Biden needs to withdraw, not designate a replacement, and allow the convention to select a "Jed" Bartlett as candidate, by Hal Brown, MSW

Above: There's more than a passing respembance between how these men and women look and how their hair styles are identical.

Read why Biden's interview with George Stephanopolous didn't change my mind about his needing to withdraw.

The Democrats need a made for TV candidate to win. Gavin Newsom fits the bill as a "Jeb" Bartlet clone.

While there's no doubt that Kamala Harris is well qualified to be president she's not an Elizabath McCord, the fictional presdient from "Madame Secretary" who went from being a high profile Secretary of State to being elected the first woman president. Biden, to his discredit especially considering his age, kept her in the background for his entire presidency. He should have known from the gitgo that a health issue could arise so he wouldn't be able to run again. Had he done this, Harris could have become like Elizabeth McCord and be well positioned to be the elected to be next president.

Now we have a politically wounded 81 year old president who if he was 10 years younger could easily run on his accomplishments even without comparing himself to an opponent who is a fat ranting profane 78 year old with signs of dementia who aspires to be a dictator.

Today's Joe Biden is no Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet , from "The West Wing" which ran for seven years. In terms of looking liking a TV or movie president, despite all his accomplishments, Biden never would have be cast to play a vigorous president saving the country or the world on a weekly basis on television today. Four years have taken a toll on him:

People age. As years pass they will look older. It is inevitable. No amount of plastic surgery or Botox will change this. There's no Egyptian cat statue with supposed magical powers like in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" which will age in the attic while you stay young.

Donald Trump never would have been elected had he not convinced voters that the fictional real estate genius he played on "The Apprentice" was real. At least the TV and movie star Ronald Reagan used his celebrity to become the Governor of California, a position he held for eight years.

There are enough Americans who will vote for someone who fits their pop culture inspired image of what a president should look like both in appearance and in how they speak to swing a close election like the one about to decide the fate of the nation. In 2020 you could say that Joe Biden looked more like Keifer Sutherland from the great president who saved the country in the series "Designated Survivor."

Above, Biden in 2020.

Unfortunately four years has taken a toll on President Biden. He was always good at being the president. He was never good at playing the president. He never will be. In order to defeat Trump we need someone who is really, really good at playing the president. Such a person is waiting in the wings in the same state where Ronald Reagan, the first show biz president, came from. His name, of course, is Gavin Newsom.

Biden should drop out without endorsing Kamala Harris. He should leave it to the convention to decide who the candidate most likely to defeat Trump is. If they are wise they will chose Newsom. He not only has star quality but has a great name. Gavin is a masculine name derived from Gawain, a medieval form of an Arthurian legend character. His last name, Newsom, suggests that he is new. Gretchen Whitmer would make an excellent vice presidential choice.

You can read this and previous blogs on two websites. One may look better than the other because of how the platforms present the page.

Read on the WordPress Stressline.org

or….

Read on the Google Blogger platform HalBrown.org This version has a Disquis comment section which makes it easy to post links and images.