My regular readers will recall I often praise President Joe Biden. He took the helm of the nation during a very dark time, both politically and emotionally. In the space of a short three-and-a-half years, Biden has turned the economy around, adding a record 15.7 jobs during his administration. Certainly, some of those are jobs bouncing back from the pandemic, but overall economic growth and health continue to perform impressively. Just yesterday we got a new inflation report that showed continued improvement in the inflation rate in the U.S., far below other nations that don’t have a Joe Biden running things. We are respected in the world again, as demonstrated by this week’s hosting of the 75th anniversary of NATO meetings.

Yes, Biden has been a terrific president and I’m very proud to have voted for him.

And with that, I have come to a most painful conclusion: President Biden should end his campaign and step aside.

It is not just his spectacularly bad performance in the debate, though that debacle is a big part of it. Rather, it is that the debate and his other off-the-cuff remarks suggest winning in the Fall will be very difficult. You know the MAGA machine will be running ads nonstop, carefully and deceitfully edited, that will show Biden in the worst possible light. Frankly, that’s about all the GOPers have, in that their own candidate is only a bit younger and carries an amazing array of baggage, including his extra-marital affairs, his terrible record in business (when you actually look at things, he is an abysmal businessman), and of course, he’s a convicted felon.

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The Republicans will spend every penny they get in an attempt to make Biden appear feeble and not up to the task, without mentioning their own guy usually got to the Oval Office around 11 a.m., far later than any recent president of either party, left early, and had huge amounts of “executive time” on his calendar, which aides report was code for watching TV and sending tweets.

I held out for Biden as long as I could, given that he has absolutely earned the right to serve a second term. But this week something changed, and it was my old boss U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet who convinced me it is time for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic nominee.

As reported in Colorado Politics, Bennet warned if things continue as they are, Trump might win “in a landslide” come November. I worked for Bennet for four years and saw him and learned from him often. Bennet is brilliant and a deep thinker. I recall one time I was driving him to a meeting back in 2012 and we discussed the GOP presidential field. I won’t violate any confidentiality but suffice it to say Bennet was spot-on in his analysis. So, I continue to believe he is a person to respect and to listen to.

I know it must have been incredibly painful for Bennet to make his statement, knowing it would be seen by some as piling on. But Bennet, I am sure, only came to his conclusion after a great deal of thought and analysis as to what was best for the Dems and, more importantly, for the nation. If Bennet is warning of a possible red wave, we need to take heed.

I wish the situation was different. I wish, for example, the media, in their current feeding frenzy about Biden’s mental acuity, would pay equal attention to the mental foibles of Trump and others in the GOP. Remember when GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell went completely silent and blank in front of TV cameras, for a full 30-seconds, twice? McConnell is a year older than Biden, yet his complete lock up, twice, was excused as being dehydrated. Right…

Having spent a good deal of time thinking and teaching about the presidency while I was a faculty member at the U.S. Air Force Academy, I believe there is a parallel for Biden in our nation’s not too distant past. In 1948 Harry Truman was the president, having succeeded FDR upon the latter’s passing. Truman was thought by many to be easily beatable.

Like Biden today, Truman has serious problems due to his policies (and frankly inconsistencies) toward Palestine, an important issue then as now. Truman had a number of factors standing between him and earning a full term on his own, not the least of which was the GOP nominee, the eminent former governor of New York, Thomas E. Dewey. Everyone, save Truman himself, seemed to be quite sure Dewey would win.

A story, perhaps apocryphal, tells of a newspaper reporter, having just learned late in the night Truman had, in fact, won, called Dewey’s hotel and was told “the president has gone to bed.” The reporter replied, “well, when he wakes up, tell him he isn’t president anymore.” And, of course, there is the famous picture of Truman holding up a copy of the Chicago Daily Tribune that had gone to press too early and had the headline “Dewey Defeats Truman.” History records Truman, a man not especially popular during his time in office, as one of the better presidents our nation has seen.

So, shouldn’t that tale be one that encourages Biden to stay in? Not quite, as things have changed. First, the national media wasn’t what it is today, with a 24-hour news cycle and one entire “news” network dedicated to helping Republican candidates. And most importantly, Truman was 64 years old when he ran in 1948. Heck, he was two years younger than me. An 81-year-old Truman would have been a much harder sell to the American people.

Putting my old professor’s hat back on, I do believe that history will see Biden as a remarkably successful president, especially when the GOP headwinds he had to overcome are considered. He’s been terrific, and had he announced some months ago he was going to settle for a single term and would step aside, he would certainly be highly regarded today.

But unfortunately, we do not live in times that are fair or kind. Though I suspect the Dems are unlikely to have too many commercials showing Trump’s bizarre lie-filled word salad answers to questions, nor will they make jokes about his alleged physical fitness, the GOP will certainly take the low road against Biden.

And so, to prevent a nightmare four years, guided by Project 2025’s 900 pages of anti-government rants and policy recommendations, we need President Biden to nobly and honorably stand aside. A ticket headed by Vice President Harris is much more likely to beat back the bigotry and ultra-nationalism that dominates the other side.

But the time is short.

I’m so sorry, Mr. President, but the time has come to step aside. A nation may not thank you now, but history will be kind.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.