LOS ANGELES.–President Joe Biden, 81, set an earthquake going in the Democrat Party announcing yesterday that he would withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, endorsing his 58-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden was forced out of the race by his once backers in the Democrat Party for an abysmal June 27 CNN debate with 78-year-old President Donald Trump, revealing for all to see that Biden was not fit for president let along running for four more years. Biden did everything possible to defy Democrat Party bosses that turned against him, including 84-year-old former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and 62-year-old former President Barack Obama. Many other Democrat power brokers like 74-year-old Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and 53-year-old House Minority Speaker Hakeem Jeffries (R-N.Y.) also tossed Joe under the bus.
Endorsing Harris gives Democrats a seamless transition with all the campaign and fundraising networks in place to hit the ground running. Trump’s team was thrown off guard thinking they were running against Biden, not knowing yet how to run against Harris. Harris presents from some problems for Trump as she pitches herself as the best option to Biden, meaning she would continue the Biden policy without interruption. Trump’s campaign team will figure out quickly how to run against Kamala but she presents a stark contrast with Trump because of her age. Democrats already tout Kamala’s youth and experience as former California Atty. Gen., U.S. Senator and now nearly four years as Vice President. Trump’s team needs to start pointing out that the country can expect more the same with Kamala as they did with Biden, including the border, inflation and the Ukraine War.
Delivering his acceptance speech in Cleveland, Trump said he would move quickly to fix many to the disasters caused by Biden’s presidency, including the open U.S. border and war in Ukraine. Ukraine’s 46-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky sings a different tune now that it looks like Trump will win back the presidency. Zelensky knew with Biden that he could count on an unending war with the Kremlin, with unlimited U.S. cash-and-arms. But with Trump Zelensky knows that he will require Ukraine and Russia to go to the peace table for negotiation and compromise. Zelensky once said he would never deal with 71-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling to remove Putin from office. Zelensky has takes a 180-degree reversal in his thinking knowing that Biden is no longer in the picture. Most election experts still see Trump as prevailing in November.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he likes what he hears now coming from Kiev. Before Zelensky said he would never compromise on Ukraine’s sovereign territory, now he’s willing to go to the next peace summit with an open mind. “This is better than statements that any contacts with the Russian side and with the Russian head of state are excluded,” said Peskov, seeing some definite signs of progress with Kiev. Peskov knows that it’s all about Trump stepping into the picture again, especially that Biden has bowed out. Zelensky can expect Harris to continue Biden’s policy of unending proxy war with the Kremlin. “Of course, talking in one tone or another about dialogue is much better than talking about the intention to fight to the last Ukrainian,” Peskov said, without mentioning Trump’s name. Any movement toward peace is directly related to Trump returning as president.
Zelensky knows that if Trump wins the presidency, his campaign of perpetual war until he meets his unrealistic demands is over. Trump won’t continue the Biden policy of giving Kiev a blank check for war with the Kremlin, but, more importantly, paying for the bankrupt Kiev government. Trump won’t stand for the U.S. to subsidize Ukraine when it’s capable to making peace and starting to rebuild the Ukrainian economy. When Zelensky opted for war with the Kremlin Feb. 24, 2022, he didn’t realize the damage he’d inflict on his country, miscalculating the power of the Russian military and Putin’ s resolve to stop Ukraine from joining NATO and receiving unprecedented U.S. weapons. Biden told Zelensky he will vanquish the Russian military and defeat Putin. Zelensky now sees the horrific damage he’s done to Ukraine all to battle the Kremlin for nothing.
Trump’s presence on the world stage has been seen in Kiev and at the Kremlin, all because he would impose a peace settlement on Kiev and Moscow. Zelensky said recently he could talk to anyone in the Russian delegation on new peace talks, including Putin. Zelensky once said he would never talk to Putin and would only pursue criminal charges against him in The Hague’s International Criminal Court. “And whether it will be Putin or not makes no difference,” Zelensky told the BBC, in a sudden reversal in his thinking. With Trump looking like he’ll win back the White House in November, Zelensky has had an epiphany that he can’t get away with the same approach under Biden. Peskov wouldn’t say what’s behind Zelensky’s sudden change of heart on peace talks with Russia. He knows Zelensky thinks it could get much worse if he doesn’t take peace talks seriously.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in global and national news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
