I love Joe Biden and I’m sad that he’s no longer able to carry the torch. But I have to say that I’ve never been happier with the Democratic Party. The leadership made the incredibly difficult decision to stand up to a very successful and admirable president and insist that despite winning the nomination of the party in a walk, that he could not be allowed to accept it. I wish they had been able to convince Biden without having to push so hard and so publicly, but they did not back down from their responsibility. There was no way we could responsibly argue that Biden would be fit to serve another four and a half years in office, and the American people simply were not going to believe it.
I do think in an ideal world, the alternative to Biden would be someone who is not a part of his (unjustly) unpopular incumbent administration, but we don’t live in an ideal world. The simplest solution was to go with Kamala Harris and, if there were ever going to be someone else, Biden put the kibosh on it when he wholeheartedly endorsed her. At that point, it was ensured that she would have the delegates needed and the right thing to do was to rally around her.
I know pushing Biden aside was not something Obama, Pelosi, Schumer and Jeffries wanted to do. It seems so unfair and unkind. But we all age, and to be candid about it Biden wasn’t necessarily supposed to run for a second term. He kind of suggested he wouldn’t. But that’s all water under the bridge now. Biden finally saw the light, or more precisely the devastating battleground poll numbers, and now he’ll go down as a kind of Cincinnatus who gave up power for the good of the country and went back to his plow.
Now his negatives transfer to Harris’s opponent. People want a new president, not one we’ve already tried. They want someone fresh and young, not an old retread. They want someone lucid and vibrant, not a rambling narcoleptic like Trump. It’s easy to feel the instant infusion of energy and optimism that arrived the moment Biden bowed out, and that’s a pretty strong indication that it was a popular decision. Harris’s astonishing fundraising numbers are another indication.
The Democratic Party really came through here. And the Republican Party, which has never acknowledged the problems with Trump and never stood up to him, is still the same shambolic mess that couldn’t elect a Speaker of the House. Their presentation of unity at the Republican National Convention was a mirage and it won’t stand up.
It’s possible the Democrats still lose this election but I am so grateful that they did something bold rather than just waddling into the threshing blades.
This wasn’t about big donors or some undemocratic process. This was about a political organization operating on the highest level under the most intense pressure.
Hear, hear!
A month ago I made the internal decision that, based on my ignorance of Biden’s heath and my powerlessness to affect whatever decision he and other party leaders made, I would confine my blogging on this issue to what was going on and what the real politics involved were (as opposed to the West Wing/fantasy politics of Oprah, Taylor Swift, and Condoleeza Rice “hosting” a reality TV show version of “So You Want To Be President?”. (Some examples here: https://masscommons.wordpress.com/category/politics/) And I was, I think, more inclined to defer to Biden than you and some other analysts I respect highly. (But that was a matter of opinion, not of analysis.)
This analysis is on target. Pelosi, Obama, Schumer, Jeffries, et al, did their own version of what Goldwater, Scott, and Rhodes did to force Nixon’s hand in 1974. Biden used his remaining power to endorse Harris (apparently against the wishes of Pelosi, Obama, and others), thereby kicking off the process that has allowed the party to reunite so quickly behind her. Harris herself hasn’t, as far as I can tell, made a misstep in the whole process.
First she loyally and vigorously defended her boss for three weeks, (further) earning his support and endorsement, then deftly handled the past two days since his announcement: making over 100 phone calls to party leaders on Sunday, asking for and receiving support from many (most?) of them, quickly moving to secure a majority of delegates, raising over $100 million, addressing her staff, holding her first campaign rally, and doing so (it seems) without alienating any of the party’s many factions.
This moment of euphoria will fade—and I agree with your recent tweet/prediction that there will be at least 3 more mind-blowing twists in this election—but it’s encouraging to see the party function so well in a situation like this.
I suspect that for Pelosi at least, she wanted Harris all along but wanted her to go through a process of earning it. Others may have hoped the process would result in an alternative.
Pelosi is amazing.
I’ve been surprised at how emotional I’ve been over the past few days just absorbing all of this. The fear that we were going to aimlessly drift into oblivion was so deep seated, it’s been therapeutic letting it go. If we’re going to go down, at least we go down swinging.
I know we are always living in historic times, but there will be entire books written about the monumental transformation of the race during this last week. I am in awe.
Over the past few weeks I have been dealing with my father going into the hospital, from the hospital to hospice, and eventually dying this past weekend. All of that, on top of the dire electoral situation that we have been facing has pretty much had me in the most depressed state of my life. My emotions have been more fragile than I ever remember. But at least over these past few days there have been glimmers of hope around the election, and that has certainly helped me feel at least just a little bit better than I have in quite some time. While I know nothing is certain, there are some things I can now cling to as objects of hope during what has been a very dark time. I’ll take all of the good news I can get right now.