The Democrats can win - but time's running out to drop Joe

THE Democrats can still beat Donald Trump. The question is whether they have the will to win.

- Sarah Baxter

A terrible fatalism has descended on the party following the assassination attempt on Trump, but the choice of Ohio senator JD Vance as running mate ought to give them renewed hope of victory. The Trump-Vance ticket is pro-authoritarian, pro-insurrection, anti-women and pro-Putin. This toxic combination ought to excite a broad coalition against the Republicans in November. Will the Democrats have the courage to seize the moment?

First, Joe Biden should drop out of the race. He continues to slide away as a credible candidate for re-election. The US president has good-ish days and bad days, like everybody’s grandparents. This is not a reassuring trajectory for an 81-year-old. Interviewed on Monday night by NBC’s Lester Holt, a waxen Biden looked closer to meeting his maker than Trump, 78, who entered the Republican convention hall in triumph with a bandaged ear. Yet, even at this late stage, I wouldn’t completely write off his chances.

Biden appeared peevish and snappy on screen, but he did get one thing right. Asked by Holt if he felt the shooting would affect the outcome of the 2024 race, he replied tartly, “I don’t know, and you don’t know either.” Under Biden, the stock market is up, violent crime is down, inflation stands at three per cent and the job market continues to expand. A Morning Consult taken two days after the assassination attempt showed Trump leading Biden by only one percentage point (46 per cent to 45 per cent). Camps have formed and not many voters are budging, even among those with agrudging respect for Trump’s fist-pumping resilience.