Letters to the Editor | July 8, 2024

It saddens me to write this because our country will be forever indebted to Joe Biden for stepping up against Donald Trump and running for office in 2020. President Biden’s accomplishments speak for themselves, and based on his record, he deserves another term. Realistically, however, his age is catching up to him, and it is time for him to step aside.

The contrast with Trump is stark. Biden possesses a true moral compass, a respect for the rule of law, and a commitment to upholding the Constitution. The former president is a lying, self-centered racist; a vengeful, grandiose, misogynistic con man who cares more about his golf game than he does about his country. In 2020 he was happy to commit voter fraud to remain in power.

Unfortunately, Trump’s agenda to reshape our government through Project 2025 will be overshadowed by questions regarding Biden’s ability to perform the duties of his office if he remains in the race. We have reached that painful moment when it is time to take away the car keys. To our Democratic Party leaders, I issue this plea: Please, for President Biden’s sake, for the future of our democracy, for the good of the citizens of this country and for the rest of the world, put someone else in the driver’s seat before it is too late.

Toni Tomei Culleton, Philadelphia

For many years the Democratic Party has been hobbled by a string of geriatric egotists. Dianne Feinstein (age 90 at death) was an outstanding senator who, in the end, was reduced to having aides whispering in her ear telling her when and how to vote. Ruth Bader Ginsburg (age 87 at death) was a learned jurist whose refusal to retire gave us our current U.S. Supreme Court. Nancy Pelosi (age 84) is preventing a fresh face in Congress by announcing plans to run yet again. Joe Biden has been an effective and able president, but his stubborn insistence on clinging to power might give us another Donald Trump presidency. Biden is just the latest in a trail of politicians who allow their egos to tarnish their legacies.

Harry W. Fenton, Philadelphia, hwfenton@gmail.com

History will treat the Democrats who enabled Joe Biden in his insistence that he is fit to fulfill his duties as president with the same contempt as the Republicans who enabled Donald Trump in his false belief that he won the 2020 election.

Daniel Hart, Philadelphia

I watched the debates with a great deal of sadness. As a lifelong Democrat and supporter of Joe Biden, I was surprised to see his declining physical condition and frailty — his stiff gait, expressionless face, raspy voice, and tendency to mumble. I don’t think his campaign team is being honest with the American people about his condition. It is clearly time to let the next generation of politicians take over, and not put Biden in a position to embarrass himself after a long and outstanding career.

Susan Williamson, Gladwyne

As the country debates who might be the best Democratic candidate to stop Donald Trump, I emphatically offer that it is not Joe Biden. It is maddening that the party continues to pretend he is the only “person who can beat Trump.” It is hard to watch people age and decline, but gaslighting the public about what we witness with our own eyes is insulting.

I am a lifelong Democrat who recently turned independent in a state where that choice cost me my primary vote. I am active in building the Forward Party in Pennsylvania and nationally. I care greatly about reproductive freedom and decreasing gun violence. I believe very strongly that Trump is a dangerous con man and a liar. I want just as desperately to be able to vote for a candidate, not simply against another. It’s time to pass the torch.

Biden should preserve his legacy and do the patriotic thing, which would be to allow a younger, moderate, charismatic, coherent candidate from a swing state — Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, Wes Moore — to take on Trump. If I — a politically active, center-left, college-educated suburban wife and mother — am finding it hard to stomach a Biden vote, the Dems have a real problem. The fact that both these elderly white men argued about their golf game rather than answer a simple question about the high costs of childcare tells me neither is fit to serve as president. Step aside — that is how you save democracy.

Rachel Shanok, Ambler

It’s July Fourth and I’m feeling despondent. How can we celebrate the United States of America when we are so tragically divided? How can we be proud of our country when one of our major parties is nominating a person for president who is a twice-impeached convicted criminal, an abuser of women, a cheater, and a serial liar who refused to accept the results of the last election?

He speaks with greater respect for dictators than for our own elected officials. The man is totally devoid of the values we should seek in a president of our country, a person who should represent the best of us. Time again he shows he cares only about himself. Yet, he is but one man.

If only the members of his party and his supporters finally turned on him and said they didn’t want a person with his record and his disdain for anybody who disagrees with him to represent them and ultimately our country. But they haven’t. Instead, they have enabled him again and again. What does this say about America today? With tears running down my face, I am watching movies that tell the story of the creation of America and the heroism of Americans of all backgrounds who united to defeat the enemy “out there.” What will it take in our country to defeat the enemy right here? It’s hard to believe that one day, in the not-so-distant future, we can be proud again to call ourselves Americans.

Alexis Gerard Finger, Bala Cynwyd

This may have been the saddest Fourth of July I can recall. On a day we celebrated how our ancestors declared independence, choosing democracy over monarchy, we are living through a national nightmare. The U.S. Supreme Court has taken away the right of women to choose and crowned the president as king. All of this makes clear that the well-accepted doctrine of precedent may no longer govern legal decision-making. In addition, we continue to experience and suffer from the residual but significant consequences of Donald Trump’s presidency, as well as the increased likelihood that he will return to the White House.

Our government institutions are not viewed as legitimate, the concepts of truth, rationality, and civility no longer guide political discourse, and public officials repeatedly escape accountability for their words and deeds. Put simply, we are losing our democracy and dignity — and the great experiment is in serious jeopardy. My wish is that in November we remember the true significance of July Fourth. In this spirit, my hope is that American citizens come to their senses and prevent our democratic republic from being destroyed and replaced with an autocratic dictatorship. Time is running out.

Richard Cherwitz, Camas, Wash.

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