It is becoming increasingly clear that Biden does not inspire the electorate well enough to get the votes necessary to be our President for another 4 years.
Biden’s predicaments
Among other things, Biden’s age is an issue. Furthermore, his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris has so far shown nothing as worthy of the current position, let alone transitioning into the Presidency. Given Biden’s fast aging, as observed by most people, a time may come when a replacement may be the only option. To the American people, VP Kamala Harris is no Lyndon Johnson or even a Gerald Ford.
There is little doubt that among all the Presidential hopefuls, among the Democrats and Republicans (including Trump), Biden is the most experienced of all. But let us not forget that the burdens of the Presidency age are even the most healthy and vigorous persons – just look at the “before and after photographs” of Bill Clinton, George W Bush, or Barrack Obama.
It is evident that the last 30 months have taken their toll on Joe Biden as well. He is less steady on his feet, wanders away from one topic to another, and sometimes appears to be unsure of where he was physically. These would be considered normal for an 82-year-old, but Biden is the President and wishes to continue for another four years.
Kamala’s predicaments
When the circumstances demanded Vice Presidents Lyndon Johnson or Gerald Ford to step into the Presidency, they came with proven records of accomplishment. As Vice Presidents both were active and had presidential presence. Most people knew who they were and what policies they would follow. There was no fear of uncertainty. In fact, it was just the opposite. After Kennedy’s assassination, Johnson was a reassuring presence with his experience in the Senate as Majority Leader. Gerald Ford was a welcome figure after the nightmare of Watergate and the unprecedented resignation of a President. People knew Gerald Ford for his years of service as Congressman and House Minority Leader.
On the contrary, Vice President Kamala Harris remains an unknown figure to most Americans except for her photo-op presence at major events. She produced little when she was given the high-profile task of addressing the southern border crisis of massive increase in illegal immigrants and asylum seekers. She was supposed to work with Mexico and Latin American countries to produce an economic plan to create job opportunities in those countries. Mexico, which has been a big beneficiary of “near-shoring” after the Covid-19 supply chain crisis, stands out as the perfect model. The number of Mexican undocumented immigrants has significantly gone down while the numbers are higher for countries like Colombia and Venezuela.
Biden as Vice President was a regular presence in Capitol Hill and worked hard to garner support for Obama’s legislative agenda. Biden was a well-liked and trusted figure among Senators and House Members from both political parties. In contrast, Vice President Kamala Harris is not a consensus-building, respected personality among her former legislative colleagues. If anything, she evokes the same kind of hostility as Hillary Clinton.
Time for Biden to rise to the occasion?
With an almost certain loss expected with the Biden-Harris team in 2024, it is time for President Biden to take a statesman-like action. He should announce that he will be stepping down after this term and start the wheel in action for an open primary process to choose a successor. Kamala Harris was not anybody’s choice in any of the Democrat primaries in 2020 and she has no primary claim to be her party’s automatic nominee in 2024.
An open primary process will highlight several very qualified Democratic party stars – they include Governor Gavin Newsome of California, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. There may also be candidates like Jimmy Carter and Barrack Obama that the nation is yet to discover.
Democratic party candidates also need to reach out to mainstream Americans who do not necessarily identify with various interest groups and “causes” that the party has embraced. Some of the interest groups are in direct conflict with each other. Black pastors, who have enormous influence among average African American voters, are opposed to teaching LGBT beliefs as being normal to elementary school children. Hispanics simply want opportunities and favor meritocracy. The overwhelming majority of whites, particularly those over age 40, see nothing for themselves in the Democratic party platform.
In the end, the tragedy of the current political process and the country is the absence of participation by younger people. Younger people, who are going to be most affected by many of the legislations and policies of the present, need to be brought back into the mainstream of American politics. For this to happen, they need to be excited, and this means that the stage must be vacated by septuagenarians like Biden and Trump or those who follow their politics.
This cannot be expected from the narcissistic Donald Trump who has hijacked the Republican party of Abraham Lincoln. It is hard to imagine today that the same party gave us George HW Bush who pledged to be the “Environment President” or Reagan who exemplified decency. It is even harder to imagine that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was set up during the tenure of Richard Nixon and the most popular American President in Africa is George W Bush for his fight to stop the spread of Aids in that continent.
It is, therefore, incumbent on President Joe Biden to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans and save the Democratic Party from potentially a huge loss. He should announce his retirement at the end of the present term and open the process of nomination. VP Kamala Harris should face her fellow Democrats in the primary process if she genuinely wants to earn her party’s trust and eventually that of most Americans.
Author: Faisal M Rahman, Ph.D. is Professor & Founding Dean of the Graham School of Management, Saint Xavier University, Chicago, IL 60655, USA Email – rahman@sxu.edu Mobile – 1-312-533-0452
Our political system has become very complex. I am tired of watching the circus! Waste of our tax payers money and valuable time of our decision makes. I suppose, only time will tell who gets to move into the ivory tower…
Our political system has become very complex. I am tired of watching the circus! Waste of our tax payers money and valuable time of our decision makes. I suppose, only time will tell who gets to move into the ivory tower…