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Democrats Are ‘Stuck’ with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

President Joe Biden delivers a keynote address at the National Association of Counties Annual Legislative Conference, Tuesday, February 14, 2023, at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)
President Joe Biden delivers a keynote address at the National Association of Counties Annual Legislative Conference, Tuesday, February 14, 2023, at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

Alex Shephard has a new The New Republic piece with an informative headline: ‘Democrats Are Probably Stuck With Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and That’s Okay.’

That’s a halfway accurate take from my perspective.

Democrats are likely stuck with a Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ticket but whether you think that’s okay really comes down to whether you’re comfortable with compromising governance for the sake of electability.

Complicated feelings about Joe Biden

Polls indicate that a majority of Democratic voters do not want Biden to be the 2024 nominee – yet would feel comfortable if he is (basically the we’re stuck with him but that’s okay sentiment in numeric form).

Yes, complicated feelings surround the Joe Biden presidency.

As Shephard points out: “Somehow Biden’s presidency is at once a disappointment – there is a palpable sense that more should have been accomplished while Democrats held narrow majorities in Congress – and yet arguably the most accomplished Democratic tenure in generations. Which may be a low bar, but isn’t nothing.”

Then, of course, further complicating matters, is “the nagging matter of the president’s age.”

Joe Biden and the Age Question 

I’ve been deeply and repeatedly critical of Biden’s age. The wisdom and the practicality of propping up an 80-year-old on the campaign trail, in the hopes he might win a term that would last beyond his 86th birthday, seems questionable to me.

But increasingly, the logic in rolling out Biden for another term seems to be more about preventing Vice President Kamala Harris from taking the ticket, than about getting Joe Biden back for a second term.

“Much of the discourse surrounding Biden’s age involves anxieties over Harris and her status as the next in line,” Shephard wrote. “It’s clear that some Democrats are simply apprehensive about the possibility of Biden either dying or becoming otherwise indisposed during the election, which would lead Harris – a figure many have soured on during her underwhelming spell as vice president – responsible for leading the party to victory.”

I for one am apprehensive about the possibility of Joe Biden either dying or becoming otherwise indisposed while in office. The president is already 80; he’s already exceeded the US life expectancy by four years; he’s already three years older than the second oldest president ever, Ronald Reagan, was the day he left office.

Biden raises fundamental questions about whether the candidate who is nominated and potentially elected will actually be the person who serves the term. There’s always the unknown and the risk that an elected official won’t be able to finish their term, but rarely has the risk seemed so likely as with a second-term Biden.

And of course, the situation puts a special emphasis on who is vice president on such a ticket.

The Kamala Harris Problem

Kamala Harris has been widely disappointed in her first term as vice president. She hasn’t made discernible progress on the items assigned to her (immigration, voting reform). Instead, Harris’s shop has been experienced a high rate of staff turnover – so much so that observers are questioning whether the turnover has hampered Harris’s ability to be effective.

The overall effect of Harris’s performance in office thus far is that there are more questions than answers. And when you’ve got an octogenarian leading the ticket, you’re going to want somebody solid in the number two position.

We will likely end up with a Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ticket for 2024, but that’s not necessarily “okay.”

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Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.

Written By

Harrison Kass is a Senior Defense Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, he joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison has degrees from Lake Forest College, the University of Oregon School of Law, and New York University’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. He lives in Oregon and regularly listens to Dokken.

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