The calamity facing Joe Biden and the Democrats

TWO OF THE better books on the job invented for George Washington share a title: “The Impossible Presidency”. Even the most capable presidents are doomed to fail, writes Jeremi Suri in the more recent of them: “Limiting the failure and achieving some good along the way—that is the best we can expect.”Even by these gloomy standards, Joe Biden is foundering. Having received more votes than any candidate in history, he has seen his collapse. At this point in a first term only Donald Trump was more unpopular. The Democrats have the three top statewide offices in Virginia, which Mr Biden won by ten percentage points a year ago. This augurs poorly for next year’s mid-terms: his party will probably lose its congressional majorities.