Were that not enough, the country is faced with the prospect of twice-impeached felon and former president Donald Trump returning to the White House. The thought of the mendacious, narcisstic, vengeful Trump with those powers is terrifying. Dismiss the notion that “there’s no telling what he would do.” We know better. Trump and his inner circle have told us what he’ll do.

It falls to people who cherish and live by democratic values to stave off that danger. The courts won’t do it. President Biden, healthy or otherwise, cannot do it by himself. Only we, the people, can do what needs doing, to wit: reject Trump and all that he stands for at the polls on Election Day.

Yes, votes are there to keep Trump out of the Oval Office, as they were in the previous presidential election. Trump, simply put, can’t win with only his base of MAGA supporters and fellow travelers, no matter how rabid they are.

Don’t get hung up for the moment on who should be the Democratic standard-bearer. There’s plenty of time to get that sorted out. And there is a rich field of possibilities, should Biden, upon reflection and after broad consultations regarding his health and ability to serve, decide that now is the time to hand on the torch to an able successor.

I trust Biden to make the right call. I became a Senate staffer around the time Biden joined the Senate in 1973. As with other Washington watchers, I have seen Biden’s victories and setbacks through the years. Joe Biden, above all else, is a patriot. He will do what’s in the country’s best interest.

Better to keep focused, and spread the word to family, friends and neighbors, about the world that awaits them if Trump takes the oath of office.

Prosecutions will warp into persecutions. Political foes, real and imagined, in the press and online and in the politicians’ suites, will be subjected to Trump’s whims and power. Pardons and clemency will rain down like manna on Jan. 6, 2021, insurrectionists. Russian President Vladimir Putin will once again have a friend in the White House and an ally against NATO and the West. Immigrants and people from Muslim-majority countries will face an aggressively hostile federal government. Civil rights and LGBTQ+ progress will grind to a halt. The economy will function on behalf of the haves, to the detriment of the have-nots and the left-out. Oh, sure, Trump will go all out to create “Black jobs” — his racist reference to work left for people of color to perform.

So, right now and until Election Day, no matter who is at the top of the ticket, concentrate on defeating Trump and regaining Democratic control of the House and preventing a GOP takeover in the Senate. Visualize Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress. Can you imagine a Republican House doing anything to rein Trump in? A Republican Senate doing anything but acquiescing to any underqualified, politically subservient appointment he chooses to make? Can mules whistle? Armed with Roberts’s ruling, dictator Trump could operate with impunity.

Thus, here we are on the Fourth of July with democracy on the line.

Let this be the day a second Declaration for Independence is launched, proclaimed on behalf of people who reject the notion of an imperial president, and who hold dear democratic ideals and principles. Let us pledge to defend it with our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

But increasingly, what top Democrats appear to be saying is: Maybe he should.

The shift in tone is subtle, but it’s telling. These Democrats have increasingly treated this as a real possibility in ways you avoid if the name of the game is to batten down the hatches and stand by your man. And this is not coming from pundits, editorial boards or backbenchers; it’s coming from party graybeards and potential leaders.

In the aftermath of Thursday’s debate performance from Biden, former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) defended him. “We see Joe Biden up close; we know how attuned he is to the issues, how informed he is,” she said Sunday on CNN. She added: “It was a bad night. Let’s move on from that.”

But on Tuesday, Pelosi called it a “legitimate question to say is [Biden’s debate performance] an episode or is this a condition” — saying the same of Donald Trump, for good measure — and suggested this was a conversation Democrats needed to have.

“This is not a normal election where you want to win — if you don’t, you cooperate and do the best you can for the country and hope to win the next time,” Pelosi said on MSNBC. “This is something that is undermining our democracy. [Trump] must be stopped. He cannot be president. Therefore, people are very concerned.”

Pelosi added: “It’s going to be up to Joe Biden to do what he thinks is — there’s no more patriotic person in our country than this president of the United States. Nobody less than the former president. But Joe Biden — and so I trust his judgment.”

Rep. James E. Clyburn (R-S.C.), who until recently served as the No. 3 House Democratic leader, went even further in entertaining the scenario.

“Now, Joe Biden may decide otherwise [and drop out],” Clyburn said on MSNBC. “But I think the people that I’ve been around the last three days are dug in, in their support for Joe Biden.”

Clyburn even added that, should Biden drop out, the party should go with Vice President Harris as its replacement.

“I will support her if he were to step aside,” Clyburn said, while emphasizing he wants a Biden-Harris ticket. He added: “No, this party should not, in any way, do anything to work around Miss Harris. We should do everything we can to bolster her, whether she’s in second place or at the top of the ticket.”

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), one of those speculated on as a possible replacement, went on CNN on Tuesday night and also treated this as an open question.

“Well, Joe Biden is our nominee, and ultimately that decision on continuing or not will fall to him and his family,” Beshear said. “But I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with asking the president to talk to the American people a little bit more about his health or that debate performance.”

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D), another talked-about presidential contender, also seemed to choose his words carefully Tuesday night on CNN.

“Look, right now, Joe Biden is our nominee,” Pritzker said. “And I’m 100 percent on board with supporting him as our nominee, unless he makes some other decision. And then I think we’re all going to be discussing what’s the best way forward.”

Pritzker even entertained alternatives like Harris, asserting that they could have broad appeal.

“I know there are people in the party that want people to just be quiet,” he said. “But the truth is I think people need to express themselves. We’re a party that accepts that. And I’m pleased about that. And then, we’ll come to a conclusion here. Joe Biden will come to a conclusion about it.”

He added: “Right now, unless he makes some other decision, discussing what’s the best way forward, Joe Biden will come to a conclusion about it.”

These are not the kinds of things you say if this isn’t something you want Biden to at least think about. And they are a marked contrast to the Biden campaign’s line that this just isn’t a consideration at all.

These Democrats are careful to caveat their comments by citing Trump and saying they stand by and support Biden if he stays. But these experienced politicians know those comments will only feed questions about whether Biden can or should continue. You don’t entertain those questions unless you think it’s a vital conversation, because the conversation itself could damage Biden by elevating these concerns.

At least for now, they’re keeping that conversation going. And the Biden campaign’s efforts to tamp it down aren’t working.