When former President Joe Biden unraveled on the debate stage before 51 million television viewers, some Republicans were no doubt giddy. I was not. Like many people, I have watched cognitive decline afflict loved ones, often parents. What unfolded that night was sad. Whatever the precise nature of Biden’s condition, he plainly should not have been offered for election in 2020 (as the newly released taped interviews indicating mental decline as early as 2017 show), let alone reelection in 2024.

Yet Democrats pushed him forward — while keeping him out of the public eye as much as they could — until his deterioration could no longer be concealed. Then he was dragged behind the Democratic National Committee woodshed and given the Bambi treatment.