Joe Biden announced his bid for re-election this week, and it appears, for now at least, he is the only viable candidate the Democrats have. That’s bad enough; the only thing that could be worse would be the situation that seems the most likely one at this juncture – a Biden-Trump rematch.

Biden will need to pursue a unique election strategy, and not only because he is the oldest person ever to run for the office. He enjoys the inherent advantage of incumbency, I guess, but that is about it. He cannot run on his record, obviously. And he certainly cannot depend on his approval ratings carrying him across the line, any more than he can rely on an image of youth and exuberance.

But the Democrats don’t have anyone lined up to take his place, a fact which is bewildering in an of itself. Vice President Kamala Harris is an unqualified disaster, and the Democrats know it. Pete Buttigieg has shown he can’t even run the Department of Transportation, let alone the country. RFK Jr. may have a shot, possibly, on the basis of his name alone; but his kooky record on vaccines will be front and center and likely torpedo any chance he has.

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So that leaves Joe from Scranton, which has to make Washington Democratic insiders more than a little uneasy. Putting aside his advanced age for a moment, there is his policy record, which ought to be enough to disqualify him from serious contention. Economically, Biden has presided over several binges of unconscionably irresponsible federal spending, a profligacy that has no precedent, and that has mired the nation in the worst inflation in four decades. His record as commander-in-chief is even more feckless than Obama’s, whose substitute for foreign policy gave the word “feckless” new life. His chaotic abandonment of Afghanistan will haunt America for years to come, as could his unsteady and confused response to Russian aggression in Ukraine. The culture wars have deepened, not healed, during his administration, and his flagrant disregard, contempt even, for the limits the Constitution places on the executive branch exceeds even that of his predecessor.

Which brings us to the one thing Biden has going for him – Republicans may be foolish enough to vouchsafe him Donald Trump.

Biden is unpopular, and deservedly so, but Trump remains toxic to many. Which is precisely why Biden’s campaign is almost entirely focused on Trump, implicitly when not explicitly. Trump’s ongoing legal quandaries aside, which are roughly an equal amount of his own poor judgement and a Democratic political machine desperate to keep him on the front pages, Trump does not offer a refreshing alternative. His own love affair with the executive order, his rejection of free trade, his rootless populism, his chaotic leadership approach and above all his dearth of character, override whatever good policy achievements may come about. More than anything else, the American people are looking for an adult in the room.

This is not merely an interesting cultural experiment, like some grand, live-action reality game show. America, and civilization quite frankly, needs a steady hand on the tiller.

The world is a dangerous place and becoming more so. Much of the world is ramping up its military spending while America’s defense investment remains stagnant, to the point of starting to fall behind. Some of those countries are allies – Japan, for instance, and the eastern European NATO countries (including newest member of the family, Finland). Others are either ambiguous in their relationship (e.g. Saudi Arabia)or adversarial (China). Meanwhile, western Europe, being a little more remote from Russia, is intent on hamstringing its own security by subordinating responsible defense purchases to the chimerical vagaries of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment policies.

The free world needs American leadership.

Let’s not pretend President Biden’s age is not a factor. I wish the man a longer life and good heath, but he is 80 years of age, in one of the world’s most stressful jobs, and he looks it. And should he, God forbid, pass while in office, America and the world face the prospect of a President Kamala Harris. Not to mention a likely Constitutional crisis.

Trump’s nomination, ergo Biden’s reelection, is not sealed. DeSantis is out shoring up his foreign policy credentials after issuing his mea culpas following his Ukraine blunder. Nikki Haley is a formidable candidate, and more than qualified. Tim Scott is in the mix. But please, America can and must be better than a Trump-Biden replay. The GOP is still in a position to deliver us from that fate.

Kelly Sloan is a political and public affairs consultant and a recovering journalist based in Denver.