(Jewish Group) What this Jewish, gay, 81-year-old Democratic delegate thinks of Biden's decision

As pressure mounted for President Joe Biden to step aside these past few weeks, the only Democrat I knew who thought he should stay in the race was my fourth-grade teacher, Lew Chaim Goldstein. He was also the only person I knew who had a direct role in the debate: Goldstein is a delegate to this year’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, as he was in 1968.

But even Goldstein said Sunday afternoon that he was “relieved” by Biden’s decision not to seek reelection — if only to end the weeks of Democratic Party infighting over it — and especially glad the president had endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.

“It’s good for the country,” Goldstein told me. “I’m very happy our president has done the democratic thing, the patriotic thing.”

I had reached out to Lew — he made me stop calling him Mr. Goldstein after I had kids — in the wake of Biden’s disastrous debate performance. He is 81, the same age as Biden, so I thought he might have some insight into the president’s stumbles. Also, back at P.S. 108 in the Bronx, he’d delivered extraordinary and optimistic civics lessons, and I needed a dose of optimism given the endlessly grim news cycle.

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