For GOP, Dropping Out’s Not Enough
Terry H. Schwadron
July 22, 2024
Hey all you politicians calling for “unity” and “lowering the temperature” of our politics. Do you even hear yourselves?
Even minutes after Joe Biden accepted the fate of fellow Democrats that he should withdraw as a presidential candidate basically over perceptions about how his age and frailty might worsen over the next four years, there were instant, rude calls from Republicans for Biden to resign as president altogether.
Because he is opting out of a perception that he might age ungracefully, there were J.D. Vance, the new vice-presidential candidate for the Republicans, Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican congressmen all suggesting that if Biden is not seen as a sure bet for spryness over the next four years, he should step down today.
If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President,” Johnson wrote on X.
Once again, the question is whether people in Washington can think straight. Isn’t health a primary concern for why we have a sitting vice president?
While Biden has had some bad public appearances, including a disastrous debate performance three weeks ago, the health issue at hand is whether by the time he is 85 and 86 nearer the end of a second term, Biden would be limited by his aging. It is the same question that we should be asking of Donald Trump at age 78.
No one — and certainly no doctor overseeing Biden’s health — suggests that the current president who is holding together international alliances running two wars and getting more legislation passed by a split Congress in one term than most presidents have gotten done in two is incapable of acting as president. Rather, the concern, the perception of frailty is one this projected for the years to come.
Other than Republican opponents, world and national leaders were quick to praise Biden and start building what will amount to a personal tribute, Washington politics aside.
If there is anything to the discussion of “unity,” it ought to be about support now for a president in office who has announced his graceful exit strategy. Can we drop the “Biden Crime Family” nonsense now and the incessant focus on Hunter Biden, as if he matters to supermarket prices and wars?
The Road Ahead
Republicans are reported to be ready with a volley of opposition advertising targeting Kamala Harris, whom Biden heartily endorsed to take his place at the top of the ticket. Focused as they are on winning, Republicans are threatening to contest state ballots, which are not yet drawn up, with a replacement name, and other such legal harassment. One Republican appointee to the Federal Election Commission suggested his party could push back on the idea that Harris would inherit the campaign’s funds.
It was not at all clear at first that Harris will be the nominee, but exigency and practicalities were moving most of the heavy political hitters who have been pressuring Biden to drop out to coalesce around Harris. By the end of the day, at least four state delegations were pledged to Harris and there was a flood of official Democratic endorsements from senators and governors, money was being raised easily, and enthusiasm was reported to be high.
The political niceties around getting a two-year-old campaign for Biden refocused on naming, backing, and supporting a new name are daunting, but achievable, of course. Despite some calls for an open convention, no other competitors immediately showed, and Harris was starting a glide path towards nomination.
Harris, 59, a former attorney general in California and senator, faces a ton of issues as a vice president who has been carrying political water for Biden and needs to establish her own persona. She needs to burnish her knowledge and operational skills to be president. Voters alternately may be enthusiastic about a younger candidate, skeptical about the chances for a Black woman as standard-bearer or worried about someone whose own three-plus years have reflected moments of disarray and missed opportunities. Given support among Black voters, opposing Harris is not so easy.
Even privately, Harris seems to have agreed with virtually all of Biden’s policy moves, meaning that there is little policy difference expected to emerge from a change in candidates. The difference is in bringing her energy to the forefront, eliminating the frail imagery from the discussion, and promoting a certain campaign fierceness from Harris to Trump.
Four years ago, Biden said he would be a “bridge” candidate to younger party leaders. He didn’t say he would do so late in the campaign on a sunny summer afternoon.
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