"I read the news today, oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad. . ."
The next line in the Beatle song is "well I just had to laugh." I'm not laughing.
This is an alarm bell. We can deal with it.
I bring to today's post my perspective as a Financial Advisor, who sometimes included life insurance in financial plans for clients. Life insurance agents acknowledge aging and death. They don't hide from it. They provide a solution to its financial consequences. People feel better when they confront and solve unpleasant problems.
Mitch McConnell froze again. Part of the scene is the care of staff people who were standing beside him. McConnell is propped up by staff people who know full well that the boss is failing.
Both Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden were born in 1942. McConnell is 81, Biden turns 81 in November. Democrats are making a giant mistake. They are taking a risk, without having prepared an adequate Plan B. Democrats are hoping that nothing bad happens between now and the November 2024 election, and they are hoping that the lack of health events -- combined with Trump's craziness and criminality -- will cause voters to decide it is safer to choose old-Biden over crazy-Trump for a four year term. The video showing McConnell's aide coming to his side is increasingly part of the story of senior political leaders. They are thought to be figureheads.
One heart arrhythmia event, one stumble, one frozen moment like the one McConnell had, and all of a sudden voters are choosing between dangerously feeble vs. crazy. Democrats have painted themselves into a corner. Governors Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, Jared Polis, and Gavin Newsom are holding back. A half dozen senators who ran in 2020 are staying quiet. Democrats are conceding the nomination to Biden. I think that is a mistake, but since they are taking that approach, let's be smart about it. Plan B means elevating Kamala Harris, and doing so now.
Some of this needs to be done with physical theater. This will inevitably diminish Biden, and pundits will comment on it. Harris cannot stay near-invisible and she cannot remain in the public mind behind and two steps to the left of Biden, the usual VP position. This isn't the usual situation. Harris stepping in is not a remote, theoretical possibility. Harris taking over is plausible, even likely.
Kamala Harris is a perfectly competent campaigner. I watched her. She was as good as everyone else in 2020. Better at campaigning than Biden, by far. She lost in 2020 because she was little known and she was one of 20, lost in the scrum. She can move an audience.
Give Kamala Harris some visibility. Give her speaking parts where she announces things that presidents might usually announce. Biden should probably have some good reason not to be there when she does this, for example schedule him doing something else at the same time. Will that make Biden look weak? Yes, probably. But it will also show that he wisely planned for continuity. Airplanes have co-pilots. It isn't an insult to the pilot. It communicates safety and competence for the airline. Wouldn't Kamala Harris be doing some of Biden's job? Darned right she would be. Good for him. Good for her. Good for the USA.
Also put Harris in charge of some do-able policy initiative in the foreign policy sphere, where she won't need the cooperation of Republicans. She won't get cooperation, so don't saddle her with frustration and failure. Let her confront China on trade. And Russia on Ukraine. Let her be announce whatever oil deals we make with Middle East petro-states.
Nikki Haley is saying something bold, edgy, and true. She is positing the death or incapacity in office of Biden. Democrats pretend to be shocked at the impertinence. They should not be. They should embrace it. Life insurance agents do it and turn it into a business opportunity.
Whenever I mention Biden's frailty in this blog I get a burst of objections from Democratic activists. Don't say it, they comment. Some call me agist. Some call me a closet Republican stabbing Biden in the back. One anonymous woman says I am an angry dry alcoholic with a mean streak that is showing through. Some say that if Democrats don't talk about it, swing voters won't notice. Yes they will. They do.
I see Mitch McConnell's events as a preview and a gift to Democrats. Today Mitch. Tomorrow or soon, Biden. Acknowledge reality. There is no shame in getting old. The shame is in pretending it doesn't happen and not planning for it. Show that Kamala Harris is a co-pilot ready to take over.
Yes, Biden should step aside...do it soon....do it with Jimmy Carter honesty...honor other D. leaders. I recall earlier reading of Biden's struggle to accept the VP position when Obama offered it. His wife, Jill, as Biden himself wrote, suggested to him that it was time to grow up. Biden can still do some growing.
Pat Gordon (82)
Wise advice, Peter. I hope the DNC is smart enough to take it, though the signs aren't hopeful.