Kamala will win. Let’s try and treat her better than we did Joe.
Joe is one of the most transformative presidents in American history.
Issue #681 The Choice, Thursday, July 25, 2024
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First things first; Kamala Harris is going to win in November. No, she doesn’t have the potential to win, she isn’t likely to win, and it’s not about how she will win “if”. Kamala Harris is going to win in November.
That’s the good news, and it is truly a wonderful thing. Knowing that I will have lived to see not just the first Black President of the United States in Barack Obama, but now the first woman President of the United States? And she’s a Black woman too??
It’s enough to make a brother’s head spin.
And on the ground, I heard someone say that it feels like the swell of enthusiastic energy that propelled Obama into office for his first term has once again filled the sails. People have been shaken awake to what is happening, and Kamala presents such a stark and fierce contrast to Trump that you’d best believe it terrifies the Republicans.
Shit just got real.
So like I said, that’s the good news. But before we dance merrily down the road to victory and celebration, singing “We Have Overcome,” and all like that, we need to get real with ourselves about some things. And we need to get the narrative straight about what actually happened that caused this miracle to transpire.
It’s important for us to face the truth about what happened so that we can deal with it, because if we don’t deal with it then we will never get past it. And if we don’t get past it, then we are likely to repeat it.
The truth is that the Democratic Party, in an extended moment of panic (which is what Democrats do better than anyone else), chose to turn on their president and their candidate and shove him off the stage rather than rally around one of the most successful presidents in modern American history. And much of the media – particularly the New York Times and the Washington Post – worked overtime for the past four years to focus on Biden’s age and missteps as reason for alarm.
Rarely if ever was it noted that Biden was only three years older than Trump, and Trump’s frequent insane ramblings in public were barely reported, as if that would somehow be poor form. But more importantly, it was almost impossible to know that Biden was becoming one of the most consequential presidents in modern American history because his accomplishments only received a whiff of a notice compared to how frequently his age was mentioned, or that he tripped or fell off a bike. So it was little surprise when both papers said Biden should step aside because in truth they had been making that case all along.
But what was more of a surprise was that, because of a poor 90-minute outtake from an otherwise near-stellar four-year performance - delivered against near impossible odds - influential members of President Biden’s own party – including close colleagues – drank the media-flavored Kool-Aid that their guy was no longer electable. And that’s when the unraveling began; those Democrats who were fervently supportive of Biden versus those convinced he had to go.
Republicans were loving it because everything was going according to plan, even if they didn’t plan it. The fire was already lit – by the Democrats and a helpful media – so all they had to do was toss in the occasional log.
President Biden didn’t step aside because he realized he wasn’t electable; he stepped aside because he realized his party no longer believed in him and wasn’t willing to fight for him. And because the media’s sick infatuation with Trump consistently outweighed whatever accomplishments he continued to rack up.
He knew the injustice and unfairness of it all hardly mattered because he was being steamrolled by a momentum sparked by fear and panic. And he knew that although he was still capable of defeating Trump, that he – and not the Democrats who abandoned him – would be blamed if he failed in November. And the likelihood of his failure was becoming more likely as more and more of his fellow Democrats abandoned ship.
So let’s stop repeating the lie that Biden’s age was anything more than a fabricated issue, because if Trump wasn’t too old then how could that apply to Biden? And let’s stop repeating the lie that Biden wasn’t fit for a second term based on a bad 90-minute debate when clear and far more bountiful evidence of Trump’s madness and deranged mental state – including during that same 90-minute debate – can be found in footage of just about every Trump campaign event this year. But it damned sure got ignored, at least comparatively.
And please. Let’s stop pretending that all those who screamed and cried for Biden’s replacement had the best interest of the nation at heart when many of them had no idea who should be the replacement except for Someone-To-Be-Named-Later. Others floated names like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (who said thanks but no thanks) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (who said the same).
But wasn’t it strange that hardly any of those calling for Biden’s removal noticed that there was a fully qualified Black woman who happened to be the Vice President of the United States sitting right there in plain view? I mean, oh sure, now everyone is chanting Kamala’s name as the Second Coming and the Chosen One.
Oh girl, you know it was you we wanted all along, don’t you?
Except that no. It wasn’t. The most obvious choice for a replacement, if that was truly the way to go, barely got a mention. A white woman from Michigan, admittedly popular but hardly a national household name, got all kind of love. A white man with roughly the same credentials – and lack of same – also got love.
But the Black woman already in the co-driver’s seat, ready to go at the drop of a hat, kept getting mostly overlooked. It wasn’t until both Whitmer and Newsom (there were hardly any other names mentioned) made it clear they were out that Kamala’s name began to bubble up here and there.
The fact that we now actually have Kamala to step in and drive this thing home is an incredible kind of grace and fortune that the Democrats didn’t necessarily earn with their Chicken Little behavior.
Listen, I know I sound like I’m raining on a beautiful parade, but I assure you that isn’t my intent. I am a diehard Democrat, always have been, and always will be. And as I said in the beginning, I am incredibly proud of the way our party has rallied behind Kamala in such a strong way and in such a short time after President Biden made his endorsement. And at such a critical time in history. Few would ever have thought such a thing was possible, and it is a great thing to see.
And it will be even greater watching her beat the living shit out of Trump as we take back the House and the Senate as well. She will be a remarkable and consequential president. I honestly believe that.
But let’s just not forget who it was that brought Kamala on board, who believed she not only would make a great vice president but who had what it took to be a great president. And, if we really love and believe in Kamala like we say we do, then let’s try not to turn on her the minute she stumbles or mispronounces someone’s name.
Good Democrats don’t eat other Democrats and call it patriotism.
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