Synopsis: Biden-Harris is a flawed team for a Trump vs Biden rematch.
In 2020, many people would comment it seems unbelievable that from all of the USA, the choice for leader came down to choosing between Biden and Trump.
How is it that in 2024, the same Biden vs Trump choice is to be offered again? In the entire USA, can’t they find anyone better?
The video here on the rematch with Jon Stewart does a good job of highlighting the problem.
The focus of this page is only the Biden side. Biden has the problem that people fear he is too old, and Harris does not seem to have positioned herself as the next leader everyone just cannot wait to see take over. Maybe it is because Harris has played the role of loyal deputy, but she is not seen as the solution.
The combination just doesn’t work, as neither covers the weaknesses of the other. If people fear the staying power of Biden, then they really need to be invested in the running mate.
Perhaps Harris deliberately staying out of the limelight has helped Biden during his time in office, but Democrats now need someone to step into the limelight, and that is going for Harris from here.
Maybe there is no solution, but this is a look at the options.
Feb 2024 and time is running out: Keep Bidon on the ticket?
The democratic primaries have already started, and the only declared candidates still running at the time writing in Feb 2024 are Joe Biden, and Dean Phillips, yet in discussions as to who other than Biden could the Democrats choose, I am not seeing the name “Dean Phillips”. This means that Democrats would need someone not yet officially part of the process that is already underway. This creates the problem that even if carefully managed from this point on, any change could be portrayed as panic and would be open to attacks from opponents such as “running scared” and “panicking”.
My own theory is the best move is to either keep Biden on the ticket but bring in a running mate who can be sold as the leader of the future, with the campaign focused on selling the new face. Either leave Biden as leader of the ticket initially, only swapping the place is the strategy is working, or from the start nominate the new face as the leader with Biden to be Vice President providing the experience at the helm.
Will Trump even be able to run?
I do believe the answer is “yes”.
While I may not like Trump, I am very disturbed by the idea of someone who has called for an insurrection against the government, or even been convicted of crimes being prevented from participating in an election. Yes, the situation with Trump may be different, as he was in government at the time, but the rules being quoted do not make that distinction. In other countries they could block campaigns by Nelson Mandella and Imran Khan without even starting on a real list.
If the will of the majority of the people is a person to be effectively forgiven for those crimes, perhaps that is enough.
In practice, laws come down to technicalities and interpretation of precedents and the intent of the original law, and I cannot see the Supreme Court of the US ruling Trump out from standing for election. I will add more on this over time.
Biden: Problem and In Defence of Biden.
The special prosecutors report into classified documents brought Bidens image into the spotlight:
It is possible that the main problem facing Biden is one of perception. He appears to have aged substantially since taking office at the age of 78 as the oldest ever president to take office, although Trump would be also 78 but a few months older if he takes office in 2025.
For his next term, he would be starting at age 82 and be 86 at the end, and this is seen as pushing the limits. Although usually different polls have different results, multiple news sites quote polls have indicated 86% of Americans believe Biden is too old for another term, and 62% also believe Trump is too old.
This means more Americans believe Biden is too old than believe the Earth goes around the Sun.
Just because people believe he is too old, does not mean he has been a bad president or his decisions reflect that he is too old.
Certainly, Biden has made some big gaffs, but many say Biden has a history of making gaffs even before he became old.
“Every once in a while I make a mistake,” President Biden said in May 2022. “Like, well, once a speech.”
He was being modest. Over five decades in public life, the former vice president and longtime US senator built a reputation as America’s premier gaffe-meister, winning the White House in 2020 despite a long history of racist comments, snide asides, and enraged diatribes against voters.
Joe Biden’s worst gaffes of all time
But now Biden clearly is old, when he makes a gaff, he becomes a target for claims the gaff is a sign of his age. Trump sometimes says things that just make so sense, no one comes to the conclusion this is due to his age. Part of the problem may be that the Biden campaign is trying to appeal to logic, and the Trump campaign to outrage.
In the end, Biden has an image problem the requires a solution.
So, who could provide hope the problem is solvable?
In the image at the top of this document several faces are put forward. Here are the names to those faces and some quick search results with comment by others that I do not necessarily endorse, but I will return to this list.
- Michelle Obama.
- Michelle Obama 2024: Her Real Life Story and Plan for Power
- Karl Rove calls Michelle Obama 2024 theories ‘pure lunacy’
- Michelle Obama may already be working on a 2024 White House bid, writes columnist. What is her game plan?
- Video: Michelle Obama says she’s terrified about potential outcome of 2024 election.
- Gavin Newsom.
- Newsom 2024: could the California governor be a rival to Joe Biden?
- Gavin Newsom’s unwavering support for Biden is a way to secure his political ambitions
- Why replacing Biden with Newsom or some ‘mythical perfect Democrat’ is unlikely
- WSJ Opinion: Is Gavin Newsom Running for President?
- Video: Why Gavin Newsom says he’s not running for president in 2024 | Cuomo
- Gretchen Whitmer.
- Josh Shapiro.
Disclaimer: I am no political expert.
Ok, so I may believe I am a scientist, engineer, futurist, entrepreneur or even philosopher, I have no claim to being a political expert or commentator, or even American, so take any opinions here as the point of view of an outside observer.