Democratic bigwigs are starting to call for Joe Biden to step aside

Other grandees have been hinting at similar views, or at least refusing to excuse Mr Biden’s doddering inarticulacy. Jared Golden, who represents a rural district in Maine, published an op-ed in a local newspaper stating matter-of-factly, “Donald Trump is going to win. And I’m OK with that.” Sheldon Whitehouse, a senator from Rhode Island, told a local TV station, “Like a lot of people, I was pretty horrified by the debate.” Perhaps most importantly, Nancy Pelosi, a former speaker of the House of Representatives who had initially pooh-poohed concerns about Mr Biden’s fitness, seemed to open the door to doubters by telling an interviewer, “I think it’s a legitimate question to say, ‘Is this an episode—or is this a condition?’”