One Bad Night or West Wing Comes to Life?

 One of the story lines of West Wing was the President develops a debilitating, or potentially debilitating illness, which his wife and his staff conspire to conceal from the public. 

Now, we have, over several years, people comparing Joseph Biden's performance in prior years to what he showed Thursday night.

The BBC played tapes of Biden responding coherently, and with devastating effect to Trump in their 2020 debate, and then played his incoherent, incomprehensible efforts from the most recent debate.

What Mr. Biden has to show voters was that the main worry about him, that he is in swift cognitive decline, is not true.

The day after his dismal debate, he appeared vigorous and coherent at a North Carolina rally.

But, as everyone who has a family member with dementia knows, there are lucid days and bad days, and then more and more bad days.

From afar, the mask like facies, the stiff walk, the petit pas (small steps), the President looks like he has Parkinson's Disease, which is harder to conceal than Josiah Bartlett's multiple sclerosis was in West Wing. And some patients with Parkinson do develop a dementia as part of the process.

Nancy Pelosi's daughter, a Democratic operative went through a list of other candidates who flopped on debate night: Obama was among them during his first debate with Romney. But:

•  Being President isn't about debating skills she said.
• And over riding the votes of all those primary voters would provoke widespread resentment.
• And he's done a great job which Trump would undo
• And who is in a better position than Biden to beat Trump?

But Obama was not in the position of having to prove he was compis mentis. His wonderful presidency was truly wonderful--he did the most with what he was given--but that was then and this is now. And everyone who has watched him over the past 10 years has seen his decline and the fear is that curve is headed toward a crash landing.

The easiest thing to do is to call it just one bad night and continue to support the guy who has the nomination wrapped up by primary votes, to deny Thursday night was the climatic night of reveal of Mr. Biden's frailty and to say we have no other viable options.

To change course is always harder than just plowing ahead.

Every pro, every party regular will predictably fall in line and march by Mr. Biden's side.

And it is true that only if Mr. Biden steps aside, releases his delegates can an open convention happen.

When I mentioned Tom Hanks as a reasonable prospect to the two most connected, experienced and sophisticated Democrats in town, folks with photos on their walls of them posing with every Democratic President back to Clinton and may even Carter, they just laughed.

It was just an absurd notion: An actor running for President? 

Really?

Get serious.

But is digging in the heels, head planted firmly in the sand any less absurd?