When boxed in with no good choices, won’t a surprise punt disrupt the competition?
Let’s attend to Einstein’s compact wisdom, “Everything must be as simple as possible but not simpler.” Or trust Occam’s Razor: When the simple solution solves a problem, beware more complicated ones. Admittedly, my out of the box thinking here tests traditional political plausibility. Consider it a logical thought experiment that simply and cleanly, without obvious downsides, resolves a debilitating, frustrating party dilemma. Compare the scenario to Vito Corleone’s retirement in the Godfather, empowering son Michael, yet remaining the best backup in tight fixes, “Who’s a better consigliere than my father?”
Of course, the guy reluctant to admit he can’t beat Trump may gag at being demoted to second in command. Yet consider the solid logic that simply reversing the ticket, dramatically highlighting a younger, fresher face, without big negatives or scandals, and keeping high alignment with Biden’s popular policies, values, and high expertise. Harris could even reframe the Gaza disaster; could she do worse politically? That aside, Biden, superior to any other modern president, demonstrated (at the NATO press conference) impressive mastery of international and military affairs, plus contacts with foreign leaders, especially bad guys. Trump, in contrast, pumps out uninformed, idiotic propaganda on overseas affairs and belligerently inhumane invasions.
Not only navigating the high-wire VP role, she was appointed the administration voice on the degradation of abortion rights after the Dobbs disaster. A president Harris instantly dispatches all the unshakeable concerns about Biden’s health, stamina, toughness or lucidity. The vigorous Harris can go 16 hours a day and be sharper than any sagging oldster at quick decision-making amidst a 3 am crisis. She can still boast about, then better publicize the range of exceptional administration legislative gains, reinforce climate change moves, and confront the chronic, seemingly unstoppable police abuse of minorities.
Multiple benefits, few downsides
Already the best modern VP, Biden wouldn’t face term limits since they only apply to the presidency. Even were Biden’s health to falter in a year or two, replacing a VP is so much less traumatic than elevating a new president mid-term. In the unforeseen event that Harris cannot serve until 2028, who’d be better to step in than the most qualified, experienced commander-in-chief in America? Then Biden would pick another younger VP, ready to serve if he then decides for whatever reason enough is enough and he wants out.
All in all, here’s an easy to achieve win-win, low fuss change, with a snap transition on fundraising, organization and top campaign personnel, even WH staff. Everything is set in place and all that happens is switching the national ticket and roles. What else more simply leverages all of Harris’s (still not visible) strengths with all of Biden’s invaluable job experience and skill-sets? We know without question they work together seamlessly—and I suspect the savvy Harris would welcome a supportive, veteran mentor who won’t ever compete for her job. In short, think of this switch as an active Biden semi-retirement situation that holds the Democratic Party together, answering to the omnipresent aging threat while bypassing Convention floor fight schisms.
Logic here, not personal endorsement
To be clear, I am not endorsing Harris as the strongest (or only) David against Trumpian Goliath, simply analyzing the logic of the situation and mulling over one clear solution. Personally, my nomination of “the candidate who can best beat Trump” would not be Harris (vulnerable nationally as a black, female from California). A popular, successful governor from a key state and without much federal record (from MI or PA), even Senator Sherrod Brown, would not be tarnished by proximity to the mixed Biden administration.
Many think more weeks of eye-catching Democratic anxieties only make Biden and the party look bad. Despite the mass of evidence defining a classic, compromised candidate, plus truly unsatisfactory overall WH messaging, Biden still refuses to hear significant, realistic negatives. I also assume, were he to withdraw, that he (and many establishment Dems) would quickly back Kamala, with more poise and better VP judgment than most (like Cheney or pathetic Dan Quayle).
Now we are clouded by massive dread about “frailty,” understandable fears about four more years, and bad Biden public appearances, plus issues of time, fundraising and organization. Thus I’d welcome hearing downsides to the simplicity of reversing the 2020 ticket—and putting Harris on top? I see lots of positives and mainly one significant obstacle—the prospect of having the first woman running the White House. Though her background and race will not win over racially-biased independents, happily she doesn’t have to be the first “minority” president. Though not a progressive favorite, Harris brings courage, high intelligence and awareness about law, courts and justice (none evaporating even if Trump loses). Making her name as a successful criminal prosecutor, she has more tools and the right personality to slam Trump as a dishonest, lying criminal huckster he is, certainly more than Biden managed in the last months.
A rational switch that could soar
Does Harris not resolve all the crippling aging issues, and that miserable debate not linked to her, presenting a youthful, energetic ex-senator and VP thus with considerable federal experience. Though I don’t think the Biden White House maximized her skills and visibility, giving her high-profile jobs like Obama gave Joe, she lacks the five decades of Biden baggage—and a moderate voting record. Even as a quasi-presidential candidate, her polling numbers are even or slightly better than Joe’s—and she’s not yet well known either to the majority of voters or less politically aware. No doubt Harris will naturally recover wayward or uncertain black and minority voters, plus young people pissed off at Biden’s failure to rein in Israeli brutality. She could recover lost Silicon Valley support (on bitcoin regulations) and fundraising now decidedly hesitant about Biden’s chances and age.
I make no claims this is the silver bullet that will promptly reverse the Tenacious Trump Terror Threat, nor shift his hard-line support. But if she is competent at national campaigning, Harris will articulate her own vision, with superior messages that could well kick start a faltering, even failing campaign. Tracking the logic of the problematic dynamics, I would not dread a more open party selection process. That could instigate greater visibility in key states for what is a stronger than average party bench. If Biden withdraws, an increasing prospect, Harris will then play a paramount role. But if she’s not the one, almost any Dem alternative looks better right now against the Orange Rampage.
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