Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race on Sunday, a move that came as a surprise to no one but true believers. Post to XOf all things, he promised to “speak to the public in more detail about my decision later this week.” Notably, his letter made no mention of a successor. Second Post About 20 minutes later, almost as an afterthought, he offered Vice President Kamala Harris his “full support and endorsement.”
Thanks for the clarification, however the problem is still not solved.
Party leaders have decided that Biden cannot beat Donald Trump this time, and they face the same problem with Biden’s ill-fated running mate.
Democrats are gathering in Chicago on August 19 for what may be the most contentious national convention of the century. In 1924, the Democrats spent more than two weeks and 103 votes selecting John Davis as their candidate, only to lose the general election to Calvin Coolidge. “I don’t belong to any organized political party,” humorist Will Rogers joked when the smoke finally cleared. “I’m a Democrat.”
Beware the hedges: Can bein contrast to right or probablyDemocrats are better at managing conflict than they were a century ago. Bernie SandersThe scourge of socialism in 2016, he was just a week old. The New York TimesHe urged his former political party to support Joe.
“Enough is enough!” wrote the Vermont independent senator. “Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he is the candidate and he should be the candidate.”
It will beOh Bernie, when are you going to learn? The party establishment decides who the nominee is. You know that. To protect “our democracy,” we need nothing less. True democracy is — Actual vote — The risk is just too great.
Kamala’s Problem
With that in mind, don’t think Kamala Harris is the obvious successor or that her nomination is a sure thing. Party officials have decided that Biden can’t beat Donald Trump this time. They face the same questions about Biden’s ill-fated running mate.
Harris is not popular.Her approval rating has remained below 40% all this year and has only occasionally exceeded 40% in 2022 and beyond.
She has never won a party primary. VoteLet alone the presidential primaries. electionRecall that Harris dropped out of the race in December 2019, just weeks before the Iowa caucuses. Her approval ratings have consistently been lower than Biden’s, but they could rise in the coming days as some voters come to terms with Biden dropping out of the race.
Harris is considered by many to be an unstable and volatile manager, a bit of a self-centered one, and her office has reportedly been dysfunctional. The story of 2021 A Politico reporter described the atmosphere as “tense and at times somber.”
“It’s an abusive environment, with people being criticized from the top and short-tempered,” said a person with “direct knowledge” of how Harris’ office operates. “It’s not a healthy environment, and many feel they’re being treated unfairly. It’s not a place where people feel supported, it’s a place where they feel mistreated.”
In the meantime, little seems to have changed. February 2023 New York Times articleFor example, he described Harris as “struggling to carve her way” in the nation’s second-highest office more than halfway through her term.
Kamala’s defenders dismiss her woes as the result of unfair “sexism” and “racism,” and rightly so. In a party dominated by identity politics, Harris ticks a lot of boxes. It’s impossible to read an article about Harris without keeping in mind the fact that she is the first woman, African-American, and South Asian-American to hold the position. (See! Here we go again!)
Others White House Her missteps have left many of the vice president’s closest aides angry, saying she was not adequately prepared or deployed, but rather sidelined.” CNN reported: November 2021.
Ignore her Gaffe and LOLKamala’s supporters say she do.
Okay, let’s do that. Even as Vice President, she has a track record that Trump and the Republican Party can easily attack.
Earlier this year, one in five voters identified themselves as immigrants. Top QuestionsImmigration remains high on the list, competing with the economy and inflation: Democrats may insist that the post-COVID economic recovery is their fault, but they (mainly Harris) must explain why we have the worst inflation since the late 1970s and early 1980s. do not have It’s their fault. First, inflation is cumulative. Don’t take my word for it. Read Carol Ross.
Perhaps more importantly, Joe Biden tasked Harris early in his administration with dealing with the immigration crisis he helped create — a task for which, one might say, she was “ill-prepared and ill-equipped.”
The Democratic counterargument is that, contrary to fanatical right-wing disinformation, Harris has never been a “border czar.” Biden simply asked the vice president in March 2021 to “lead our efforts with Mexico, the Northern Triangle, and donor countries, to help us stop the flow of people, to stop the migration to our southern border.”
Wow! She wasn’t. in chargePerhaps this is why she has only visited the US southern border once, in June 2021, under the direction of impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who Democrats also defend as a competent leader who has never aided or abetted the invasion of the US South in any way. Chinese nationals of military age And it is known Venezuelan gangstersHarris is simply taking responsibility for the failed diplomacy of the past three and a half years that has resulted in over 10 million people crossing the border illegally. Why is that hard to understand? You’ll see in a moment.
Harris wants the Oval Office so badly, and she’s clearly not cut out for it.
Is that possible? Harris It’s not very goodShe seems unable to speak in anything but platitudes and clichés. “You have to know what you stand for. Once you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for,” Harris told The New York Times in 2023. “What that means specifically is less clear,” the Times reporter said with a straight face. (The media’s bias is a bit of a stretch.) Genuineher comrades – even the leftists. They hate her too.
It’s no secret that Harris is farther to the left than Biden on socialist health care and even abortion. Her instincts are also farther to the left than Biden on immigration and national defense. If you thought Biden was too close to Iran, just wait until Harris is sworn in.
She’s also a seasoned opportunist in a party full of opportunists. She got into politics thanks to former California Assembly Speaker and later San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, with whom she was romantically involved in the mid-1990s. During his term as speaker, Brown gave her two high-paying state committee positions and helped her get elected as San Francisco’s first black district attorney in 2004.
Recalling the adage that “politics has no principles,” Harris ran for California attorney general as a law-and-order liberal who was quite happy to jail black men. And Leave it there After the term A few years later, she Paying for the release of thugs and murderers On bail. Don’t ask for consistency. She that’s right On the outside, she appears to be: a career nut. A swindler. A sycophant. A hard worker. A workaholic.
a hackFirst woman, African American and South Asian American hack Win the position of Vice President.
She wants the Oval Office so badly, and she’s clearly not cut out for it.
If not Harris, then who?
The coming days and weeks will be remarkable. Future historians and poets will search for words to describe the absurdity and horror of this event. Some people will not survive the ordeal. Reuters reported on Sunday. Democratic Party chairs in all 50 states have reportedly pledged their allegiance from Biden to Harris. It remains to be seen how that will play out.
What are donors saying? NBC News reported Friday. About 300 major Democratic donors walked out of a Zoom call with Harris in disappointment, but they didn’t blame her. “One person on the call said it was ‘poorly managed’ and ‘too rushed,'” he said, adding that expectations were not managed well and some participants walked out feeling reprimanded.”
“During the call, Harris, who was asked to join the call by a senior Biden adviser, praised Biden, according to a campaign official,” NBC News reported.
Harris lied about her boss until it was no longer possible, and now she and her incompetent team are trying to rewrite the truth.
In a showdown between the giants, Harris is “not adequately prepared or positioned” to win.
Besides Harris, what else could Democrats offer? Conventional wisdom has it that the “candidates” include a host of governors: Gavin Newsom of California, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan; and possible Quixote-style runs by Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
Don’t mind them, they’re ambitious and cowardly, but at least most of them aren’t stupid.
The plain fact is that Biden dropped out of the race because Barack Obama wanted him to. Bill and Hillary Clinton may have something to say about it, too.
The Clintons issued a statement on Sunday endorsing Harris: “We’ve been through many ups and downs, but nothing has worried our country more than the threat posed by a second term for Trump.”And rightly so. GlimpseBut if we’ve learned anything from Bill Clinton’s career, it’s that you shouldn’t take anything he says at face value. So the Clintons’ endorsement of Harris comes with an implicit question and a big caveat: Can she avert a second Trump term, or can’t she? If not, can she? Outside.
If so, why not the Democratic Party’s 2016 nominee, the one they think stole the presidency? Why not her??
Barack Obama hasn’t said anything about Kamala Harris or her candidacy. His bride, Michelle, I’m not interested in the presidency.But that was before Biden’s extraordinary, history-changing retreat. How could Michelle Obama ignore the call of history?
Imagine this: the 2024 Democratic National Convention will be a unique battle between three superstar women: Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama. I won’t predict the outcome, but I will say this: Harris is “not prepared or equipped” to win this clash of superstars.
