Biden is finally gone. The work now needs to be done to defeat Donald Trump.

Louie Villalobos is Director of Opinion Content for the USA TODAY Network.

Finally.

President Joe Biden has finally dropped out. The fear and guesswork are finally over. Democrats can finally focus on defeating Trump and mobilizing voters who have been waiting.

First of all, let us not ignore this historic moment. A sitting president has decided not to run for re-election, while the nation watches his candidacy and health deteriorate.

This is not a small moment. It is a moment to acknowledge and reflect on what it means for the state of American politics and our entire government. Historians will study this era and find us broken.

Today we can realize that Biden has given us the chance to wake up and decide what we want for this country.

Papaw played the banjo in the hollow. I know hillbillies. Vance didn’t tell Appalachia’s story.

Biden’s withdrawal is part of a historic moment that we cannot ignore

Biden’s decision comes after more than a month of campaigning, during which he has resisted growing efforts to unseat him.

His botched debate performance, the failed attempt to fix it, the overwhelming poll numbers and, frankly, the iconic photo of Trump raising his fist in triumph after literally dodging an assassin’s bullet were all too much for a Biden campaign.

Biden is the oldest president in our history, joining a small group of sitting presidents who have decided not to seek a second term. Trump, the second oldest president, is a convicted felon who survived an assassination attempt and is currently leading a reimagining of the Republican Party that for decades has billed itself as the “Party of Reagan.” President Ronald Reagan, by the way, also survived an assassination attempt and is on the path to transforming the party.

We live in history.

Biden’s exit leaves liberals changing their future

Democrats still have a chance to write how they are remembered and avoid losing to one of the most divisive presidents in modern history, who has made election lies and fear at the heart of his party’s movement.

Biden leaving the campaign stage gives Democrats what they’ve been calling for so loudly: a chance to correct course at the end of the race. Despite Biden’s endorsement, I’m not sure Vice President Kamala Harris is one of them. She’s spent most of Biden’s presidency in obscurity. But Harris has begun to publicly expand her influence and appears poised to take control.

Harris can lead Democrats: It’s time. Democrats can build a historic two-woman ticket.

What I do know is that Democrats will have to execute the switch with a degree of campaign skill they have not had thus far.

Liberals should see this as an opportunity. With one name change, they can give their base the renewed energy the campaign desperately needs. They can introduce a new focus on policy and messaging.

But more importantly, Biden is withdrawing so Democrats can turn the age debate away from Trump and his stuttering speeches.

Republicans who have wrapped themselves up in criticism of Biden’s age no longer have the protection of those few extra years when discussing Trump. Now they must consider the aging of their own candidate, who would be 80 if re-elected.

Republicans, you see, need to hear now how Trump is really just picking their junior vice president, J.D. Vance, for when Trump leaves office. And they need to realize that Democrats have publicly questioned whether Biden is still the future of the party. They publicly decided to put country before party. It wasn’t pretty and it took too long. But they did what Republicans wouldn’t do.

The Republican Lie of Unity: Trump’s speech calls for unity. So GOP is cool with wokeness and drag queens now, right?

Democrats will also need to make some gains with their message

Still, Democrats have a lot of work to do. They need to improve their campaign strategy and completely rethink the systems they have in place to reach and communicate with voters.

Trump and the Republicans win on lies, but for some reason liberals can’t stand up to them.

Contrary to what you may hear from Republicans, the following things are not true:

The Way Forward Without Biden

Biden’s dropout could energize the political battle against Trump. It could give Democrats the gift of recalibration behind a new candidate and message. It could help the party reach younger voters who are clamoring for someone to believe in.

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It all depends on how the party responds and on liberals showing a level of campaign competence that we haven’t seen from them. Ultimately, Biden had to go, in part because of how poorly his campaign was run and how poorly his people responded to the last two months.

Now that’s all over. Democrats get a fresh start. Republicans get to tell a new set of lies. And the rest of us can hope for a calmer campaign as we head into November.

Louie Villalobos is Director of Opinion Content for the USA TODAY Network.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden drops out of election as our country finds itself in a broken position