I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you want to save your teeth...

[karynnj]

53. However, there was no guarantee that stepping down earlier would have led to a better outcome

An interesting point was made in one oped (I think by Ezra Klein) that what made that stepping down less likely was the atypical relative success of the midterms. This meant that unlike the midterms in Clinton's or Obama's first terms, there was not the same call to reconsider what to do.

Now, I think Biden was as focused on bipartisanship as he could have been in the first two years - and the 50/50 Senate made it impossible for him to have been otherwise. What it might have done is to have created a situation where Biden felt that the better than expected results validated how he was seen as a leader.

In hindsight, imagine Biden would have used those results to claim that in addition to the improving economy, it showed they were going in the right direction, but a lot more needed to be done. Like, LBJ, he could have argued he would focus 100 percent of his attention to running the country and not seek election.

This might not have been the winner some looking back now consider it to be. Whether he gave his endorsement to Harris or not, I can only imagine the divisiveness if a male won the nomination. Where people claim primaries especially with big challenges make candidates stronger, consider the "PUMA" 'Clinton supporters who did not vote for Obama, the Bernie supporters who did not back Clinton and the fact that Gore first used the Willie Horton stuff against Dukakis. Harris was quickly the nominee.

Also consider what would have happened if Biden actually resigned maybe a half year after the primary. I actually think this would have hurt. The contrast between the successes of the first two years vs the far less successful second half of Biden's term would likely have also happened if Harris was then President dealing with the Republican House. Throw in the October 2023 Hamas attack and you would have a new President Harris struggling with so many things she did not cause or control.