced on Sunday that he would end his candidacy, effectively giving her a head start over would-be challengers and helping to jumpstart a candidacy focused largely on continuing his own agenda.
“If she wins, then it will be confirmation that he did the right thing to fight against the threat that is Trump, and he will be seen as a legend on behalf of democracy,” said executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky.
“If she loses, I think there will be questions about, did he step down too late? Would the Democratic Party have been more effective if he had said he was not going to run?”
Similar what-ifs play out at the end of every presidency. But Biden’s defiance in the face of questions about his fitness for office and then his late submission to his party’s crisis of confidence heighten the stakes. The last vice president to run for the top job was Democrat Al Gore, who sought to distance himself from President Bill Clinton during the 2000 campaign after the president’s affair with a White House intern and subsequent impeachment.
Harris, in contrast, has spent the better part of the last three years praising Biden’s doings – meaning any attempt to now distance herself would be difficult to explain. And she has to rely on the Biden political operation she inherited to win the election with just over 100 days to go before polls close.
Speaking to campaign staff on Monday, Harris said Biden’s legacy of accomplishment “just over the last three and a half years is unmatched in modern history”. Trump and his allies, for their part, were eager to tie Harris to Biden’s record even before the president left the race – and not in a good way.
One campaign email to supporters declared “Kamala Haris is Joe Biden 2.0 – Kamala Harris owns Joe Biden’s terrible record because it is her record as well”, calling out high inflation and border policies, among other things.
Biden this week promised the staffers of his former campaign that he was still “going to be on the road” as he handed off the reins of the organisation to Harris, adding, “I’m not going anywhere”.
His advisers said he intends to hold campaign events and fundraisers benefiting Harris, albeit at a far slower pace than had he remained on the ballot himself.
Harris advisers will ultimately have to decide how to deploy the president, whose popularity sagged as voters on both sides of the aisle questioned his fitness for office.
The president’s allies insist that no matter what, Biden’s place in the history books is intact.
