A Very Few Notes on the Biden Decision and All That Follows
What Happened and Why?
The truth is that we really don’t know what all happened that led to the Sunday decision, although there is a ton of speculation and slowly some reliable leaks and back stories are coming out. There was a lot going on in public and behind the scenes and it likely will take some time to sort it all out. But in candor, all that is of interest, but is not especially important. What is important is what happens the next 100 days or so.
The Why is pretty clear. As much as he hated the fact, Biden, in my opinion, came to believe that his path to victory as largely gone, that he would be unable to reclaim it sufficiently to have a good chance to win, and that he would take a lot of other candidates down with him. He always said, including in the previous election, that he ran because he thought he had the best chance to defeat Trump. When that no longer was the case, he did the right and honorable thing and stepped aside.
Here is a Mystery
Clearly, once the decision was made, he wanted to get it out immediately before leaks happened. I surely understand that, but I remain bamboozled why, of all outlets, he chose the media site X, owned by “$48 million a month to Trump” Musk, to make his announcement. There are lots of other outlets and within minutes of using any of them, it would have gone global. I quit my Twitter accounts long ago in disgust over what Musk had wrought – sorry Biden has not done the same.
A Model Transition
It appears that at least at this point, the entire Biden-Harris apparatus and staffing just flipped over to become the Harris apparatus, a smart move, especially given the short amount of time until the election. Changes may be made along the way – Harris has a reputation as a difficult boss who has often had high staff turnover, but time will tell.
Wait until the first serious campaign error or political surprise and see how they handle it within the team. That will tell us much about how the campaign is likely to go.
How to Conclude the Nomination And With Who Else On The Ticket?
One would hope Harris nails down the nomination commitments from delegates and others quickly but as much as I would hate to loose any more time, sealing the deal in a preconvention virtual vote seems a bad idea. Better to eat the time and do the nomination live and in person – along with a lovefest of gratitude to Biden. My guess is Pelosi and Obama feel the same; hope it goes that way.
As for the potential VP, there is quite a roster of really excellent candidates, including some who could be presidential nominee competitors (with most endorsing Harris in short order). It will be one of Harris’ first major decisions. It will be interesting to see if she does a better job of it than Trump did. As noted, a lot of good candidates. At this point, the governors of Kentucky and Illinois look awful good to me, but pretty well no one I see on the short lists seems a looser. I would love to see Pete Buttigieg rise to the occasion, but I don’t see that in this round.
A Closing Note, With A Link You Should Follow
When Biden ran in 2016, he was fourth on my candidates list. I always thought he would be a pretty good president, but I worried that he would be a lousy candidate and that age would be a problem. He got a second wind as a candidate and turned out to be a fabulous president. In almost every category I look at, he has either hit it out of the park or at least greatly exceeded expectations. He will go down in history as a top tier president and we owe him much. The age think did catch up, sadly.
Michael Beschloss had a terrific column on all this the day Biden announced his decision. I heartily recommend you take a moment to read it. Bechloss habitually does great writing and analysis, but this is one of the very best. He says what needed to be said about the decision and looking forward. You will find little to read elsewhere as valuable as this one: https://substack.com/home/post/p-146855500
106 Days and Counting
Good luck, America. History is being made on a major scale, and we are all part of it.
Bill Clontz
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Bill,
What a wild few days! I was firmly in the Biden camp as I think he has been a fantastic President. However, I agree the age thing has finally caught up with him. I was sad/relieved to see him step aside and am now, pleasantly, invigorated with the Harris campaign. This energy has been missing from the Democrats and I’m thrilled to see it happening.
Now, for the VP: I’m from Kentucky and I have to say we have been blessed to have Andy Beshear as our Governor. He has had a difficult job dealing with one natural disaster after another and dealing with a decidedly uncooperative Republican government in Frankfort. He has risen to the occasion all the while showing his integrity and compassion to all the citizens of The Commonwealth. He would most certainly make a fine VP, but I sure would be sad for us here in Kentucky to see him leave before he completes his second term.
My hope for our country has reached new heights with these latest developments and am looking forward to the next 100 days!
Rebecca Hammond
I agree, Beshear is most impressive. I doubt if he will get the nod, but happy if he did. He has great national potential.