(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . 30 minutes of grief, then a pivot from Biden to Harris [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-07-23 I am a big supporter of President Joe Biden. There are many comments and some diaries by me here outlining his accomplishments and successes, including: –strengthening America’s economy and creating a record number of jobs; –leadership and respect around the world, as well as the expansion of NATO; –protecting the rights of women and minorities; –successfully placing hundreds of federal judges on the bench, many of them women and/or minorities, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson; –forgiving at least $160 billion in student loans (despite Republican efforts to stop it); and more. Likewise, I have laid out reasons why President Biden deserved re-election, such as the fact that he is the incumbent president who decided to seek another term, that he won the 2024 primaries (with over 14 million Democratic votes) very handily, and that he’s the only one who has officially beaten Donald Trump. But reality has taken a different turn. While the events of the past few weeks did not play out fairly in my view, President Biden has announced that he will no longer seek the nomination for president in 2024. Instead, Biden has fully endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the job. Normally, I would want to spend days grieving over and processing what happened. However, with the 2024 elections just 105 days away, and the Democratic National Convention only 27 days from now, there is no time for that. Instead, I grieved for about half an hour after the announcement, and then pivoted to support Vice President Harris. From a logical and practical standpoint, supporting Harris right now makes sense. For those such as myself who wanted President Biden’s policies to continue for another term, the most likely person to continue them is his own VP. It is very likely that Harris will say so unequivocally. Furthermore, Harris reportedly is the only one with access to approximately $100 million in prior donations to the Biden/Harris campaign. Any other candidate would have to start essentially from zero, which would make it extremely difficult to wage the kind of campaign and GOTV effort necessary to defeat the Republicans. Likewise, while the “news” media would salivate over a chaotic Democratic convention, history (e.g. 1968, 1972 and 1980) indicates that would lead to a Democratic defeat. Perhaps that’s why Harris has already received many endorsements (President Biden, Bill and Hillary Clinton, many members of Congress including Nancy Pelosi, the Congressional Black Caucus, numerous state governors, big city mayors, the American Federation of Teachers and the Service Employees International Union, etc.); the pledges of enough Democratic delegates to win the nomination; and a record haul of donations (now totaling over $250 million) in just a couple of days. It appears that Harris has, or will have, her nomination essentially wrapped up this week. But beyond these practical concerns, I quickly saw advantages to Harris’ candidacy for president. Of course, she passes the “competent and credible to be president” test with flying colors. Harris is highly intelligent, articulate and energetic. Besides being an excellent and loyal Vice President in the very successful Biden administration, Harris was previously a U.S. Senator from California, before that the Attorney General of California, and even prior to that a prosecutor for Alameda County and then the District Attorney for San Francisco. First and foremost, Harris, still in her 50s, is a Young Fresh Face compared to that Old Guy, Donald Trump. For all the folks who felt that President Biden was too old to run again, obviously he’s out, and the only old candidate left is Trump. In addition to Trump’s advanced age, moreover, many of his issues of apparent physical and cognitive decline are there for all to see. These include difficulties walking down a ramp, problems drinking water, mistaking Barack Obama for President Biden, mistaking Nikki Haley for Nancy Pelosi, mistaking World War II for World War III, forgetting his doctor’s name, forgetting his son’s name, falling asleep at his criminal trial and at the recent Republican National Convention, etc. Indeed, Trump previously suggested that this year’s presidential candidates take a cognitive test. Let’s hold Trump to that suggestion. Second, we will now have an election between the Prosecutor and the Convicted Felon. That makes for some great optics, talking points, and even bumper stickers. If Trump agrees to debate Harris (though I think he will chicken out), she could clean his clock. Third, President Biden will be able to focus almost exclusively on his presidential duties. That includes many crucial matters, such as assisting Ukraine against Russia‘s imperialist invasion; working to achieve a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas; and improving the U.S. economy, which, with inflation down to three percent and interest rates about to decline, is world-leading. Meanwhile, Vice President Harris will continue to hit the campaign trail, holding rallies and public events around the country. And of course, we can still expect President Biden to take part in campaign events. Fourth, with the “Biden’s Age” issue now off the table for the 2024 elections, Harris, Biden and all Democrats can train the spotlight where it belongs: on Donald Trump. There is much to mention, from Trump’s 34 criminal convictions, to being found liable for sexual abuse and defamation of E. Jean Carroll (indeed, the judge in the case said that Trump was found to have committed rape), to instigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection against our democracy based on the Big Lie. Or how about that Trump spent four years in the White House, racking up a disastrous record including deadly COVID inaction, the economic shutdown and 2020 Trump Recession, locking kids in cages, and more? Democrats also have plenty of horrendous Trump/Republican policy plans to run against, including Project 2025 and nationwide bans against abortion and even contraception. While the new political reality may have been thrust upon us, I think the conditions for Kamala Harris and the Democrats to take advantage of it and defeat the Republicans in November are quite favorable. [Originally published at MessagingMatters.com. Copyright 2024 Messaging Matters] [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/7/23/2257240/-30-minutes-of-grief-then-a-pivot-from-Biden-to-Harris?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/