Democrats: The George Constanza of politics
By Trevor Thomas
Oh, what might have been! The stunning escapade of events that have plagued the Democrat Party the past several weeks could’ve largely been avoided if only Democrats trafficked more frequently in the truth. For example, if the passionate cascade of calls for Joe Biden to exit the presidential race had occurred this time last year, the Democrat party likely would not now be stuck with one of the two holdovers from what has been a disastrous presidential administration.
With Joe Biden quitting the race, the Democrats are almost certainly stuck with Kamala Harris as their presidential nominee. Shortly after his announced departure from the 2024 presidential race, Biden endorsed her. Not long after that, the Clintons endorsed her. Nancy Pelosi has now endorsed her, and as Byron York points out,
[O]nce Biden withdrew, there was a stampede to Harris. By Sunday evening, a majority of House Democrats, a majority of Senate Democrats, a majority of Democratic governors, and all of the state party chairs had committed to support Harris… by Monday morning, Harris was well on her way to securing the Democratic nomination.
As of this writing, CNN reports that Harris has now secured enough delegates to win the Democrat nomination. Nevertheless, as Mr. York also notes, Kamala Harris “is a provably terrible candidate, possibly the worst candidate Democrats could field in their situation.” Because too many Democrats are obsessed with identity politics—especially race and gender identity—they are likely stuck with Harris as their 2024 presidential candidate. Again, it did not have to be this way.
Go back one year, or even just eight months or so ago: if the Democrat party and their apologists had then been honest with only themselves about the shortcomings of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and their “accomplishments,” they could’ve almost completely avoided the disaster in which they now find themselves.
The only thing Democrats really needed at that time was for Joe Biden to say he wasn’t going to seek a second term. If he stubbornly refused (as he indeed did!), then you have the party leaders and the media put the pressure on him that we just witnessed. If this were accomplished with enough time to spare before primary season, then you have a real Democrat primary.
Of course, this hypothetical primary would almost certainly include Kamala Harris. However, as we saw in 2020 (when she had to run in a real primary), because she is a terrible candidate, Harris would almost certainly not be the Democrat nominee. Thus, the Democrat party could’ve had a viable candidate that was neither Biden nor Harris.