▲ The vice president declared herself ready to run for her party’s nomination, which will be decided at the Democratic National Convention.Afp Photo
David Brooks and Jim Cason
Correspondents
The newspaper La Jornada
Monday, July 22, 2024, p. 25
New York and Washington, D.C., Joe Biden has finally decided to bow to the overwhelming chorus of his party by declaring this Sunday that he will abandon the presidential race, and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, as the best option to replace him in the fight to defeat Donald Trump in the national elections in November.
Biden’s decision comes three weeks after his disastrous performance in the first presidential debate with his Republican opponent and his failure to convince lawmakers and donors of his party that it was a one-day lapse, amid growing doubts about the physical and mental state of the 81-year-old president.
With that, the Democrat, who has been in the political world for more than half a century, made the first decision to end his career.
While it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and country that I step aside and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.he declared in an open letter to the American people.
On social network X, he added a little later: I want to offer my full support and endorsement to Kamala to be our party’s nominee this year. Democrats: It’s time to unite and defeat Trump. Let’s do it..
For their part, Trump and the Republicans reacted as expected, with the tycoon repeating that Biden was not fit and that unlike him never surrenderwhile House Speaker, Republican Mike Johnson, along with his other colleagues, called for the president’s resignation, arguing that if he was not fit to continue his campaign, he should not remain in office.
In what was immediately described as ‘historic day –in fact, no sitting president who had the option of seeking re-election had turned it down since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968–, everything indicated that the strategy was to pass the baton directly to Harris in an attempt to prevent the contest for the nomination of the next Democratic presidential candidate from being reopened at their National Convention, scheduled for August 10-22, which until now had been the venue for Joe Biden’s coronation.
Shortly after the announcement, Harris issued one of her own stating: I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to obtain and win this nomination..
While there is internal opposition among some Democratic lawmakers, donors and strategists to her being the successor, the carefully choreographed statements on Sunday attempt to simultaneously acknowledge that there is no absolute consensus, but also seek to curb other options and consolidate Harris as soon as possible.
Immediate support
The former senator and attorney general of California is the first woman to serve as vice president and the first Indian-American to hold that office. Her candidacy already has the support of former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former presidential candidate and former Chancellor Hillary Clinton, as well as that of liberal Senator Elizabeth Warren, as well as dozens of other elected officials who spoke out in her favor throughout the day, including two figures who had been mentioned as possible presidential candidates: Governor Gavin Newsom of California and his counterpart from Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro.
Within hours of the announcement, Biden’s campaign for president had already changed its name to Harris’s, and since she was already his running mate, funds raised for her boss can apparently now be used by her.
Kamala Harris sent her first message as a presidential candidate to raise funds: “These are not ordinary times. And this will not be an ordinary election… But this is our America. And I need you with me in this fight.”
The bet is that a Harris candidacy will excite young voters — she, at 59, is more than 20 years younger than Biden and 18 years younger than Trump — as well as women and some minorities, since she would seek to be the first woman and second African-American to face the Republican ticket of two white men, who have worked to annul women’s rights over their own bodies and whose base includes white supremacists.
But some doubt she is the best candidate at this juncture, particularly given her performance in her failed previous presidential campaign and her lack of accomplishments as vice president. Maria Cardona, a member of the Democratic National Committee’s rules committee, told NBC News: I know there are people working behind the scenes who think it is not the best way to lead us to victory.in comments before Biden’s announcement.
He warned that if an attempt to impose Harris is perceived as an inorganic tactic led by high-ranking officials in the Democratic Party, there will be a civil war within it in which no one will survive.
Perhaps that’s why Harris’s first statement was carefully worded to express that she was ready to contest and win the nomination to be the Democratic presidential candidate. Several political observers and editorial boards in national media have suggested that the most viable option is an open and competitive process to select the best candidate for that party.
Several possible candidates have been mentioned for weeks in the event that Biden drops out of the race, including Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and four or five others, especially those state or federal politicians who come from the key states that will ultimately determine the results of the national election.
In theory, Democrats could open the process, even at their national convention in mid-August, but party chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement Sunday that In the days ahead, the party will conduct a transparent and orderly process to proceed as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November..
The Democratic Party leadership apparently fears an open debate at its national convention and is seeking to generate overwhelming support for Harris, thereby using the event as a venue to launch her general election bid.
In 2020, Harris ran for president but quickly withdrew from the race due to a series of missteps and poor management of the campaign and her failure to generate widespread support.
Little impact
In her role as vice president, Harris has met with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on several occasions and was tasked by Biden to develop long-term strategies to address the root causes of immigration, although her achievements have not had much political impact. Within this country, Harris has been one of the protagonists in confronting the anti-abortion agenda of the Republicans; also, in her role as former state attorney general, in highlighting the legal problems of Trump and his allies. Her positions on foreign policy issues are less well known.
For now, her immediate task is to convince both her own ranks and the public that she can be the face of the future of her party and of this country.
Meanwhile, despite such a delayed decision, a collective sigh of relief can be heard among Democrats and their allies that Biden used the emergency exit from the electoral stage.