Why Democrats must now push out Kamala Harris
By: Douglas MacKinnon (The Hill)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
by Douglas MacKinnon, opinion contributor - 07/06/24 12:00 PM ET
by Douglas MacKinnon, opinion contributor - 07/06/24 12:00 PM ET
It has been reported that aides and allies of Vice President Kamala Harris are upset that her name is not coming up in conversations about which Democrat might best replace President Joe Biden at the convention in late August, should it come to that. The part that adds insult to injury for the vice president and her close supporters is that these conversations are originating with fellow Democrats or liberal pundits.
Since Biden's disastrous debate performance against former President Donald J. Trump on June 27, we have consistently seen the names of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and even Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg thrown into the mix. Often absent from many of the lists of those who might replace Biden is his own vice president. Why?
It's quite easy to understand, once one accepts the premise that many in the liberal mainstream media hate Trump with an unhinged passion and want anyone — anyone — to defeat him in November. Exhibit A in all of this being the New York Times. Time and again, they have rallied to the defense of Biden anytime anyone dared to raise the now obviously legitimate concern that his cognitive decline might render him unsuitable for a second term.
The Times — as recently highlighted in the Wall Street Journal — published a seemingly slanted defense of Biden by blaming concerns about his physical and mental frailties on a "distorted, online version of himself, a product of often misleading videos that play into and reinforce voters' longstanding concerns about his age and abilities." In other words, the NYT was pushing the White House "cheap fake" smears … until it wasn't.
What a difference one debate — that could not be stage managed by Biden's White House handlers or liberal media outlets — makes. As if the editorial writers at the New York Times had just touched an electrified third rail with wet hands, they were instantly shocked into contorting their Biden-protecting selves into a call for Biden to drop out of the race.
What? Whiplash, anyone?
It makes perfect sense if you believe the Times and almost every left-of-center media outlet has little or no use for Biden. They were only willing to pretend to stay in his corner so long as he had a chance to fulfill the mission that consumes their minds: defeating Trump at any cost.
Because of Biden's epic failure at the debate, many liberal news sites and pundits were more than happy to pull back the curtain to reveal that the Democrat's "Wizard of Oz" was being managed by shadowy aides and needed to be replaced as fast as humanly possible. But — by whom?
Again, while multiple names are being bandied about, many seem to agree as to who should not replace Biden: Kamala Harris. First and foremost, because many believe she is simply and truly a lousy candidate. Back in 2020, her campaign for the Democratic nomination imploded so quickly that she didn't even make it to the Iowa caucus.
Beyond that, it has been Democrats who have talked of Harris brow-beating staff members into quitting; of Harris dropping the ball of managing the Southern border; of Harris not being up to the demands of the vice presidency, let alone the presidency. Anyone who cares to take a minute to do an internet search will find those stories and more.
Such as late-night shows which regularly prop up Democrats — "Saturday Night Live" and "The Daily Show" being but two — criticizing or lampooning Harris. For instance, soon after the beginning of the war in Ukraine, SNL's Weekend Update reported: "Many of the members of Congress attending the State of the Union wore blue and yellow to show their support for Ukraine, while Kamala Harris wore all brown to do what she's done for the last year: Disappear into the background."
The Daily Show topped that by putting out a devastating video just last month mocking the Harris habit of turning policy statements into indecipherable "word salads" by featuring her "Holistic Thought Advisor." Again, these are programs and personalities that continually attack Trump while seemingly parroting the lines of the Biden White House. Again … until they turned on a dime against Biden and Harris.
Every single Republican and conservative I know hopes against hope that Biden and Harris will be the ticket come November. Just as every single Democrat I know hopes it will be anyone but Biden and Harris.
None of this is complicated but all of it is political — and personal. All a dilemma of the Democrats' making. They now have but a few weeks to convince Harris that, for the good of the party as well as herself, she must step aside for a more popular standard-bearer at the convention.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall for those conversations.
Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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True statement, hard to dispute it.
Be careful what you say about her.
Why?
No one can credibly shill for Harris, she is an unmitigated disaster and wouldn't stand a chance against Trump.
Were you not here this past week? I won't go into it.
The Harris thing is going to be another big issue for the democrat party. She was chosen by Biden because she was a black woman. That was the promise he made before he selected her. The country has already seen her "qualifications" and many democrats want somebody else. The hand grenade that Joe Biden has inserted into this becomes how does the party of identity politics, which always needs about 90% of the black vote bypass her?
You've heard of the elephant in the room?
She can't be pushed out. It's a racialist party that prioritizes race over qualifications so she's golden.
Thanks for posting this.
I'm sure if the Democrats were in need of helpful advice (that would help them win elections), the first place they would go is to an online site-- and especially look for advice from a Republican!
They should probably start looking for advice somewhere, instead of blowing smoke up each other's ass and obfuscating the obvious.....
Oh but Greg, they do so love them some cornpop farts acrost their whisker biscuits on a sultry summer day.....
LOL
I waited til noon here to start day drinking....the joys of retirement
The truth is sometimes painful to face up to.
Like it or not, Republicans have plan for the consequences of a Democratic Party implosion, too. Democrats certainly won't rush to the Republican banner. And a leaderless Democratic Party threatens the country with death from a thousand cuts.
Hell, the Democrats are leaderless NOW.
And the NATO summit next week could be the first cut of a thousand. If Biden can't whip his own political party into line then how will he hold NATO together?
We'll see how many NATO leaders begin searching for an exit after next weeks summit. Will Zelensky be forced to accept a partition for peace? Don't try to convince us that won't be a topic of discussion.
I thought they were just waiting for the new sliding dimmer switch for their current one to come in.....(Hic)
Democrats pushing Kamala Harris would be a disaster that the party likely would not survive. If Kamal Harris wants to be the nominee then she has to stand up and kick ass. By the same token, if Joe Biden wants to be the nominee then he has to stand up and kick ass. Right now Democrats needs someone to whip the party in line the same way Trump whipped Republicans in line.
Clinton cannot hold the center any longer. And the Presidency is not a participation award any longer. The fact that the Squad has become a minority caucus instead of remaining a fringe thorn proves that we're at the end of an era. Conventional wisdom doesn't work in unconventional times.
European NATO doesn't have the luxury of waiting for the Democratic Party to wail and tear sack cloth. And the party pushing a puppet won't allay the deep-in-the-gut fear that Europe is going to be left holding the Ukrainian bag. Biden and Democrats fearmongering about Trump ain't gonna lower the temperature. If Biden can't whip his own party in line then how the hell will Biden hold NATO unity?
At the moment the Democratic Party is leaderless. If someone doesn't whip the Democratic Party in line then the party if going to fracture into competing caucuses and back-biting factions. So, the party cannot push anyone as a replacement for Biden and expect that to solve the problem. Joe Biden really has turned Democratic Party politics into a political blood sport. Only the strong will survive and only the strongest can whip the party into line.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is not Donald Trump's fault.
You know this will come as QUITE a shock to some here who are convinced beyond reason that Trump is responsible for EVERYTHING that is wrong with the world!
When writers make statements like this , the rest of it is not worth reading.
Because it might say something bad about a Democrat.
Yeah, sure.
We all know that if this were a hit job on Trump with similar sentiments, you would be giving accolades to the highest mountains, because.....
Truuuuuuuuuuuuuuump!!!!!
Democrats made their choice via their primary system. Now they get to live with it.
Sorry, no take backs allowed