Here is a post from Charlie Pierce's blog at Esquire - a sane look at the alternatives in this situation.....
Charlie is correct in the fact that it is either Biden or Harris on the ballot in Nov.
Why?
1. If Biden resigns tomorrow, Harris becomes the first woman President and is the first black woman president. There is no way she is not the candidate in Nov. If the Democratic Party were to kick her off the ticket for a white woman or man, there would not be a Democratic party left.
Besides, Harris has all the qualification to be a good president.
2. If Biden says he's not running but stays in office. He will support Harris for president, and she will be the nominee.
3. If Biden stays in the race and has a stroke or dies next week, Harris is President and the candidate.
4. If Biden/Harris win in Nov and Biden has a stroke of dies, Harris is the President
5. If Dems support Biden/Harris we can win regardless of what happens to Biden.
6. If Dems decide to drop Biden and don't back Harris, we lose and Trump is President.
Dems have a history of throwing the Presidency away. In 1968, we threw away LBJ who passed the voting and civil rights acts, Medicare, Medicaid. and was negotiating a peace to the Vietnam war, but we went to Chicago and destroyed Humphrey, the most progressive Democrat of his time, and what did we get, Nixon who sabotaged LBJ's peace efforts and gave us 7 more years of war.
We did it to Al Gore and to Hillary. And the nation got GWB and Trump and 2 twenty-year wars. 3 massive tax cuts for the rich and corporations, the worst financial recession in history and the worst response to the pandemic.
I'll take #5 for $500, Alex -- or Bruce, or Charlie . . . There's little doubt in my mind that VP Harris has the chops to be president, but I'm not at all sure she could win an election in her own right at this point. My doubts have nothing to do with her and everything to do with the sexism and/or racism of too much of the electorate, including many who claim to be moderate, liberal, or progressive.
Yes, the forlorn hope here is that the prospect of the Orange Rind and his evil minions getting back into power will energize people to forget their prejudices and vote for democracy, not necessarily Kamala or whoever..... A thin reed I'll grant, but it is what we have going for us. I have no doubt Kamala Harris would make a fine president.....
I do believe that those who are concerned about the state of democracy and/or the state of women's rights will vote for Biden for the same reason. However, I'm not sure that most of the electorate even knows what "democracy" is, or could be. The GOP has been becoming progressively less democratic since at least the mid-60s -- they were only pro-democracy if white Christians (or at least nominal Christians) were guaranteed control -- and from Gingrich to Trump it's become overtly anti-democratic. The Democratic Party hasn't been all that gung-ho for democracy either, but "we the people" -- esp. the non-white, non-male people among us -- have a much better chance of influencing the future course of events with the Dems than with the GOP.
We are like a herd of skittish cats on a porch with a rocker that gets to moving when the wind blows. We scatter ... or attack each other. Yet the rocker stays where it is. Boo! Scardie cats.
Here is a post from Charlie Pierce's blog at Esquire - a sane look at the alternatives in this situation.....
Charlie is correct in the fact that it is either Biden or Harris on the ballot in Nov.
Why?
1. If Biden resigns tomorrow, Harris becomes the first woman President and is the first black woman president. There is no way she is not the candidate in Nov. If the Democratic Party were to kick her off the ticket for a white woman or man, there would not be a Democratic party left.
Besides, Harris has all the qualification to be a good president.
2. If Biden says he's not running but stays in office. He will support Harris for president, and she will be the nominee.
3. If Biden stays in the race and has a stroke or dies next week, Harris is President and the candidate.
4. If Biden/Harris win in Nov and Biden has a stroke of dies, Harris is the President
5. If Dems support Biden/Harris we can win regardless of what happens to Biden.
6. If Dems decide to drop Biden and don't back Harris, we lose and Trump is President.
Dems have a history of throwing the Presidency away. In 1968, we threw away LBJ who passed the voting and civil rights acts, Medicare, Medicaid. and was negotiating a peace to the Vietnam war, but we went to Chicago and destroyed Humphrey, the most progressive Democrat of his time, and what did we get, Nixon who sabotaged LBJ's peace efforts and gave us 7 more years of war.
We did it to Al Gore and to Hillary. And the nation got GWB and Trump and 2 twenty-year wars. 3 massive tax cuts for the rich and corporations, the worst financial recession in history and the worst response to the pandemic.
Sometimes Cassandra is right.....
I'll take #5 for $500, Alex -- or Bruce, or Charlie . . . There's little doubt in my mind that VP Harris has the chops to be president, but I'm not at all sure she could win an election in her own right at this point. My doubts have nothing to do with her and everything to do with the sexism and/or racism of too much of the electorate, including many who claim to be moderate, liberal, or progressive.
Yes, the forlorn hope here is that the prospect of the Orange Rind and his evil minions getting back into power will energize people to forget their prejudices and vote for democracy, not necessarily Kamala or whoever..... A thin reed I'll grant, but it is what we have going for us. I have no doubt Kamala Harris would make a fine president.....
I do believe that those who are concerned about the state of democracy and/or the state of women's rights will vote for Biden for the same reason. However, I'm not sure that most of the electorate even knows what "democracy" is, or could be. The GOP has been becoming progressively less democratic since at least the mid-60s -- they were only pro-democracy if white Christians (or at least nominal Christians) were guaranteed control -- and from Gingrich to Trump it's become overtly anti-democratic. The Democratic Party hasn't been all that gung-ho for democracy either, but "we the people" -- esp. the non-white, non-male people among us -- have a much better chance of influencing the future course of events with the Dems than with the GOP.
We are like a herd of skittish cats on a porch with a rocker that gets to moving when the wind blows. We scatter ... or attack each other. Yet the rocker stays where it is. Boo! Scardie cats.
Can you post a link to the article? I went to his page on Esquire, and was not able to find a it. Thanks!
Here is the URL: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a61477104/democrats-biden-president-race/ You'll have to scroll down a few pages of comments to get to this quote. The post is about "Joe Biden, candidate".....
Thank you!