Nation frets as Biden flails. Can anyone — including Trump — reassure voters? | Opinion

A week after an earthquake of a presidential debate, aftershocks are still shaking American politics.

President Joe Biden is moving to assure Democrats not only that he is up to the job, despite his frightful debate performance, but that he is also still the party’s best option to defeat Donald Trump. It doesn’t seem to be working, as Democrats calculate the increasing likelihood of losing the White House and how badly the rest of the party could fare down the ballot.

There’s not much way for anyone to force the issue. The likeliest outcome is that Biden remains the Democratic nominee but that the talk doesn’t go away. That’s a worst-case scenario for Democrats — and a dangerous spot for the country.

Americans are rightfully alarmed at the state of their government, anguished about the poor choices for moving ahead and fearful about the impact on the economy and foreign affairs. So, barring something extraordinary — Biden changing his mind or his Cabinet and senior Democrats forcing the issue — the next few crucial steps belong to Trump.

In two weeks, he will formally claim the Republican nomination at the party’s convention in Milwaukee. First, though, Trump will unveil his selection for a running mate. It’s crucial that his pick be assuring to voters, business leaders, markets and foreign allies.

With the odds increasing that Trump will return to the presidency, a different kind of anxiety kicks in for many, particularly around the potential for chaotic or autocratic government. If Trump picks a mainstream Republican, someone who’s ready to help govern on Day One and take over as president if necessary, that’s one less pressure point on our already strained system.

We’re not endorsing a certain candidate, but among the names frequently mentioned, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio certainly qualify. Less-experienced candidates seem to be doing a pale Trump imitation, perhaps hoping to inherit much of his following when Republicans battle to see who leads the party next.

Considering Trump’s excesses, it may seem hard to imagine. But his selection of Mike Pence in 2016 helped assure parts of Trump’s new party. Pence also seems to have served as a steadying influence behind the scenes during Trump’s term.

Trump has benefited not just from Biden’s struggles but from his own restraint, relatively speaking, since the debate. He’s hitting Biden hard, of course, but he has a chance to seal the deal with a convention that assures Americans and allies that a second Trump administration won’t bring the headaches of the first (or at least not all of them).

For Texas Democrats, the Biden blow is the last thing they need. Some have hoped that Trump’s deeply polarizing nature would help them down the ballot, perhaps even allow them to again give Sen. Ted Cruz a real challenge. But with a flagging Biden, those dreams are just that; it’s no wonder that a Texas Democrat, Austin Rep. Lloyd Doggett, was the party’s first member of Congress to say Biden should go.

Americans hate this election. The candidates put forth by two parties dominated by their extreme wings show the exhaustion of our system of primaries. And yet even a somewhat viable third-party candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., can’t break through, given his own oddities and bizarre stances on issues such as vaccines.

Anxiety, fear and pessimism are the result. These are dangerous conditions that can worsen through reinforcement. But they can also be temporary. Americans will respond if someone, somewhere in either party can step up and offer stability and, dare we hope, even optimism.

Wise leaders should remember that there will be elections after 2024. The country badly needs new leadership at many levels. Both parties have internal ideological battles to resolve. Meanwhile, the world watches, needful of steady American leadership in so many areas.

If either party can stand up in the next few weeks and offer it, even this fraught period can still have a useful effect.