Don’t get me wrong – the op-ed is full of compliments for Joe Biden and how he has governed. Ignatius describes Biden as a successful president who has many legislative victories to his credit. Perhaps most importantly, Biden saved America from a second Trump term in office, you know. Biden campaigned on returning to “regular order,” Ignatius wrote. Ugh.

Since then, Biden has had a remarkable string of wins. He defeated President Donald Trump in the 2020 election; he led a Democratic rebuff of Trump’s acolytes in the 2022 midterms; his Justice Department has systematically prosecuted the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection that Trump championed and, now, through special counsel Jack Smith, the department is bringing Trump himself to justice.

What I admire most about President Biden is that in a polarized nation, he has governed from the center out, as he promised in his victory speech. With an unexpectedly steady hand, he passed some of the most important domestic legislation in recent decades. In foreign policy, he managed the delicate balance of helping Ukraine fight Russia without getting America itself into a war. In sum, he has been a successful and effective president.

Double ugh. Democrats clearly live in a different world than the rest of us. Steady hand? Nothing about Biden is steady. He can’t even handle himself smoothly on a stage or in public. He leads from behind, as he did when Putin invaded Ukraine. He was extremely slow to make any decisions and let the European countries like France take the lead. Plus, Joe Biden is the most divisive president in my lifetime, which I used to say about Barack Obama. But I think Biden is worse.

After the glowing remarks, Ignatius writes that despite all the good things, he and Kamala should not run for re-election. He said if Biden campaigns with Kamala, they run the risk of handing Trump a victory in 2024. Ignatius calls “stopping Trump” Biden’s biggest achievement, so it’s important. He notes that Biden’s time in office, serving the country, has come to an end. He noted that Biden’s advanced age isn’t just a “Fox News trope” but that everyone is talking about his age. Yikes! It is so unusual that someone like Ignatius lets it all come to the surface and deliver a dose of reality to his man that it is shocking when it happens. This is Biden’s wake-up call.

Biden reads WaPo every day. He’ll see this op-ed from one of his favorite reporters. What will he do? Will he get on the phone and talk to Ignatius? Will he ignore it publicly?

One point Ignatius makes is that voters will focus on Kamala during their re-election campaign, though normally voters are not too concerned about vice presidential candidates. He admits that Kamala is even less popular than Biden. He goes into an odd ramble about “a more open vice-presidential selection process”, as though Biden will dump Kamala and start a fresh search for a running mate. There is no way Biden will do that. Biden is beholden to black women and Kamala is their trophy. Ignatius mentions Karen Bass, the black Democrat who is mayor of Los Angeles and a former member of Congress. She was rumored to be on Biden’s short list in 2020. However, exactly how would Biden pull that off? Ignatius ends up admitting it would be a free-for-all and make Biden’s standing with voters even worse.

Most importantly, Ignatius says the quiet part out loud. Biden is running because Trump is running. It’s the same reason he ran in 2020. It’s all about stopping Trump. That is Biden’s sole motivation.

Biden’s just a man who can’t say no, you see.

Biden has never been good at saying no. He should have resisted the choice of Harris, who was a colleague of his beloved son Beau when they were both state attorneys general. He should have blocked then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, which has done considerable damage to the island’s security. He should have stopped his son Hunter from joining the board of a Ukrainian gas company and representing companies in China — and he certainly should have resisted Hunter’s attempts to impress clients by getting Dad on the phone.

Biden has another chance to say no — to himself, this time — by withdrawing from the 2024 race. It might not be in character for Biden, but it would be a wise choice for the country.

Ignatius goes off the rails when he mentions the new book out about Biden, “The Last Politician,” an account of the Biden presidency. The author says Biden “will be remembered as the old hack who could.” Nice spin but at least half of the country won’t remember him that way. Even a majority of Democrats don’t want Biden to run for re-election. Biden isn’t “more focused and strategic.” He doesn’t “execute policies systematically, at home and abroad.” C’mon, man.

Ignatius ends by saying time is running out for Biden to leave the race. However, he never addresses what happens next. There is no back-up plan, there is no Plan B with the Biden campaign. Democrats refuse to allow their voters to have a primary this cycle. They have shut out Biden’s main challenger, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and refused to allow Biden to debate him, even though RFK, Jr. often polls at 20%, which would be a problem for the Democrat in a tight race. Common wisdom is that the 2024 presidential election will be another close one. Both parties need every vote they can find.

The dam is breaking. This op-ed from Ignatius is proof of that. Democrats are looking for a way to get rid of Biden and Harris but there is no graceful way to do that. Gavin Newsom is ready and willing to step up but Democrats haven’t figured out how to make that work yet. RFK, Jr. is sticking around, too. Democrats wanted Biden in 2020 because he was going to be the safe candidate, the one who would keep the status quo for Democrats. Now, after he has proven so inept and feeble, they are stuck with him.