One of the greatest attributes of populist politicians is their ability to drive foes into such a frenzy of fury and loathing that they end up defeating themselves. Just look at events in the US, where Donald Trump seemed to be washed up 18 months ago. Polls showed his appeal was waning, even among firm Republicans, after false claims of election fraud sparked an insurrection on Congress and many candidates that he backed fared badly in midterm elections.
Then Alvin Bragg – the Manhattan district attorney who prosecuted the former president – shoved him back in the spotlight and turbocharged his claims of persecution by the liberal elite.
Now Trump is the first US president to be a convicted felon. He could go to prison – and should be finished as a political force.
Yet such is the sorry state of politics in the world’s most crucial democracy that he remains ahead in polls for this year’s presidential battle. His critics rightly argue that this case shows that no one is above the law in their nation, yet his defenders also have a point when they claim no other citizen would have faced such charges over crimes usually seen as misdemeanours.
Meanwhile, Trump compares himself to Mother Theresa as he spews out inflammatory trash about America turning into a fascist state and hovers up cash from his supporters.
The Republicans deserve the harshest possible judgement in history for standing by this stained character when their country is so divided and democracy is under such threat in an epochal tussle with dictatorship.
Their support for this self-serving and toxic charlatan is beyond contempt given the risks that he presents to both their own country and a wider world under assault from a genuine axis of evil moulded in Moscow and Beijing. Yet the big question is whether the Democrats will finally act in the national and global interest by ditching Joe Biden – or will they cling on to their doddery president, who might so easily stumble into a seismic defeat?
This is harsh reality for Biden, who took office at a time of turbulence and can boast a decent, if flawed, record both at home and abroad. The domestic economy looks strong, although the president is getting little credit from voters for its performance.
He has been alert to the nature of the huge challenges confronting democracy, even if his record on the international stage is patchy from Afghanistan through to Ukraine.
It is possible to argue that this oldest president in US history has been an unexpectedly dynamic leader. Yet this does not detract from the brutal fact that he is too old to run again – and if he does not stand down, he might jeopardise all that he claims to espouse by ushering Trump back into the White House.
Biden is only three years older than his Republican rival (who has suffered his own senior moments in recent months) but he appears much older as his deterioration grows more apparent.
“Biden is showing his age in ways weirdly more than Trump,” said one Democratic senator recently. Others drip anonymous concerns into the media over the wisdom of him standing again for the presidency. Biden’s pathetic attempts to half-run – trying to look like a man filled with energy as he heads off to catch a flight or across the White House lawn – are painful to watch, while even loyalists hold their breath when he speaks. “When you watch him on television, you’re nervous, aren’t you?” said the comedian Jon Stewart.
It is ludicrous that a man who would be 86 years old at the end of his second term is standing for election as leader of the free world. Yet it is also selfish when there is so much at stake – and Democrats who fail to admit this only expose their own disconnect.
Voters have said repeatedly that they think he is too old to be an effective president, with one poll finding Biden behind in key swing states with more than eight in ten people saying he should stand aside.
His contortions over Gaza have further eroded his support among the critical younger generations who carried him to victory in 2020.
Biden styled himself as a transition candidate when he stood last time, implying that he saw himself as a one-term president to restore stability after Trump’s turbulent term. Now he looks like a stubborn old codger indulging in a wantonly hubristic act, and to be remembered as the man who put a dangerous populist back in power.
If he really wants to defend the values he claims to support, he should stand aside before the first debate later this month, allowing his party’s convention in August to select an alternative.
This is a risky strategy, given the party divisions and lack of a unifying candidate to replace him due to the weakness of his vice-president. But there are decent contenders, from the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, through to Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan and the Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
No one should underestimate the alarming state of American society as Trump turns his fire on the legal system, having done so much damage already to trust in the electoral process.
If he wins the presidency, he may go on the rampage to seek vengeance on his enemies. If he loses by a close margin, then wins his appeal over last week’s conviction, he could plunge the country into a catastrophic crisis.
He needs to be crushed at the ballot box, for the sake of democracy in America and around the world – and Biden just does not have the strength to do this.