I would rather not see Joe Biden run for president again. It’s in the news lately, his chances of running again, his chances of winning, the likelihood of his desire to repeat. All of that. Even Smerc’s poll today is about whether Joe Biden should already go ahead and announce. He shouldn’t, it’s too soon. Generally speaking, folks announce their candidacy about a year and a half in advance; that’s another year away. Dastardly Don says he’ll announce one way or another after the midterms. I hope he doesn’t run, either.

I can’t tell you there’s anyone on the radar I favor, it’s too soon for that, too. I’m not into Kamala. Ronaldo down in Florida doesn’t do it for me. I still like Mayor Pete, sure, but is he ready? Is he there? Will he ever be? My best guess is the best bet, for both parties, hasn’t surfaced yet. And when they do, they’ll probably be the two least likely to win.

I didn’t want Joe before, most of you know. In fact, in my ranking of candidates he was #10 in my top 10 just below “anyone else currently running not named Donald Trump or Joe Biden.” But, for two presidential election cycles in a row, my two least favorite candidates have been the only choices left. No, I wasn’t a Hillary fan, either.

Not that Joey’s done a bad job. I still give him an above average grade. A friend of mine, a staunch conservative and Trump guy, called me out on that one, thought I was joking. He even said he looked at the list of 44 prior and said there is no way I could slot him halfway up that field. Well, I’m not grading on a curve but if I was, I would personally put him just below Slick Willie and just above Poppy Bush. So, so far, he’s Ulysses S Grant.

According to History, Grant was beleaguered in his day and considered “one of the worst presidents ever” for a couple of decades after he left. Even Grant agreed, it seems, because he hardly mentions his own presidency in his 1200-page autobiography. But historians today have reconsidered his leadership during a time of strife and now he’s considered top twenty.

With his election in 1868, Grant inherited from President Andrew Johnson a nation in turmoil. Johnson, who had been impeached by Congress but avoided conviction by a single vote, impeded the Reconstruction of the defeated South and fought attempts to extend the full rights of citizenship to formerly enslaved African Americans. As the first president after the Civil War, writes Elizabeth R. Varon, professor of American history at the University of Virginia, “Johnson did more to extend the period of national strife than he did to heal the wounds of war.”

Some of that sounds awfully familiar. Joe also inherited a nation in turmoil from an impeached president and has had to work to heal the wounds of an embattled union during a time of great partisanship. It ain’t easy leading in these times. Time will tell us more.

As Grant left office he said that he will leave “comparisons to history,” as we all must. But, again, I think Joe’s done a fair job, worthy of an above average grade (so far).

But the very reasons I didn’t want Joe before are the reasons I don’t want Joe now: he’s too entrenched and frankly too old. I don’t want Donald Trump, either, because he’s too corrupt and frankly too old. We need to jettison the past, I think, and prepare for the future. Not the liberal future or the conservative future, per se, but the American future. Maybe a leader will emerge.

Or maybe it’ll be Gavin Newsom vs Ron DeSantis. Probably will be. Likely that. Almost certainly. It passes the nose test.

I have to hold mine just to type their names.