Joe Biden just handed Democrats a serious dilemma

This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a contentious clutch of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. Sign up here. A response to readers about Gaza. Le Pe [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a contentious clutch of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Must-Reads - A response to readers [about Gaza](. - Le Pen is [a gift to Putin](. - When [fliers are liars](. - How to [fight China]( — without actually fighting. - Forget banning TikTok: [AI bots]( will destroy it. - It’s not to late to [eat your veggies](. - The sun won’t see you [starving](. - Kenya’s [financial crisis]( is a trust issue. - Americans, [scram](! The Case Against a Long Goodbye for Biden. Joe Biden was expected to prove that age was just a number. But his debate performance against Donald Trump wasn’t only difficult for the US president’s most ardent followers to watch, it appeared to be more evidence that his number’s up as a viable candidate. [In his latest column,]( Tim O’Brien, “He shuffled onto the debate stage like the old soul that he is, rarely answered questions with more than a whispering rasp, often looked bewildered.” He adds, “The president put on such a petrifying show that Trump got away with all of his usual atrocities.” If Biden isn’t aware of the scale of this disaster, it means his closest advisers have created a cordon sanitaire to buffer him from unpleasant news, the last thing any leader in any system should have. Tim says it may be time the president considers stepping aside as the candidate of his party. [More analysis here of the debate fallout.]( Waiting for the Democrats’ national convention in the second half of August could be too late. Tim lays it out in his column: “This reality makes First Lady Jill Biden, the president’s sister, Valerie Biden Owens, and a handful of other trusted advisors, including Mike Donilon, Anita Dunn, Ted Kaufman and Ron Klain, the most pivotal people in the Democratic Party right now. They need to convince Biden to release his delegates and make way for a successor.” But who would that be if push comes to shove? Tim’s list includes California Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and, of course, Vice President Kamala Harris. Nia-Malika Henderson [says Harris was the big winner]( of the debate. “Tasked with the very hard job of spinning a disastrous debate performance and selling the Democratic brand,” Nia writes, “Harris met the moment, emerging as a better spokesperson for Biden than Biden.” Nia concedes that Republicans are raising the prospects of a Harris presidency to prod the more bigoted of their base to come out for Trump in November. But, she writes, “The Biden campaign should lean in on this, elevating Harris at every turn. Harris can do something Biden couldn’t. She can stand toe-to-toe with Trump on a debate stage and skewer him, just as she did as a prosecutor and as a senator in viral committee hearing exchanges.” As for Newsom, the California governor already has a war chest and veteran campaign staff ready from running for his current office. [Says](Erika Smith: “Newsom is arguably best equipped — in fundraising chops, in messaging and in campaign infrastructure — to step up in an emergency. And this is, by all indications, an emergency.” After just 90 minutes of debate, the prospects of a second Trump presidency have climbed astronomically. Tim, however, reminds us that it isn’t the same as proof of his fitness for the office: “Trump’s sordid business and political history, and his statements during the debate, are all reminders of how imperative it is that voters don’t send him back to the Oval Office.” It’s going to be a bumpy ride to November. Freud and Britain’s Separation-Anxiety Complex Here in the UK, there was a debate too, pitting UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and opposition leader Keir Starmer of the Labour Party. But there’s an issue that dares not speak its name at the back of everyone’s mind. As Adrian Wooldridge [wrote in his column](, “Sigmund Freud may no longer be a fashionable thinker, but his theory of repression provides us with the best explanation of the central mystery of the British election: why nobody is talking about Brexit.”  He explains, “The British people want to forget about the biggest trauma to infect their politics in a generation. Brexit arouses too many bad memories.” But while all parties dance around the subject or push it to the far reaches of their manifestos, relations with the European Union (the UK’s biggest trade partner) are bound to occupy the next government, if only because they are key to boosting the British economy. The new administration is likely to be led by Labour. Says Adrian, “Starmer’s prime ministership will be shaped as much as anything by the ‘return of the repressed.’ He will have no choice but to continue the great national discussion about Britain’s relationship with the EU. His great test will be whether he can turn this discussion into a source of strength.” Telltale Charts “As the map of June 9 European election results shows below, the only parts of the country that Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally failed to conquer are Paris and a handful of other big cities. With just days to go before the first round of snap parliamentary elections, bear this cartography in mind when gauging just how big a majority she and her bloc — currently leading [the polls]( with support of about 35% — may eventually clinch.” — Lionel Laurent in “[Mapping Le Pen’s Route to an Absolute Majority in France](.” “Gains by far-right parties in this month’s European Union elections should serve as a reminder of the dangers of failing to address the region’s chronic problems of inadequate housing supply and worsening affordability. Few other issues have greater potential to damage the social fabric and undermine democracy. Housing wasn’t at the forefront of this month’s campaigning, but we can be sure it was part of the background music. The cost and availability of shelter cause part of the economic anxiety that has been exploited by populist politicians, who have scapegoated immigrants for a squeeze that owes more to decades of underbuilding and restrictive planning policies.” — Matthew Brooker in “[Don't Ignore Housing's Role in the Far Right's Rise](.” Source: Eurostat Further Reading Let’s make green [the color of weddings](. — Lara Williams Beyonce and blue jeans [don’t help Levi’s](. — Andrea Felsted We’re still here, we’re still queer, [where’d you go](? — Howard Chua-Eoan Why Volkswagen’s [betting on Rivian](. — Chris Bryant Petrodollars are [still dollars](. — Javier Blas The lessons of Japan’s [Norinchukin](. — Paul J. Davies Walk of the Town: Along Regent’s Canal Regent’s Canal runs like a miniature mirror of the Thames — a few gardens, lots of boat moorings, graffiti, revamped storehouses and factories, expensive apartment buildings, fathomable debris — until it reaches the river itself. That’s about nine miles. Pretty much every week, I walk a two-mile stretch that I find relaxing and quite beautiful, despite the detritus of the Industrial Revolution and fresh accretions of urban street art. You just need to keep an eye out for bicyclists as you stroll along the banks. Photograph by Howard Chua-Eoan/Bloomberg The canal came into being during what’s called the Regency Period — when the mental decrepitude of King George III was too obvious for anyone to ignore any longer and the crown was put under the caretakership of his son, who would be known as the Prince Regent. Technically, the regency lasted only until that son succeeded as George IV, upon his father’s death. But popularly, his reign and the subsequent one of his brother are lumped together as the Regency Period. It ended when Victoria became queen in 1837. Photograph by Howard Chua-Eoan/Bloomberg The canal was key to connecting the commerce that came in via the country’s rail system with the rest of a city that had become the most populous in the world. Today, the barges tied up to its banks are, for the most part, private homes. They must be moved every so often up and down the waterway and up and down its locks.  Drawdown Thank you for electing to hang around! I hope you don’t object to this line... “Is it too late to leave the debate up for debate?” Illustration by Howard Chua-Eoan/Bloomberg Notes: Please agree to disagree or just send feedback to Howard Chua-Eoan at hchuaeoan@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? 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