Here's how Biden, Trump exit the 2024 race

Joe Biden and Donald Trump should look to the world of golf as 2024 approaches

What a mess. 

The United States of America, the greatest country in the world, looks set to field one candidate for president in 2024 who faces possible impeachment and is trying to put his opponent in jail and another who has now been indicted by three different prosecutors and who continues to deny the results of the last election.

No matter your politics, this is not a healthy state of affairs. People on both sides of the aisle will be mostly voting out of anger and hatred in 2024 and not because they admire their candidate. Polling shows the public has a historically low opinion of both Joe Biden and Donald Trump. 

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Democrats are consumed – yes, nearly deranged – by hatred of Donald Trump, even though our country prospered under his leadership. Republicans are equally furious that the former president has been falsely accused on bogus charges for years, and now faces what many consider politically-driven prosecutions.  

Is there a way out of this predicament? Perhaps

When playing golf, players occasionally enjoy a "good-good" moment. Both have arrived on the green, perhaps four feet from the hole. Neither is in contention to win the contest, both are tired and instead of requiring each other to make the remaining putt, they declare "good-good." They give each other that last putt and walk off the green happy. 

For the good of the country, that’s what we need from Joe Biden and Donald Trump: a "good-good" moment. What would that look like?

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Joe Biden should offer to pardon Donald Trump of all current and future federal charges, in return for the former president stepping out of the 2024 race. For his part, Donald Trump should convince Republicans to drop their investigations into Hunter and Joe Biden’s possible criminal activities in return for Joe Biden agreeing to do the same: exiting the 2024 election. 

What would happen then? Democrats would quickly spring into primary mode, allowing Govs. Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer and numerous other wannabes a shot at becoming the party’s 2024 candidate. Republican primaries would move forward, with all candidates but Trump on the ballot.

Why would both parties and the two current candidates agree to such an arrangement?

Let’s start with former President Trump. He is currently battling three different prosecutions and is bleeding cash to pay his legal bills. According to the New York Times, Save America, Trump’s political action committee, has spent over $40 million in legal fees so far this year to help defend not only the former president but also others caught up in his legal web. 

More indictments are likely to follow, including a charge that Trump attempted to interfere in Georgia’s 2020 election. At some point, his supporters may decide that funding Trump’s legal bills is not what they signed up for.

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Being the target of endless investigations and indictments cannot be enjoyable for a former president, no matter how combative and angry he is and no matter how many supporters urge him to fight on. If Trump bowed out, he would still have a mighty role in GOP politics; he could play kingmaker and also be revered going forward for doing the right thing for the country.

For sure, it would be the right thing. The GOP desperately needs to take back control of the U.S. Many of Biden’s policies, like his open border or his war on fossil fuels, are seriously undermining our long-term outlook. Some are not reversible

Republicans need to start winning elections and are poised to do so. They are currently ahead in the generic ballot, which is unusual; there is every chance they will win the White House and also control of the senate in 2024. 

They have an excellent bench of candidates, with more waiting in the wings. Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott and others are proven contenders and have substantial backing. Glenn Youngkin, governor of Virginia, might enter the race; businessman Vivek Ramaswammy has excited some voters and former Vice President Mike Pence also has a solid following.

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The GOP would go into the 2024 race more united and most probably with a competitive, capable candidate. 

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Meanwhile, Democrats would be overjoyed to dump their aging and unpopular president. They could initiate an open primary that would allow someone other than their equally unpopular Vice President Kamala Harris to become the standard-bearer in 2024. Democrats know it is time for the next generation to take over and that they stand a good chance of losing with Biden at the helm.

What could convince Joe Biden to quit? Almost surely ongoing investigations will turn up more evidence of wrongdoing by the president. By bowing out, he could escape a likely impeachment vote in the House and a possible Senate trial after the 2024 election. He could retire with some remaining dignity. 

Biden has said on several occasions that he ran for president to "save" democracy and has indicated that his main objective was to prevent Trump from reentering the Oval Office. If The Donald were to withdraw from the race, Biden would have no excuse for defying polling that shows his party is ready for a different candidate. 

Former President Donald Trump takes the stage during an organizing event at Fervent Calvary Chapel on July 8, 2023, in Las Vegas.  ((Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images))

Trump is not only being prosecuted in federal court. New York City DA Alvin Bragg has brought flimsy charges against the former president and the state of Georgia also appears poised to indict him on tampering with the 2020 election. President Biden cannot pardon his rival on such state charges, but could presumably convince those prosecutors to drop the cases, for the good of the country.

Clearly, this proposal is a long shot. But Republicans and Democrats both stand to benefit from a changing of the guard.  When two-thirds of the country says we’re on the wrong track, it’s time for a reboot.

It’s time to give both Biden and Trump that last putt.