My column for the San Francisco Chronicle on Biden's withdrawal...
Thanks to the Chron for letting me do this!
Biden saved America in 2020, and he may have just saved it again on Sunday
By Jack Ohman
July 21, 2024
A panel from the June 16, 2024 San Francisco Chronicle Sunday cartoon. Little did I know, and little did she know…
President Joe Biden did the right thing.
Poignant? Extremely, because President Biden has been a national political force for a half a century.
His dramatic exit comes a week after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, whose convention was arguably the most disturbing political gathering America has ever seen.
The only analogous political event to Biden’s exit was President Lyndon Johnson declining to run again on March 30, 1968. That moment was historically fraught, but it didn’t equal the drama of this sad moment.
Biden’s catastrophic debate performance three weeks ago led to this historic juncture in American history.
President Biden’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris adds yet another layer of high-voltage electricity to this moment. Should Harris become the Democratic nominee and defeat Trump in November, she’d be the first woman and Asian American ever to be elected.
Her election is not a done deal, but at least this lances the boil of Democratic discontent that had been festering since Biden’s implosion on the debate stage.
Biden knows that Harris is a historic choice, not just as vice president but as the 2024 Democratic nominee. Expect the Democratic Party to close ranks immediately, not wanting to squander another minute in the race against Trump.
Trump stands as a singular, existential threat to American democracy, and now the national discussion can return to his dreadful record, his detestable plans, his racially divisive xenophobic rhetoric and the Silicon Valley billionaires — David Sacks and Elon Musk — who have bankrolled his operation from the start.
Don’t expect the rhetorical temperature to drop.
In Harris, Trump would face someone who can rightly eviscerate him in a debate. She can and should ask for a debate every week after September because the American voter deserves a full discussion.
Maybe she can instruct him and his racist clan on how her first name is pronounced.
Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, has been effective in many situations, most famously in Senate hearings where she left her witnesses quivering on the floor.
Black voter enthusiasm for the Democrats has been somewhat tepid this cycle. Harris, who is Black and South Asian, could be a galvanizing force with Black women, a voter bloc pivotal in major cities in must-win swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Can Harris meet the moment?
Her first decision is to select an effective vice presidential running mate, probably from among rising stars such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, former Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Any of them would be strong, effective and prepared candidates. Democrats shouldn’t worry about having a bench. The 2028 bench just got put on the field.
Particularly intriguing is the notion of a two-woman ticket. Why not? We’ve had centuries of all-male presidential tickets.
Is there a chance that Harris could go to a unity ticket with a Republican like former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger or any other Never Trumpers who love the country more than they love the GOP cult?
Maybe not, but she should give the idea some thought. Perhaps there would be some intraparty resistance, but it would likely be greeted well in this deeply divided country.
Biden’s decision may well save the country.
Historians will treat this decision as the most selfless patriotic act since President George Washington declined to seek a third term, sending the message that the United States isn’t an autocracy or a monarchy — which is precisely the America Trump and his waterboys and handmaidens crave.
While Biden’s immediate endorsement of Harris may dismay some Democrats, he’s probably correct: No more turmoil. Get the job done as fast as possible, and give Democrats a month to unite and rally around Harris.
Historian Jon Meacham noted that Biden is truly a modern Cincinnatus, who dropped his plough to serve the people and not his ego. Once the job was completed, he returned to his field.
Biden, his family and his staff are no doubt mightily anguished about his decision, as they see a man who saved the country in 2020 and wanted the chance to do it once again. He did it this time with this decision.
This nation faces a wide fissure, and only Joe Biden, the middle-class guy from Scranton, Pa., who still drives a Corvette muscle car, showed the ultimate muscle.
Biden helped return America to global leadership through his steadfast support of Ukraine and a strengthened NATO, and he put Russia’s Vladimir Putin on notice.
Democrats can now turn their attention to exposing the Big Lie campaign of the emotionally disturbed Trump and his feckless running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, whose careerism is his true elegy.
Joe Biden did not go gentle into that good night.
Biden went into it under tremendous personal agony, another sign of his character, which is pathetically lacking in his former opponent.
The torch is passed — the good news, however, is that it still burns.
Jack note: I’ll write about Vice President Harris and her potential running mates tomorrow —Cordially, Jack
When did Kamala Harris know that Biden has dementia? Why did she keep quiet about this and why did she keep saying he was as mentally sharp as ever?
I’m hoping you believe as I do, that true democracy requires we all listen to each other’s opinions and views, with calm heads, and weigh things on their basis and then let the truth and wisdom naturally rise to the top. It’s quite easy with calm heads.
However, if we try to limit what can be heard by silencing certain views we are limiting our ability to make intelligent, informed decisions ourselves. We hurt and rob ourselves of what can truly make us worthy.
Of course - this is the tactic widely used politically these days, to silence any dissenting opinion and control the narrative by controlling what others can actually hear. By demonizing those who speak against what you want everyone to believe, and labeling them “racists” or “nazis”, you can make people afraid to associate with them and be resistant to listening to what they have to say. That certainly is NOT how democracy works. That is indeed how a dictatorship works. Or even an oligarchy. It certainly is not democratic.
We all know that truth, common sense, and clarity will eventually rise to the top in any free and truly open discussion. That scares a LOT of people since it can hurt their personal aspirations and agendas, so they squash the airways and control what people can hear so that nothing derails them getting what they want: winning, because winning has become more important than true democracy. Just look at any middle school bully and you can see this clear as day.
But if that’s the only way to win, what exactly are you winning and is it even worth it?
Ultimately this collective practice of silencing opposing views is the single most violent threat to our democracy today, far more dangerous than anything or any one person. It’s more dangerous than the figureheads of Trump or Vance or Biden or Harris. Not only are those who are behind the censoring and silencing of the masses both online and in the mainstream media a grave danger to us all, but the average joes who put their fingers in their ears and chant “la la la” to all opposing views are as well.
Sometimes it’s hard to read the opposing view, I know, but it’s absolutely necessary in a TRUE democracy. If one can’t handle hearing what they don’t wish to hear then one should not be in the discussion at all. I will never silence those who believe or speak differently than I do. I WANT them to be heard because I WANT democracy. That’s why I fully read your article all the way to the end.
In the spirit of true, democratic discourse, I want you to consider opposing views about Harris. It may not change your views and beliefs, and that’s OK, but it is necessary for you to consider more things than you presently are. It’s also necessary to remove any instilled bias against the author and just listen to what she is actually saying.
https://anncoulter.substack.com/p/the-prosecutor-vs-the-felon