A preordained, carefully scripted coronation, or a food fight at a cannibal’s banquet?
To the surprise of no one, Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid following his disastrous debate performance and the failure of subsequent “soft ball” interviews with pre-cleared questions to reassure the public of his mental soundness.
Biden then endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the nomination. Most of the party potentates promptly joined in pledging fealty, in an impressive display of at least momentary party discipline, sending Democrats the clear message, “It’s been decided. Join in or else.” The same folks who long assured us that Biden was in good shape are now assuring us that, despite her electoral disappointments, we all love Kamala.
How will this installation sit with the voters who had voted for the moderate Biden and are now being told to support the progressive Harris? Harris is deeply unpopular, even among Democrats, as illustrated by her dismal showing in her own presidential run in 2020. Her tenure as VP has done little to rehabilitate her image, as illustrated by her failure with the illegal immigration portfolio. The nonsensical “word salads” that erupt when she speaks are not reassuring. Go check them out on YouTube. Her main qualification is that she is not Donald Trump, not a high bar.
Harris is a progressive who was named to sooth the extreme left’s unhappiness with a moderate Joe Biden and has lots of baggage from prior positions to answer for. She tried to raise money to bail out rioters during the George Floyd riots, something that will cast doubts on the sincerity of a Democratic Party that is trying to convince us that they didn’t actually support the politically unpopular defunding of the police. She was anti-vax in 2020, declaring that she wouldn’t trust Trump’s word on the reliability of any COVID vaccine. Her rise in politics through the political patronage of married boyfriend Willie Brown, a California power broker, may concern women who disapprove of the message given to girls from using a romantic liaison with a powerful man as an acceptable way for a woman to advance her career.
The Democrats are trapped with a nightmare candidate and trying to put on a brave and unified face. To some Democrats, it is only “fair” that Harris be given the nomination due to her role as VP. Ask Hillary Clinton how well the entitled “it’s my turn” attitude worked out with the general electorate. But even more destructively, she is seen as the “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) candidate, primarily because Joe Biden famously promised to name a Black woman as his running mate in 2020. Limiting his search to just 7 percent of the population may have helped him secure the 2020 nomination, but it left him with a running mate with questionable qualifications.
Doubt my DEI characterization? Now the Democrats are stuck with a perception by many that the nomination “belongs” to a Black woman, and that nominating anyone else will be an unforgivable betrayal. We had Michelle Obama, and even Oprah, being proposed as alternatives because they would satisfy these expectations, despite the fact that neither has any political experience nor has expressed any interest in running.
The Democrats are the victim of their own infatuation with DEI. DEI may play well with the identity-obsessed progressive Democrats, but it is much less popular with the American mainstream.
So far, Democratic constituencies are playing nice with each other, but that will change as Harris is forced to disclose her intended policies. Will she continue Biden’s support of Israel in the Gaza war, or will she yield to the demands of her own progressives to tilt toward the Palestinians and abandon Israel? With future U.S. policy now up for grabs, progressives will be especially energized and ready to rumble to force compliance. There is no middle-ground compromise available, and either choice will cost them a lot of votes from their base.
John Donegan
Pismo Beach
