Frances Cone

There have always been two Joe Bidens. The empathetic, decent, big-hearted leader, forged in loss and grief, finding the good in his friends and opponents, in love with America, arms wide and open with space for everyone. And there’s the blowhard with a chip on his shoulder, stubborn, something to prove, his fellow senators rolling their eyes as the finger wags harder and the stories get longer. Statesman and politician, hero and fool. Joe Biden ran for president for 50 years. He finally won because he ran as that hero at a time when the country was desperate for empathy and normalcy and wisdom and grace. It was still too close. But even when he was doubted by insiders and pundits (hi!), he persevered; he knew Democrats, he knew America, and he was right. And then! To his great and everlasting credit, Joe Biden governed as that statesman too. He built a coalition wide enough to hold Joe Manchin and Bernie Sanders. He defied Washington’s stodgy consensus when necessary, a consensus he spent a lifetime living inside. He adapted, he governed with humility and purpose, whether on how to revive the economy, or take on monopolies, or address student loans, or press for the largest investment in clean energy by any country anywhere on earth. And even as he showed the capacity to listen to the rising progressive voices inside the Democratic party, at the very same time he achieved bipartisan legislative successes in defiance of every political trend of the last thirty years. Joe Biden has been an extraordinary president! Statesman. Hero. But it’s hard to deny that in the two weeks since the debate, it’s the arrogant and small Joe Biden we’ve seen most - hanging on, bragging, defensive, angry, weak. Who else but him? he wonders aloud. Only God could change his mind, he tells us. The stakes for the country are all that matter. The stakes for Joe Biden are beside the point. But it’s worth saying just the same: Joe Biden can leave office as one of the greatest presidents in our lifetimes, who defeated Trump and put his country first at every turn; or he can leave a stubborn old man who allowed hubris and insecurity to destroy his legacy and perhaps our democracy with it. We all have our best and worst selves, scrambling over each other, battling it out in the moments that define us. Where is the Joe Biden we elected? Where is the statesman? I hope that version of him shows up soon. And I hope the people around him know where to look.