Sloan: With Biden out and Harris in, don’t toll the victory bell just yet

By Kelly Sloan | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

In the pantheon of political events, Joe Biden’s belated decision to become the first sitting President since Lyndon B. Johnson to not seek re-election was about as surprising as the advent of the sunrise at dawn.

Even had George Clooney not bestowed the nation with the gravitas of his august thoughts on the matter, the weight of internal opposition – not to mention the polling that was looking increasingly grim for the aging and often bewildered President – was such that the decision was destined to be made sooner than later. 

It’s telling, somewhat, that Biden refused to proffer any explanation for his withdrawal during his Oval Office address. The exact circumstances surrounding his acceptance of the ultimate decision – especially given the level of resistance he offered up until the bitter end – are no doubt fascinating as political intrigue, and interesting in the historical sense; but as a practical and political matter, probably not all that important.

What is important is what happened next, that being the almost immediate anointing of Vice President Kamala Harris as the heir apparent. Biden’s prompt endorsement of Harris as his successor to the nomination, quickly seconded by virtually the entire Democratic establishment, was both politically brilliant and politically necessary, allowing the Democratic Party to avoid a messy and likely counter-productive contested convention that could have easily morphed into a (metaphorically) bloody civil war within the party. 

But Harris’ ascension cuts two ways, of course. Yes, it unified the party and permitted the Democrats to dodge the costly convention battle and infighting that would have proved disastrous for them at this late stage of the election; and, at least on paper, Harris was the most obvious pick, as sitting Vice-President. 

But it is not mere partisan rhetoric to point out that she comes with some rather serious flaws. Whatever Biden’s motivations for selecting her as his running mate (which we will likely never know with absolute surety – it is difficult to foresee any authorized biography of the Biden presidency laying all those cards on the public table), the simple fact is that her record is not particularly stellar as VP – and her inhered weaknesses from before occupying the EEOB were laid out rather clearly during the 2020 presidential primary.

Harris manages to represent both a continuation of an unpopular and unsuccessful administration, and simultaneously, a drift to the left. Rather than a bid for the center, in coalescing around Harris the Democrats have selected a nominee even more ideological than Biden, jolting the party to the left. Among other things, that makes her selection of a running mate of elevated importance to the campaign.

But Republicans ought not be tolling the victory bell just yet. Whatever her flaws, and they are many, Harris does not come with Biden’s biggest weakness. She can articulate her thoughts and is aware of where she is, at least. Liberal Democrat voters who despaired of Biden due to his increasingly obvious limitations now have someone they feel they can actively support. Even moderate and centrist independent voters, who despaired of their choice between Biden and Trump, may now see in Harris at least a candidate who has not yet reached retirement age, let alone one who is a decade or more past that gestational marker. Indeed, new polls reveal that Harris has erased Trump’s lead, making the race essentially a tie. 

Much can still happen. Beyond the choice of running mate, there is the still-open question of how Harris will present herself. She is not especially predisposed to attracting moderate, centrist swing voters. Rather than take advantage of the unique opportunity she has to freshly define herself for the electorate — to pivot to the center without primary consequences, and without the baggage of having had to first sell herself to her party’s base before jumping into the general election fray — she instead rattled off a litany of left-wing aspirations at her first campaign rally as nominee. Her snubbing of Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu as he addressed Congress is not a promising sign either. 

Perhaps even more important than how Harris goes about presenting herself is how the GOP will counter her. They are not off to a strong start with J.D. Vance’s resurrected “childless cat-lady” imprecation. This campaign will not be won on insults; the Republicans need to focus on policy. Traditionally that is not a problem, but this is not a traditional GOP ticket.

With Trump and Vance, the Republican Party is offering the most populist, liberal candidates since the Eisenhower era. On some major economic and foreign policy issues, there is far less distinction between the two party’s positions than there would be under a more traditional conservative ticket.  Precisely because on these big issues the distinctions are less crystallized, Trump will have to work harder, smarter, and with far greater discipline than he is predisposed to in order to make the necessary delineations. And he cannot count simply on Harris’ extremism to do the work for him.

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.