LOS ANGELES.–Behind all the hoopla over 59-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the presumptive Democrat nominee when 81-year-old President Joe Biden stepped down from the 2024 race July 21, doubts percolate because of Kamala’s past run for president in 2019. Far from popular, Kamala polled in the 2020 presidential race at near zero percent, forced to withdraw from the race before the Iowa Caucuses. While Democrats had decided that former Vice President Joe Biden would be the likely Democrat nominee, Harris still didn’t light up the campaign leaving her political future as a Democrat presidential candidate in doubt. Now that she’s the presumptive Democrat nominee, some Democrats recall her dismal performance in 2020, garnering little enthusiasm. It’s hard for Democrats to figure out whether all the Harris hype is largely due to Biden quitting the race.
Democrats were in a state of chaos for nearly a month after the June 27 CNN presidential debate where Biden showed he wasn’t fit for a second term or even to finish his current term. House and Senate Democrats have largely ignored the question whether Biden is fit to finish out his current term. If he withdrew from the 2024 race, why would anyone think he’s fit to continue in office? Addressing the nation from the Oval Office July 24, Biden gave no real reason for why he withdrew from the race, only saying it was for the good of the country. But how is it for the good of the country unless there’s something wrong with him? Biden said emphatically after his speech that his medical condition had nothing to do with him dropping out. Well, if it were not his obvious age-related cognitive decline at the June 27 debate, then what possible reason did Biden give for dropping out?
Biden didn’t tell the public the real reason for dropping out because he wanted to continue six months remaining on his term. If he admitted it was due to age-related cognitive decline, he would be potentially forced to resign from office. So instead of leveling with public, he only said he left the 2024 race for the good of the party and country. But clearly after the June 27 debate, he showed all 70 million TV viewers he was not fit to continue in the 2024 race or as president. Once Biden resigned from the 2024 race, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, not thinking about her potential drawbacks as a candidate. Before Biden withdrew, he emphatically said he was the best person to beat former President Donald Trump in Nov. 5 presidential election, citing he had beaten him in 2020. Democrat party bosses like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) disagreed.
Speaking anonymously, an unnamed U.S. Senator said that Harris had problems wooing support in 2020 from union, working class voters, where Biden made those connections in 2020. “She [Kamala] wasn’t a great candidate,” said an unnamed senator. “And she may not be as political campaigner as good as Biden was in his prime,” raising doubts about Kamala’s political skills. Some question whether Kamala, who’s from California, has the ability to relate to East Coast voters, whose problems differ from voters in California. “She’s not campaigning in a primary. She is the candidate, she ‘s got thousands of people working for her, and she got a team of the smartest people, many of whom have worked with her over the years,” said the unnamed senator. Behind all the hype about Kamala, party insiders wonder whether she’s really up to the task of running for president.
Biden’s insistence for nearly a month that he would be the party’s nominee only weeks before the DNC convention in Chicago created chaos in the party. Biden’s June 27 debate proved to the party that he wasn’t fit to run for a second term. So, it took a lot of convincing at the highest levels of the Democrat Party to convince Biden to stand down. During that time, the party was complete disarray. “Democrats were in a depression,” the senator said. “Behind the scenes . . . almost everyone was pushing hard to say, ‘Gosh Joe, we love you, but go,” expressing the euphoria about passing the torch to Kamala. But now that she’s the presumptive party nominee, Kamala needs to figure out what issues other than Roe v. Wade or women’s rights she’s comfortable to talk about. Kamala has not done anything to distinguish herself from Biden in terms of campaign issues.
For the last four years, Kamala has taken a backseat to Biden, deferring on all major issues, leaving her without her own identity on any issues. “She’s got to define herself,” said the senator. She’s done a good job of being loyal and letting Biden soak up the limelight.” “She doesn’t have the brand on the economy but she’s got the chops, and Biden has the record,” said the senator. Democrat Party insiders fear that Kamala isn’t prepared in a presidential campaign to distinguish herself from Biden, other than rubber stamping his domestic and foreign policies. When it comes to the economy and foreign policy, Kamala has not expressed her own views on the topic, other than endorsing Biden’s policies. Trump will continue to equate her with Biden’s policies unless she’s willing to define herself differently, something at this point that doesn’t seem too likely.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
