Biden Is Not Irreplaceable.

And Trump Must Be Defeated.

After a debate performance (above) that seemed to confirm suspicions of mental non-acuity, everyone's talking about whether Joe Biden should drop out of the race and the US president is consulting with his family at Camp David. Many approach it from the heart and not the head: We feel like we know our politicians, some of us like Biden, and we don't want to make him sad. But all that should matter is defeating former President Donald Trump.

Biden has been an extremely successful person. He has managed to spend most of his adult like in public service, which is a euphemism for receiving a decent salary and ego-gratifying perks for influencing the lives of others. He was a leading senator, a two-term vice president, and he's president at an age that's well beyond when many Americans are forced to retire. He's known personal tragedy, of course, but when it comes to his career he's had a pretty spectacular run.

How has he performed as president? Critics say he has been terrible, and supporters claim he's just bad at trumpeting astounding successes. In our polarized era, people don't know which narrative to believe, so most default to their side and those in the middle are just confused.

It's an important question, because if he is truly amazing, then perhaps some risks are warranted with the other factor to consider, which is the likelihood that he beats Trump. Is there something about Biden the Decider that America cannot live without?