I don’t like how Vice President Kamala Harris is positioned as the heir-apparent to an octogenarian President Biden.
The statistical likelihood that Biden has another six years in him is pretty low, meaning that the statistical likelihood that Harris inherits either the Democratic nomination or the presidency itself is pretty fair.
That reality has me concerned.
And while recent polls suggest Democrats have made peace with the idea of Harris as president, other polls show Harris’s approval rating is still atrocious, stuck below 40 percent.
Are Democrats clearing the way for Kamala Harris?
What irks me about the whole situation is the way the field seems to have been cleared out to make room for Harris.
What I mean is that Biden declared his intentions to run for reelection, he’s begun his reelection campaign, the Democratic establishment is going to rally around Biden, viable challengers are going to bide their time and wait for an election where they don’t have to displace an incumbent president for the Democratic nomination.
So, for Biden, and by extension Harris, the path to the nomination is cleared, paved, polished, and gift-wrapped.
But as I’ve mentioned, Biden is unlikely to finish out a second term – or even start a second term. He’s just too old. He’s visibly frail. He’s visibly losing his mental acuity.
It’s hard to imagine that in another six years, Biden will be a functioning executive-in-chief.
Meaning Kamala Harris could well serve in Biden’s place. But rather than get Biden out of the way now, and let Harris take a shot in the primary, Democrats are easily letting Biden forge ahead through the primary.
In part, this may be because Harris lacks the ability to win a primary, meaning the primary would be messy and divisive; meaning that the primary could conclude with the nomination of a figure that the Democratic establishment is far less enthusiastic about than Kamala Harris. While Harris has failed to appeal to common-sense, every-day Democratic voters, she has certainly appealed to the Democratic establishment.
And why not? She’s corporate friendly, easy on big tech, easy on monopoly. Her foreign policy is just the establishment’s copied and pasted, she’ll say what’s in vogue, she’ll play the race card, she’ll play the woman card. Democrats know that in Harris, they can appeal to the identity-crazed zeitgeist and stick to the middle of the road – a clever way to appear progressive without being progressive. Some and mirrors.
Voters not impressed with Harris
Voters, meanwhile, have identified Harris for her lack of charisma, lack of articulation, lack of vision. #KHive aside, Harris doesn’t inspire much excitement amongst the everyday voter. She’s not a legitimate presidential candidate. Voters told her as much in 2020, when she polled in the low single digits and was forced to drop from the race way early, in December 2019. And that’s why the Democrats aren’t going to scoot Biden aside and let Harris have a proper primary this time around either. Because Harris can’t cut it, which means the door would be open for anyone, some Bernie Sanders or RFK, Jr. type, to walk right through. The Dems don’t want that.
There’s a reason why RFK, Jr. is polling at 20 percent right now. Voters don’t want Biden and they don’t want Kamala Harris. The Democrats would do well to be more responsive to their constituent’s desires, less we end up with a President DeSantis.
Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor and opinion writer 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.
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