Biden or Harris for president? The surprising reason to stick with Joe
Unfortunately for those who want Democratic success in 2024, it is virtually impossible to leap past Harris to a new, outside candidate.
I have watched with amazement as some Democrats have responded to President Joe Biden’s obvious mental decline by suggesting Vice President Kamala Harris replace him.
As a Republican, I am reminded of Clint Eastwood’s line from his classic "Dirty Harry" films: "Go ahead, make my day."
Democrats will probably lose with President Biden. They will collapse with Harris as their nominee.
KAMALA HARRIS SPENT MONTHS SHOOTING DOWN CONCERNS OVER BIDEN'S MENTAL COMPETENCY AHEAD OF THE DEBATE
Their concerns about President Biden are legitimate. Beyond the issues of age and competence, there are deeper challenges for his re-election.
The contrast between Trump’s successes and Biden’s failures with the economy, the border, national security, and foreign policy all put President Biden at a huge disadvantage.
It might make sense for a ruthlessly success-oriented Democratic Party to dump Biden and Harris. Govs. Gretchen Whitmer, Andy Beshear, Gavin Newsom, and Josh Shapiro could each bring a fresh face, new ideas, and a focus on the future.
Unfortunately for those who want Democratic success in 2024, it is virtually impossible to leap past Harris to a new, outside candidate.
There would be a total schism among Democrats if there was a serious push to bypass a Black female (who is also the most active pro-abortion advocate in the country).
However, if Vice President Harris is the Democratic nominee, it is likely she will lead the entire party into a disaster. Support for the rest of the Democratic ticket will collapse. We will relive the collapse of the George McGovern campaign in 1972.
Imagine every Democratic candidate being asked if they support the record and policies of Vice President Harris.
The fact is, President Biden’s age has shielded Democrats from a deeper reality: Their own performance and policies are their greatest vulnerabilities.
The establishment media has enthusiastically focused on the age issue because it does not want to focus on high prices, a weak economy, turmoil at the border, massive illegal immigration, the failing education system, absurdly wasteful environmental policies, decaying foreign policy, or Biden’s more extreme political appointees.
Harris wouldn’t have her age as a shield. The focus would be on real policy failures and their real costs to everyday Americans.
Harris would have to explain why she has completely and totally failed as the so-called Border Czar (after three-and-a-half years). Harris has only visited the border once as vice president. While she has been hiding from the border, more than 6 million illegal immigrants have come into the country, and the number keeps going up. This has so far avoided serious media scrutiny. If Harris became the nominee, her appalling dereliction of duty would become unavoidably obvious.
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On President Biden’s cognitive decline, Vice President Harris faces an impossible dilemma. If she says she never noticed it, people might question how involved she was in the White House. However, if she says she noticed his decline months ago – but lied and hid it from the American people – her integrity and credibility would be shattered.
With Harris as the nominee, the bottom would fall out for Democrats with blue-collar union workers across the so-called blue states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. There are some blue-collar and union workers who still identify with Joey from Scranton. There are virtually none who identify with Kamala from San Francisco.
Furthermore, Vice President Harris is far more radical than President Biden.
As a senator, she cosponsored Senator Bernie Sanders $32 trillion socialized medicine bill. But this was small potatoes. Sanders’s $32 trillion socialist measure was barely one-third of the Green New Deal Harris supported with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Harris cosponsored this big government socialist proposal in the Senate despite studies indicating it would kill up to 2 million jobs and cost the average family $165,000.
By the time President Donald Trump and his team finish driving home all Vice President Harris’s vulnerabilities, she would have a hard time carrying even the most Democratic states.
With each new revelation, every Democratic candidate for the House and Senate would be asked "are you for or against Vice President Harris on this issue?" The cross pressures would be enormous, and survivors would flee the sinking ship.
Decaying with Biden may turn out to be a lower risk for Democrats than collapsing with Kamala.