Politics tamfitronics
Earlier this month, but what now seems like a lifetime ago, after the horrific attempted assassination of Donald Trump, the mythologizing bordering on deification of the former president began.Impeachments, indictments, convictions, even an attempted murder, andhe survived it all—so went the rapidly emerging storyline.There was talk from Trump supporters that the hand of God was in it all, even more than in the past. Republican members of Congress, Trump’s followers, and of course Trump himself spoke as if he had some divine right to power.
Big if true, as they say. After all, we don’t typically choose our leaders based on which one might be divinely selected. We rejected that sort of approach in 1776.
Still, Trump as Chosen One has been a powerful myth that could continue to be persuasive in an arena where narrative and story are the coin of the realm. Thankfully, we are about to see another mythical figure rise in response: a postcandidacy Joe Biden.
In stepping aside, Biden invokes another of our mythical founding moments: George Washington relinquishing the powers of the presidency. Washington’s stepping aside set the stage for more than 225 years of democratic self-government and peaceful transfers of power that have been interrupted only twice: by the Civil War and by Trump’s refusal to accept election results.
At a time when our republic is once again imperiled by a leader who would break that tradition by trying to hold on to power violently and against the will of the voters; at a time when that leader is poised to retake the White House, having mused about being a “dictator,” “terminating the constitution,” and seeking to hold the presidencyindefinitely—in such a moment as this, for a sitting president to voluntarily forgo holding on to that power in the interest of the greater good will have mythmaking powers of its own.
Of course, the story that has been emerging indicates that Biden was reluctant to take this step. Perhaps at some point Washington was too. (He didn’t have a 24-hour news cycle reporting on his every internal vacillation.) Biden seemed to sincerely believe he had the best chance to defeat Trump and save the republic. That may have reflected part misplaced confidence and part altruism. Still, the choice was ultimately his, and his noble act is not myth but reality. With it, Biden has earned a selfless, patriotic moral authority that will elevate him above the fray of our modern politics.
In this current era, we see so little personal sacrifice in service of the common good. So little humility and selflessness. Few leaders hand over the reins or take one for the team. As even the postliberal authors on the far right decry: We live in an era in which individualismtrumpsthe public good and interests we share. Americans are hungry for a shift in our consciousness toward more communitarian solidarity and meaning-making.
Into that moment steps Joe Biden, with his established reputation for public service, who with this act has created a mirror image of Trump’s mythological ascent born of violence.
His act here, in the twilight of his career, propels Biden to a place few if any Americans currently occupy: above our fraught and self-serving politics. In a word, he has elevated himself to anetherealplace. There’s a conspiracy circulating in Trumpworld that Biden has already passed from this world. As Joe would say, that’s literally—literally—false. But metaphorically? They might be onto something. In counterpoise to a candidate trying to claim divine powers, we have a public servant elevated to the role of secular angel, guardian of our democracy.
And from there, he will be able to campaign on behalf of his chosen successor, Vice President Kamala Harris, to save our democracy, in a unique position of moral authority.
Biden will be able to claim that he saved American democracy as a candidate in 2020 and as a president for four years but, realizing he was not best poised to do so as a candidate in 2024, opted instead to relinquish the earthly powers of an office in order to protect the soul of the nation from a higher perch and deliver it finally through its moment of trial.
Harris—who in remarks on Monday praised her boss as a man of honesty, integrity, faith, family, and patriotism—will have Biden over her shoulder in guardian form. “I’m watching you, kid,” he could be heard to say as she spoke for the first time to her campaign staff that day.
Americans tend to appreciate former leaders more than present ones. Most every prior president’s approval rating has gone up after they have left office. Nostalgia is a powerful force. Biden’s approval rating has never matched his accomplishments, but that may change as he ceases to campaign for himself for another term.
Removed from the battlefield, Biden is likely to become more politically powerful, as his rating climbs from a nostalgic effect and appreciation for his selfless move.
And as he ascends in Americans’ minds and political myth onto a higher plane, his model will strike a powerful contrast in this election between a figure representing our better angels, and one who has risen by playing to our darkest instincts. Both with claims above, in spirit, the earthly realm of our politics but otherwise contrasts between the two fundamental paths people and societies can take.
Biden will become a reminder of the fragile but fundamental principle at the heart of our republic, that in this country the people are sovereign and those we elect are merely temporary holders of that trust who, when the time comes, give that power back from whence it came, to all of us: We the People.
