After his calamitous debate performance, the knives came out for Joe Biden. The media snowball gathered momentum and size as it rolled down the democratic political mountain. Through it all, he stood firm, vowing to stay the course.
For three years, Trump’s team has been building and executing its Biden attack playbook. The debate only solidified their view that Biden was failing in front of the entire nation and that the comparatively vigorous Trump would easily prevail.
Two and a half weeks later came the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump, his selection of 39-year old J.D. Vance as the Party’s vice presidential nominee, and the white-nationalistic religious experience known as the Republican National Convention, where Messiah-like adoration of the former president was on full display. He was venerated as “touched by God” in dodging the high-speed lead.
Party conventions are always major marketing opportunities, and last week’s RNC’s was no different. Candidates expect, and usually get, significant bumps in the polls that follow. Republicans anticipated such a bump after what they considered a highly successful convention in Milwaukee. But yesterday afternoon, Joe Biden threw a great big spanner into the works when he announced his decision to withdraw from the contest and endorse Vice-President Kamala Harris for the Presidency. Harris is 19 years younger than Donald Trump, so the age thing is suddenly no longer an option. If Trump wins on 5 November, he’ll be the oldest President ever elected.
Immediate reaction from Trump’s brain trust was anger. Their best laid plans had gone awry. What to do now?
Well, how about blaming Harris for everything Biden did in his three and a half years, because she was the real power behind the throne?
Of course, most of what Biden did in those years is terrifically popular across the country. Inflation is down, employment is up, real earnings have been rising, the Infrastructure Act has funded 40,000 projects and given 37,600 jobs to construction workers repaving America and repairing our worn out bridges that have been ignored for decades. Crime has plummeted, especially in the blue states Trump continually smears, as well as in the border states where immigrants cross into the U.S. And since Biden’s Executive Order restricting illegal immigration, border crossings have dropped precipitously. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s overturning Roe v. Wade has adversely impacted women’s health in the 21 red states that have restricted or banned abortion and energized the women of the country to become even more politically active.
As I write this, California democrats are meeting and are about to pledge their convention delegates to Harris. This will give her more than one thousand since yesterday afternoon and will put her more than halfway to the 1,986 she needs to secure the nomination.
This morning, the Editorial Board of the Washington Post called for a “contested” Democratic Convention, saying it “would be good for the country.” I strongly disagree. The last time that happened was 1968, and it did not work out well. Richard Nixon won in a landslide. No, Democrats should unite behind Kamala Harris and begin right now to bring the battle to Donald Trump and his sycophantic enablers. They should abandon any idea of internecine warfare and follow the courageous lead of Joe Biden.
