1 of 3 | Did Joe Biden take the correct course of action when, last Sunday, he made the decision to stand down from the presidency and not seek a second term? Pool Photo by Erin Shaff/UPI | License Photo
Did Joe Biden take the correct course of action when, last Sunday, he made the decision to stand down from the presidency and not seek a second term? He then reverted to the default position of recommending his vice president to succeed him. Whether or not Kamala Harris will be his replacement, Biden’s wisdom or lack thereof in following Lyndon B. Johnson’s example by not accepting his party’s nomination, will remain unknown until after Nov. 5th, election day.
Biden was under intense pressure from two former presidents, a Speaker Emerita of the House of Representatives, the bulk of the Democratic elites and many party regulars and the public to allow a fitter, younger person to take on Donald Trump. Had Biden not had such a disastrous performance in the June 27th debate with Trump, it is moot as to whether he would have been forced to commit political harakiri. But it is better for Democrats that this happened before the August nominating convention and not during the fall just prior to the election. Advertisement Advertisement
Imagine the chaos caused by having to replace the top of the ticket at that point. No political thriller has captured the magnitude of this scenario. And nothing in the Constitution or in American jurisprudence is prepared for this eventuality.
Thus, for the next weeks, speculation, rumor and guesswork will dominate reactions to this extraordinarily unprecedented moment in American history. For the moment, Harris seems the favorite. With the Chicago nominating convention less than a month away, alacrity in finding the new nominee has greater urgency, if only to demonstrate coherence in what appears to be a profoundly divided political party. The longer this process takes, the fewer days the campaign will have in getting underway.
While some believe Harris is the Democrat best suited to beat Trump, is she? As of right now, Republicans will be paying scores of law school students to do opposition research on Harris to uncover vulnerabilities and weaknesses that even in this tawdry environment could prove explosive. Whether these allegations are true or false makes little difference.
Harris does have an interesting background. The daughter of a Jamaican-born PhD father and an Indian-born medical researcher mother, she lived with her mother and younger sister following her parents’ divorce. Harris would graduate from Howard University and then from University of California Hastings Law School. After serving as San Francisco District Attorney, she was twice-elected California Attorney General and then ran for and won California’s Senate seat in 2017. Advertisement
Identified as an up-and-coming Democrat, Harris married attorney Douglas Emhoff in 2014. Emhoff is Jewish. His two adopted daughters refer to Harris as “Momala,” reflecting the composition of this very mixed marriage. Whether that status will help or hurt the Harris ticket politically is unclear.
Ironically, Trump faces a parallel issue. His daughter Ivanka has converted to Judaism. Her children are Jewish. So far, that has not had any effect. We can hope the same applies to Harris.
Sadly, Harris has only one significant accomplishment. As president of the Senate, Harris cast more tie-breaking votes than any of her predecessors, including John Adams and John C. Calhoun.
As vice president, Harris has few triumphs. In terms of being a good campaigner and delivering a strong and positive message, Harris has as much or more trouble with the English language as the current and former president. She speaks in what have been described as “salad sentences,” with a bit from here and a bit from there.
Harris also has the unfortunate quirk or tendency to cackle in talking as if she was a giggling grade school student using laughter to reinforce her message, along with her body language to encourage agreement. Among her first duties as vice president, Harris was assigned to the top position of overseeing the administration’s policies on the border and migration crisis when millions of transients sought refuge in the United States. Sadly, that failed. The immigration crisis only grew worse. And Harris slowly detached herself from what had never been a highly visible role. Advertisement
In assignments since, Harris has not compiled a notable record. It is uncertain why Biden picked her for vice president. Unlike Barack Obama, who reportedly favored Hillary Clinton over Biden to run in 2016 and saw her lose, Biden was loyal. But will loyalty translate to victory? Is Harris a Harry Truman who will prove inspired as a successor? Or is she John McCain’s Sarah Palin? We will soon find out.
Harlan Ullman is UPI’s Arnaud de Borchgrave Distinguished Columnist, a senior adviser at Washington’s Atlantic Council, the prime author of “shock and awe” and author of “The Fifth Horseman and the New MAD: How Massive Attacks of Disruption Became the Looming Existential Danger to a Divided Nation and the World at Large.” Follow him @harlankullman. The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
