George Clooney Biden: VIEW: I love Joe Biden. But we need a new candidate, writes George Clooney

I saw Biden three weeks ago at my fundraiser for him. It’s devastating to say this, but he’s not the same man he once was and he’s not going to win this fall.
I have been a lifelong Democrat; I make no apologies for that. I am proud of what my party represents and stands for. As part of my participation in the democratic process and in support of my elected candidate, I have led some of the largest fundraisers in my party’s history. Last month, I co-hosted the largest fundraiser in support of a Democratic candidate ever, for the re-election of President Biden. I say all of this to express how much I believe in this process and how profound I believe this moment is.
I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As vice president and as president. I consider him a friend and I believe in him. I believe in his character. I believe in his morals. Over the last four years, he has won many of the battles he has fought.

But he can’t win the race against time. None of us can. It’s devastating to say this, but the Joe Biden I was with at the fundraiser three weeks ago was not the Joe Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all saw at the debate.

Was he tired? Yes. A cold? Maybe. But our party leaders need to stop telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw. We’re all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we’ve chosen to ignore every warning sign. The George Stephanopoulos interview only confirmed what we saw the week before. As Democrats, we collectively hold our breath or turn down the volume when we see the president we respect step off Air Force One or walk back to the microphone to answer an impromptu question.

Is it fair to point these things out? It has to be fair. It’s about age. That’s all. But it’s also not something that can be undone. With this president, we’re not going to win in November. Moreover, we’re not going to win the House and lose the Senate. That’s not just my opinion; that’s the opinion of every senator, congressman and governor I’ve spoken to privately. Every single one, regardless of what he or she says publicly.

We like to talk about how the Republican Party has ceded all of its power and all of the characteristics that made it so formidable under Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush to a single person trying to hold on to the presidency, and yet most of our members of Congress prefer to wait and see if the dam breaks. But the dam has broken. We can bury our heads in the sand and pray for a miracle in November, or we can tell the truth.

It is dishonest at best to claim that the Democrats have already spoken with their vote and the nomination is a done deal when we have just received new and disturbing information. We all believe the Republicans should drop their nominee after he has been convicted of 34 crimes. This, too, is new and disturbing information. Leading Democrats – Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi – as well as senators, representatives and other candidates who are in danger of losing in November must ask this president to voluntarily resign.

All the horror stories we’re being told about what might happen next are simply not true. In all likelihood, money from Biden and Harris’ coffers could be used to elect the presidential nomination and other Democrats. The new candidate would not be removed from the ballot in Ohio. We Democrats have a very exciting bench. We don’t anoint leaders or succumb to a cult of personality; we elect a president. We can well imagine that a group of several strong Democrats will step forward and explain to us why they are best suited to lead this country and oppose some of the deeply troubling trends we’re seeing in the revenge tour that Donald Trump calls a presidential campaign.

Let’s listen to Wes Moore, Kamala Harris, Gretchen Whitmer, Gavin Newsom, Andy Beshear, JB Pritzker and others. Let’s agree that the candidates should not attack each other but should focus on what will make this country successful in the short time we have. Then we could go to the Democratic National Convention next month and find out.

Would it be chaotic? Yes. Democracy is chaotic. But would it invigorate our party and wake up voters who had tuned out long before the June debate? It absolutely would. The short time until election day would be an advantage for us, not a danger. It would give us a chance to present the future without so much opposition research and negative campaigning that comes with these ridiculously long and expensive election periods. This can be an exciting time for democracy, as we have just seen with the 200 or so French candidates who have resigned and put their personal ambitions aside to save their democracy from the far right.

Joe Biden is a hero. He saved democracy in 2020. We need him to do it again in 2024.

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