Biden says he is staying in. Now he needs a winning campaign.

Biden can start with some humility, recognizing that he is not a young man dedicated to micromanaging the government 16 hours a day. He would do well to make the case that an octogenarian Biden is still the most productive president since Lyndon B. Johnson. His top accomplishments — recovery from a pandemic, a return to prosperity and economic preeminence in the world, a revived and expanded NATO, a historic infrastructure bill, and a brilliant Supreme Court justice (not to mention 200 capable lower court judges) — have positioned the country for future prosperity and security.

In his ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos, Biden argued that he is the indispensable president for another four years. “Who’s going to be able to hold NATO together like me? Who’s going to be able to be in a position where I’m able to keep the Pacific Basin in a position where … we’re at least checkmating China now? Who’s going to — who’s going to do that? Who has that reach?” But he inadvertently made the point that it is not just he who will accomplish these things.

Sure, Biden can show that he still has what it takes to oversee our alliances. He will be hosting the NATO summit this week in Washington. He has no better opportunity to draw on his expertise and relationships, to show Americans he has what it takes to lead the free world. But he should also point out that he has done much of the heavy lifting. He arguably had unique experience and qualifications to rally and expand the NATO alliance after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but managing the alliance is the task of a capable secretary of state working under the direction of an internationalist Democratic president. The work of holding NATO together is not a one-man job.

That will in large part be the work of a team Biden has put in place dedicated to securing U.S. leadership in the world. Do we want Secretary of State Antony Blinken, CIA Director William J. Burns and national security adviser Jake Sullivan guiding our international relationships, or the Trumpian hodgepodge of crackpots and conspiratorialists such as Michael Flynn, Kash Patel and Stephen Miller? The choice is about rational government, noncorrupt government, and government free from conspiracy theories and fearmongering.

Beyond reinforcing his vision and the necessity of maintaining effective government, Biden would be wise to put the American election in the same framework as the French, where the far right was turned aside by the leftist New Popular Front and the center left. The vote for the Democratic nominee, whether Biden or someone else, would mean not only continuity in policies but also a repudiation of fascism, violence, lawlessness, forced birth laws, climate change denial and the rest of the radical Project 2025, the MAGA governing agenda for a new Trump term. “Vote no on Project 25” might be a tad opaque for a Democratic slogan, but it defines the stakes. As in France, vision and ideology (democracy or authoritarianism) are key to America’s future governance, not personality. (Winning elections is another matter.)

Elevating Project 2025, a blueprint for turning government by expertise into government by crackpots and sycophants, will be critical to Biden’s task. Felon and former president Donald Trump may be running away from the toxic game plan, but Biden can make the point (as did the French): No matter what the leader says, we know what his party is all about. In the case of MAGA Republicans, it is about banning abortion and some contraception, blowing up entire government departments, deploying the military against civilians, and creating a police state to undertake a massive dragnet to deport millions of people.

Moreover, the radical Supreme Court majority Trump formed has now unleashed a recipe for judicial tyranny and executive lawlessness. The prospect of Trump-appointed judges (such as Aileen M. Cannon or Matthew J. Kacsmaryk) deciding how many parts per million of pollutants is safe (and innumerable other technical questions) should terrify Americans. Moreover, giving Trump breathtaking immunity to commit crimes in the name of “official acts” is a license for tyranny. Biden, then, must make the election as much about reining in the rogue court as it is about the two nominees. A bold plan to checkmate the court’s worst decisions — codifying Roe, a constitutional amendment stating “The president must follow the law” and serious court reform (e.g., a mandatory ethics code, term limits and court expansion) — can remind voters that our very democracy is at stake.

Biden has the opportunity to make this not about him and Trump but about two parties, two ways of governing and two visions of America. If events change and Biden is compelled to withdraw, that remains the blueprint for a ticket headed by Vice President Harris. It requires candor to acknowledge that being president is as much about the team and the direction the president puts in place. And now, it is a matter of securing functional government (rather than plunging into the Brave New World of Project 2025) and democracy (not rule by a king).

In other words, the vote for Biden in November is really about continuing the direction he set, utilizing the judgment he has demonstrated and retaining professional officials who are obligated to the country, not to the whims of a narcissist.