I think there are other things that it can fairly be attributed to. In that letter, he certainly projects a confidence, but I don't believe for a second that the tone taken in that letter isn't a calculated decision with many thoughtful advisors behind. Behind the scenes, I imagine he's done some wavering and has some incredibly nuanced thoughts on the issue.

I think arrogance could be something behind this, but I think it could also be the very realistic fear and understanding that at this late stage, there really is no better and more feasible hope that we have. If he saw another obvious contender to take up the mantle, I wouldn't be shocked if he had acted differently.

Reading this piece made me think of a moment in the show Chernobyl where one of the protagonists acknowledges that figuring out a course of action to deal with the nuclear fallout is impossible because what they were dealing with had never happened before in history.

Politically, our situation has no precedent. We can't know whether we'd be better or worse off with another candidate to take Biden's place on the ticket against this well-established, aspiring tyrant. We can't know what problems might emerge from having Trump run unopposed in those intervening weeks or months. And in the light of that uncertainty, Biden seems like the better option than to enter into an open convention without even a clear sense of what candidate might emerge from it victorious.

Anyway, there's hardly any issue right now on which I can more clearly see both arguments. Right now I'm firmly in the Biden camp, but there's no disputing his doubters' concerns. Thanks for sending this one in!