Joe Biden’s debate performance and the information that has come out since of other hidden-from-the-public signs of his declining cognitive condition have reminded me of a similar situation I experienced decades ago with one of the 20^th century’s leading peace and justice activists, Dave Dellinger.

I had the privilege of working closely with Dave from the 70’s until the early 2000’s in the movement to end the war in Vietnam, for a mass progressive alternative to the Democrats and Republicans, for freedom for Leonard Peltier, and as part of the movement in 1992 to reject government plans to celebrate the 500^th year of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Westen Hemisphere in 1492. In that year he and I and another dozen or so people took part in an organized People’s Fast For Justice and Peace in the Americas, a 42-day water-only fast on the steps of the US Capitol. 

The last meeting where we were together was a national “progressive dialogue” meeting I helped to organize in December of 2000, after the George Bush vs. Al Gore 2000 Presidential election. For several years in the early 2000’s there were meetings of a multi-racial, youth-and-elders cross section of leading progressive activists, convened for the explicit purpose of strengthening our connections so that we could play a more effective role in opposing two-party, corporate rule.

Dave was not himself at that meeting. He was still articulate, but he was also over the top in the way he expressed himself. I remember him demanding that people agree with his ideas as far as what we should be doing. He was not a positive force in the meeting. I had never seen him the way that he was then.

Dave was 85 at the time of this meeting, one year younger than Joe Biden will be if he is chosen next month at the Democratic Convention as their Presidential candidate, if he defeats fascist Trump and then makes it to the end of a second four year term as President.

Immediately after the June 27 debate debacle I could see no way that Biden could continue to be the Democratic Presidential candidate. But that now seems more likely after Biden’s very different performance in the George Stephanopoulus ABC TV interview last Friday, his North Carolina and Wisconsin rallies, as well as the just-expressed support for Biden by the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Bernie Sanders, AOC and others.

There’s no doubt that Vice President Kamala Harris has become a very consequential person going forward, and not just because she’s who would step in if (imho, probably when) Biden and those around him agree that he can’t make it until the end of 2028 and needs to step down.

I haven’t been much of a fan of Harris, based mainly on her performance during the 2019-2020 Democratic Presidential primary campaign. But I have been noticing that she seems more confident, more forceful and clear over the last month or so. And according to Michael Moore, “for over 8 months, it has been reported that Kamala Harris has pushed for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.” This squares up with comments she made about Gaza and the war this March in Selma, Alabama.

For me and clearly others, a Biden/Harris slate in which Harris plays a visible and public role, showing us and the country, I hope, that she is prepared to step in if Biden falters and he realizes it’s time to step aside—that seems to me like a potential winning ticket.

For me, for Biden, for all of us, it’s 100% certain that if we make it into our retirement years, we can expect to experience the slings and arrows of the aging process, no doubt about it. When we start to experience bad days, poor performances, memory lapses, at an increasing rate, adjustments will be necessary to match what we want to do with what we can do. Those close to Biden have a responsibility not to deny reality but to help him adjust accordingly when it’s clear it’s his time to retire.

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