Did political correctness and backroom dealing doom the Democratic
ticket from the start?
BY DOUGLAS MACKINNON, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR - 10/19/24 12:00 PM
ET
The Democratic Party has a number of very impressive politicians and
potential candidates within its ranks. That said, most Republicans, some
Democrats and arguably millions of Americans don’t believe Vice
President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are two of them.
It didn’t have to be this way. The Democratic National Committee as well
as the Democratic powerbrokers behind the scenes could have
engineered a much stronger and much more electable ticket. They simply
chose not to. Why? In part, because they were afraid of the optics and the
potential blowback.
I wrote on this site multiple times over the past 18 months that President
Biden would not be the Democratic nominee come November 2024 —
something that seemed painfully obvious to those not in the tank for
Biden or the Democratic machine. Behind the scenes, quite a few people
undoubtably agreed with that assessment. But for Democrats, it was a
reality littered with political tripwires.
One of the main tripwires was that, for political and survival reasons, they
didn’t want to give any oxygen to the Republicans or Trump staff pushing
that same scenario. Better to deny the obvious for as long as possible, so
as not to give Team Trump an issue to exploit.
Arguably, the next major tripwire was that many Democrats — as well as
many in the liberal media — truly did not feel Harris was up to the task of
stepping in for Biden. They surely remembered 2019, during the 2020
Democratic primary, when no one voted for Harris. She had to drop out of
the race before the Iowa caucus. She did so because her campaign, which
started off with a great deal of buzz and media attention, flopped with an
embarrassing thud.
She was the first one out. The former mayor of South Bend, Ind. outlasted
her. That’s not a confidence booster for Democrats behind the scenes this
summer as they pondered whether to push Biden out of the race.
There were several options to create a ticket that did not include Biden,
Harris or Walz. But to do so, all roads would have to go through Harris
herself.
One of the most obvious options would have been to ask or convince
Harris to resign, and then replace her with someone like California Gov.
Gavin Newsom or another proven vote-getter. If that swap were
successful, Biden and the Democrats could have gotten even more
creative. After swearing in Newsom as vice president, Biden could have
then resigned himself a month or two later, making Newsom the sitting
president with the power of the Oval Office behind him.
This form of political musical chairs does have some precedent in the
Nixon White House. On Oct. 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew
resigned. Next, under the process mandated by the 25th Amendment,
Nixon replaced Agnew with Rep. Gerald Ford (R-Mich.). Then, after Nixon
resigned and Ford became president in 1974, Ford hand-picked former
New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller to be his vice president. Whiplash,
anyone?
But again, to pull off something that creative — and potentially
desperately needed, if one wanted to hold on to the White House in 2024
— Democrats would have to travel on the road leading right up to Harris’s
office. For understandable reasons centered around political correctness
and the potential fallout from such a switch, no one on the Democratic
side seemed anxious to ask Harris to step aside, let alone try to convince
her.
Of course, prior to her selection, then-Democratic nominee Biden had
made it clear that he was only going to pick a woman and quite possibly a
woman of color. Enter the slippery slope of filling positions via “identity
politics.” In this case, Harris became not only the first female vice
president, but the first vice president of color.
Understandably and quite rightfully, that infused millions of women and
people of color with pride and hope. But the flipside of that American
“first” is that Harris was all but untouchable, unless she herself decided
that she might not be up to the job of president. Which she obviously did
not.
The next opportunity came at the Democratic National Convention in
August. The Democratic National Committee could have opened the
nominating process — as some Democrats encouraged — to nominate the
most qualified candidate in the most open and above-board manner. They
could have Unfortunately, for Democrats seeking that option, the
powerbrokers behind the scenes — likely including former President
Barack Obama and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi — slammed
the door on that option with the elevation of Harris.
So here we are. “Identity politics” picked Harris. Backroom insiders then
“convinced” Biden to withdraw from the race. Next, Harris and her
backers used identity politics to select Walz as her running mate.
Is Harris-Walz the “dream ticket” most Democrats hoped would lead them
to victory? Doubtful. Could a stronger ticket have been created? Yes.
But we will never know. That said, because the Democrats may have
outsmarted themselves; there are mounting signs that Trump is about to
cruise to victory.
|
|
LOL.
No backroom dealings there! Bwahaha !!!
No secret meetings with Putin, Orban, strange infusion
of cash, Heritage Foundation Project 2025, promises to
Big oil, selling off National Parks, 2 Billion to
family from Arabia, omg, and so, so much more.
Don't worry your pretty little head about political
correctness, what's more impolitic than tacit approval
of murder of the VP?
It would be funny if not so pathetic.
|
|