It’s hard to argue with the truth. The Wall Street Journal editorial board published a brutally honest piece on Biden’s anticipated announcement that he is running for reelection, expected to come next week. Among its conclusions are that Joe Biden’s reelection bid would be a selfish, unpatriotic move when it is clear to everyone that he is an octogenarian in decline. It is noted that even among Democrat voters, the public does not want Biden to run for a second term as president. “The public understands what Mr. Biden apparently won’t admit: that electing an octogenarian in obvious decline for another four years could be a historic mistake.”

The rumor is that Joe Biden will announce he is running for reelection next week, perhaps Tuesday because it is the fourth anniversary of when he announced when he ran for the 2020 election. We are told that Biden may choose that date because he’s superstitious. (!) And, he will announce via video. That makes it pretty clear that Biden plans to run a campaign as he did during the pandemic – from his basement in Delaware instead of getting out on the campaign trail and earning votes. It may work for him. It did in 2020. He barely won, but he did. The point is that Biden is old and unable to get out and campaign as he did in his younger years when he ran for president. He tried twice before he ran in 2019. We have verification of his physical limitations because his handlers admit he doesn’t have the stamina to travel overseas as other presidents have done. As it is, he isn’t traveling to King Charles’ coronation. All the other world leaders will be there. It’s a big deal. What happened to America’s “special relationship” with England?

The editorial points out that sure, it’s hard to walk away from such a good life as Biden has in the White House but he’s being selfish to seek reelection.

No doubt it’s hard to walk away from the Oval Office after working for five decades to get there. Flying Marine One home for the weekends beats Amtrak. The chance to pull the levers of power is intoxicating, and that’s also true for the advisers who have pushed him in such a sharply progressive direction in his first term. They know Mr. Biden will lead wherever they want him to go.

But asking the country to elect a man who is 80 years old and whose second term would end when he is 86 is a risky act that borders on selfishness. It’s impossible to know Mr. Biden’s real physical and mental state because the White House goes to great lengths to hide it. But his decline is clear to anyone who isn’t willfully blind. He rarely holds a press conference, and his words are as scripted as possible to avoid embarrassing stumbles that he nonetheless continues to make.

As it is, Biden carries around note cards with very specific instructions to handle some very basic tasks. The note cards tell him when to say hello to those meeting with him, where to sit, when to leave, etc. The cards list the journalists deemed acceptable for him to call upon in the rare instance of a press conference. A giant Easter bunny had to rescue Biden from some inquiring reporters last year at the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House. We’ve seen some truly bizarre things from this White House. And Joe Biden has a problem staying upright. He falls up the stairs on Air Force One and he falls off his bike in front of reporters. Who thought it was a good idea to put him on a bike in the first place?

If Joe Biden runs again and wins again, there is no guarantee that he will be able to serve the full four years. If not, then it falls to his vice president and no one wants Kamala. Democrats didn’t want her as their candidate in 2019 and there is no indication that their opinion has changed. She is even less popular than Joe is and that ain’t good. He will be 82 in 2024, and 86 at the end of his second term. People age at different rates. Joe Biden is not aging gracefully or slowly, though. He already shows early signs of dementia and is usually in dazed and confused mode. He depends on handlers, whether it is staff or his wife and son. It doesn’t send a good message around the world. Biden makes America look weak.

The editorial points out that Biden thinks he is the only Democrat that can beat Trump. However, if he didn’t run for reelection and announced it now, there would be time for a Democrat governor, for example, to put together a competitive campaign. We know California Governor Gavin Newsom is chomping at the bit to run. There are rumors that the rich and bombastic Democrat governor in Illinois also has visions of himself in the Oval Office. Democrats have a shallow bench but they could find someone willing to come forward and find support.

Many Democrats think Mr. Biden is the only man for the job because otherwise they would be stuck with Ms. Harris, a demonstrably bad candidate who has shown little capacity as Veep. But if Mr. Biden bowed out now, Democratic Governors and others would have ample time to organize a campaign and compete for the nomination. The way to get stuck with Ms. Harris is if Mr. Biden clears the field but then has a health setback that forces him to withdraw after the primaries are mostly done.

There are also political risks for Mr. Biden—not least the investigations into son Hunter and the Biden family’s business. Only the Bidens know where this might lead, but the Republicans aren’t going to stop pursuing the story. The way to end all that is not to run.

The editorial board asks if Biden is up to taking a 3:00 p.m. phone call, much less a 3:00 a.m. phone call. Donald Trump is almost as old as Joe Biden but no one is saying he is too old and feeble to run. Biden may want to say he saved America from a second Trump term but few people, other than the most loyal Democrat partisans, think that Biden’s presidency has been a success.

If Mr. Biden ignores all this and does run again, then some prominent Democrat would do the country a service by running against him in the primaries. The polls show that Democratic voters want another candidate. At this moment of great economic and strategic challenge, the United States needs a better presidential choice in 2024 than a redo of Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump.

There may be an appetite for a challenger to Biden from the left. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. already polls at 14% and only entered the primary this week. Granted, he’s a long shot but he opens the door for other brave Democrats willing to take a crack at it. Joe Biden’s ego won’t let him back out unless he can clearly see the writing on the wall. So far, that hasn’t happened. We’ll see what happens Tuesday, though we know what’s coming, don’t we?