Kathleen Parker, a columnist for The Washington Post, recently presented a couple of ideas for President Biden to consider as the election approaches. One might help, but one might not.
First, Parker suggests, as others have, that Biden drop Vice President Kamala Harris from the ticket. “More independents and disenchanted Republicans might swing for Biden if it weren’t for the prospect of a President Harris — not because of her sex, race or any other demographic category, but because of her competency, or lack thereof,” Parker wrote.
This leads to the question of whether there’s a risk to Biden if he were to replace Harris — though it’s difficult to envision him doing that. Biden, after all, famously promised to pick a woman in 2020 for the vice presidential slot.
If there’s a concern that dropping Harris would affect Black support for Biden in November, Parker notes that when Harris dropped out of the Democratic presidential primary in 2019, she was polling below 4%. She had her moment in a debate when she called out Biden for talking about his ability to compromise with the segregationist senators of yesteryear, but then faded rapidly.
Whatever her achievements as vice president, they have been overshadowed by comments in too many of her speeches that are simply unintelligible.
Parker does not think any Democrats will switch their support to Republican Donald Trump if Harris is replaced. Parker’s suggestion to make Harris the attorney general if Biden wins a second term is at least face-saving and reasonable, as Harris was California’s AG before joining the U.S. Senate.
Parker’s second idea, however, is straight out of the You Gotta Be Kidding Department: Make former first lady, U.S. senator and 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton the running mate with Biden.
This apparently originates from Clinton’s decision to get involved in a heated New York election, where she has endorsed a challenger to left-wing congressman Jamaal Bowman.
“The effect of Clinton inserting herself into the news cycle is to remind voters that, but for her defeat in 2016, we wouldn’t be stuck in this old-White-men dilemma,” Parker wrote, referring to the contest between Biden and Trump. “No one has mentioned her as a possible running mate for Biden as far as I know, but why not replace Harris with Clinton? At 76, she might want no part of it, but it’s hard to retire when you feel your job isn’t done. ... If Biden needs to step down, even those who didn’t vote for Clinton would have confidence in her ability to keep the country on track.”
That just doesn’t fly. Clinton had her chance in 2016, and if enough people had confidence in her abilities, she would have beaten Trump. Besides, running a 76-year-old with a president in his 80s makes no sense at all — unless Trump chooses Mitch McConnell, the elderly Senate minority leader, as his running mate to complete a 2024 high-office gerontology sweep.
Jack Ryan, Enterprise-Journal
