In 1991, through his one-time agent, Hollywood mogul Lew Wasserman, then-former President Ronald Reagan learned that legendary film director Robert Zemeckis was interested in casting him in a second sequel to the hit movie, Back to the Future, the original of which Reagan and Nancy had enjoyed watching at Camp David six years earlier.
Reagan was flattered and intrigued by the offer. It would have been his first time back on the silver screen since leaving “the industry” to pursue a career in public service, and it warmed his heart that his beloved former profession might still have a place for him.
He was tempted. But he was concerned about whether acting in a movie was appropriate after having served as president, and he also wondered whether he still “had it.” Would he remember his lines and make his marks? Reagan thought about it for a few days and finally decided to decline. I asked him why, and he said: “Well, I just didn’t feel that after the job I had, this would be the right thing. Besides, in the movie business, you always want to end on a high note. You just have to know when it’s time to be on the stage and when it’s time be in the audience. I think my place now is in the audience.”
He was right. And perhaps there is a lesson here for former Vice President Joe Biden.
Knowing when to gracefully exit the stage is a skill which often eludes people in some of society’s most visible roles. We’ve all seen that record-setting athlete stay in the game one season longer than he or she should, only to be upstaged by a talented younger player with more solid skills or forced by an injury to limp off the field of play as fans shake their heads ruefully. Same for many actors, who appear in one television series or film longer than their skills allow, struggling with their lines, looking like cheap and aging imitators of their once glamorous selves. Some athletes and actors stay in too long because they need the money. Others stay in too long because they are addicted to the fame and cannot imagine life out of the public eye. They may genuinely believe they have just one more great run on the field or on the screen, but they don’t.
Athletes and actors are not the only ones in our society who don’t know when to call it quits. Politicians — especially those who want to be president — are afflicted by the same disease. That’s what we are seeing in Joe Biden. It’s unlikely he is motivated by fame or money. Rather, he’s probably motivated by power and a long-held belief he could be a good president. He may well be right. But it is increasingly clear that’s something we will probably never know. Simply put, this is not his moment.
That’s not because of his age per se. Some people can be very effective in their 80s and even 90s, while some can’t do much in their 40s or 50s. Reagan’s moment came not in 1976, but in 1980, when he too was a very senior citizen.
No, the issue is whether Biden is the right person for his party and his country at this moment. Clearly, he is not. In that regard, Biden is not alone. Recent history is filled with people who probably would have been great presidents, but it just wasn’t their moment either. As much as anything else, attaining the presidency is about timing. Think of Adlai Stevenson, Henry Jackson, Howard Baker, Elizabeth Dole, and Colin Powell, among others.
If Biden insists on making the taxing physical and mental slog through Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, he can count on one thing for sure: a laser focus on anything he does or says that makes him look too old — physically, mentally, and politically. Fair or not, that’s the narrative about him. Media and voters will not pay nearly as much attention to what he says he wants to accomplish in the presidency as they will to signs that he is not up to the race or the job. Chances are that merciless scrutiny will find and highlight some signs, thereby casting doubt about his ability to go one-on-one against Trump. Because electability is thought to be the strongest arrow in Biden’s quiver, that doubt will almost certainly mortally wound his candidacy and force him out.
His lead notwithstanding, most polls show several Democratic candidates — not just Biden — beating Trump. If Democrats coalesce around another candidate, his or her perceived electability will skyrocket. At that point, Biden will have virtually no basis on which to continue his campaign. If he does, he risks being remembered not as an accomplished public servant, but as an elderly politician who ran one race too many and was sent packing after a last-ditch failed attempt to win the White House. Whether one likes Joe Biden or not, that would be a shame.
If he is truly the patriot he claims to be, and is sincere in his expressed belief that the country needs to elect a Democrat in 2020, Biden should end his campaign for the presidency now and throw his considerable political weight behind a fresh face before the intensity of the primary campaign destroys him, irreparably divides his party, and tarnishes the eventual nominee. Doing so would be a heroic and selfless act that might actually impact the outcome of next year’s election.
Obviously, that’s not an easy ask. Biden has spent his entire career maneuvering to be president, and he views this as his last chance. But it really isn’t. His moment has passed. He has played his best game. He has given his strongest performance.
Reagan instinctively knew that about himself when he turned down an opportunity to be a movie star again. The same is true for political life.
Speaking of actors, this situation reminds me of the iconic Seinfeld episode in which George Constanza masters the art of leaving a meeting or social event on “a high note,” just when he is at his maximum popularity, so that everyone in the room will remember him fondly.
Maybe Biden should dust off his Betamax or VHS and watch it!
Mark Weinberg is a communications consultant and executive speechwriter who served as special assistant to the president and assistant press secretary in the Reagan White House, as well as the director of public affairs in the office of former President Ronald Reagan. He is the author of the best-selling memoir, Movie Nights with the Reagans (Simon & Schuster).
