The dilemma facing the Democrats is what to do next. With a candidate who is popular with  voters, we would have a good chance of beating Trump, who if he is reelected has promised to turn our fragile democracy upside down, taking the world order with it. The stakes have never been higher. Most people I know acknowledge this. Yet Joe Biden is not that candidate. He is unpopular, not because he has been a terrible president or hasn’t accomplished significant victories for the American people, but because of his age and perceived frailty. I get that. I am eight months older than Biden. I do not know anyone who is in their early 80s  or close to it, who thinks that octogenarians have any business in taking on what is one of the most demanding jobs in the world, if not the most demanding. For a while it looked like Biden might get a pass, and then came the devastating debate followed by the much anticipated press conference, which though not catastrophic did little to boost Biden’s image or confidence that he is playing with a full deck.

What are the Democrats to do?

It is time for the smoke-filled room.

Now I know few smoke nowadays and there is no such thing as a smoke-filled room like there used to be when party bosses would assemble from all over the country prior to their party’s convention. Smoking cigars and sipping Jack Daniels whisky, these men—yes, they were all men– were the party’s movers and shakers who would slug it out behind closed doors prior to the convention and narrow the list of contenders to a few who presumably could win in a general election. This was before the reforms of the late 60s, which ushered in a competitive primary system, which mostly has worked—until now. Biden won the primaries essentially unopposed. But this was before the debate, which unveiled one of the administration’s best kept secrets that Biden is aging quickly and no longer sharp. He slurs his words, gets confused, and is unsteady on his feet. Hey, I understand that. I have some of the same challenges. This is just the way it works on the Planet Earth with us Homo sapiens as we age. If Biden is struggling now, what will he be like in two or three years?

What is most distressing is that Biden refuses to listen or see the writing on the wall. He has said many times that he will never withdraw his name to allow for an open convention. He blames the party’s elite who he believes are giving him a hard time for no reason, the skeptical press, and the big doners, and believes that all the polls are wrong. When knocked down Biden says he gets back up and fights harder and wins. This is his life story. His family is urging him to fight on despite the odds. So are his closest advisors. But they all have skin in the game and will lose their jobs if he pulls out.

Shame on them!

So my message to the President is this: Sorry, Joe, even though your opponent is just as confused and even more incoherent than you are—and almost as old– all the polls show he is ahead in key battleground states and that your age is a huge stumbling block. Plus, the whole world was watching the debate.  We all witnessed your demise with our own eyes. You had your chance to turn the tide and you failed.  Game over.

So back to the smoke-filled room. What needs to happen is for the brain trust of the Democratic Party and the Democrat fat cats to break out the whisky, light the cigars and sit you down behind the wood shed for a come-to-Jesus moment. This should include Obama, Pelosi, Schumer, Jeffries, a trusted pollster, one of the fat cats, and maybe one of your trusted media friends like Joe Scarborough. This needs to happen now, like early in the next week at the latest. The longer it takes, the more difficult it will be to figure out an orderly process which allows the stars in the next generation their opportunity to compete for the most demanding and important job on the world stage. If you do this, you will secure your legacy as one of the best, single term presidents in our history and be loved and admired for putting away your pride and ambition for what is best for your party and your country. If you don’t pull out, however, your legacy will be facilitating a takeover by a wannabe fascist dictator.