Well, how was that for a whirlwind news cycle?
We went from coverage of an assassination attempt on former U.S. president Donald Trump to the Republican National Convention to President Joe Biden getting COVID again and now to him bowing out of the 2024 presidential race.
Bowing out may be the correct description. What a class act!
Politics aside (if that’s even possible), Biden’s decision to get out of the presidential race was truly a selfless act.
Obviously, as a Canadian, he’s not my president, but I couldn’t help being choked up when that final announcement was made Sunday afternoon.
I know enough about Biden’s political history to know that being the president was always his goal.
He declared “being president was the greatest honour of my life.”
So, I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to decide to step aside with a classy exit — to pass the torch to a younger generation.
I get the feeling it wasn’t the decision he wanted to make, but one he felt pressured to make.
When the big political donors start to withhold campaign funds, and then the big names start to question your physical and mental health and friends turn into critics, it has got to be a hard pill to swallow.
Oh, and the timing as he recovers from another bout of COVID.
Let's kick a person when they're down. Aging can be cruel.
Nobody, and I don’t care who you are, finds it easy to admit you aren’t as young, as strong and as sharp as they once were.
Think about in your own family if/when you have to have the discussion about taking over decisions from your elders.
That talk about encouraging an aging relative to give up a driver’s licence or move into assisted living. It has to be among the most dreaded discussions in anyone’s life.
I expect it feels worse when you are the 'leader of the free world' and everyone has an opinion.
The man has had more than his share of heartbreak: losing his first wife and daughter in a car crash, losing his one son (Beau) to brain cancer and almost losing his other son (Hunter) to drug addiction.
Even his dog caused trouble for him by biting some Secret Service agents.
Somehow, it seems to me he kept soldiering on.
It also seemed to me his heart never became hardened.
To step aside when everything in you is telling you to keep fighting is nothing less than brave. That is exactly what is meant service over self.
I’m not suggesting it was the wrong decision, though. Seeing everything we have seen in recent weeks, it likely was inevitable, but that doesn’t make it any less heartbreaking.
I hate it when “the good guys” don’t win.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Biden "a partner to Canadians and a true friend."
The hope now is that Biden can concentrate on his last few months as president and continue to build bridges, preach unity and get some important legislation passed.
In the months to come, I hope he feels appreciated and honoured for his service.
With his immediate endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, he has already re-energized the party.
Money is rolling in again.
There's a new energy in the Democratic Party.
Maybe this is the unexpected turn of events that gives the United States its first female president and woman of colour.
That would be an incredible legacy for Joe to leave behind.
