White male pundits have launched a new assault on President Biden’s reelection bid. It’s the same “Biden is too old, he should quit the race” rant from the likes of Nate Silver and Mark Leibovich. Nate Silver is a pinhead but I’m disappointed in Leibovich. I dig his prose style but his latest anti-Biden screed is an exercise in futility: there’s no precedent for a president with Biden’s record of accomplishment to withdraw five months before the election. As a pundit, I deal with reality, not fantastical speculation.
Funny thing that not a single “Biden is too old, he should quit the race” proponent ever suggests that he resign as president to allow Vice President Harris to run as an incumbent. I know why: she’s a Black Indian Veep with lady parts. The lady parts thing is what really bothers them but none of them ever comes out and admits to their sexist bias. I had to do it for them.
I have a high opinion of Kamala Harris. I think she will rise to the occasion if anything happens to the president who despite the latest round of MSM bashing remains fit for office. How many times does he have to prove it to the punditocracy? Here’s how many:
Thanks Buzz and Woody.
Why is this post called That’s Why We Have A Vice President 2.0? Because I made my case for staying the course on December 18, 2023 and see no need to repeat myself. Besides, it’s summer rerun season, so why not repost my defense of the Biden-Harris ticket?
On with the show, this is it
The mainstream/legacy media is beating the bushes to find people to demand that President Joe Biden not run for reelection. The latest is crime fiction writer and high powered lawyer Scott Turow. I usually admire his writing but Turow’s recent Vanity Fair piece mostly regurgitates the same arguments as every other “Biden is too damn old” piece. Also, Turow rarely chimes in on politics, so why should I care?
In addition to its ageism problem, the mainstream media has a sexism problem. What would they do if Biden announced he was retiring at the end of his term, then endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor? The MSM would freak out because it has convinced itself that she’s not up to the job.
None of the stories about the Veep’s alleged shortcomings has been convincing. The biggest issue the MSM has with Kamala Harris is that she has a vagina.
After 8 years of Trumpism, the political press corps remains in the bag for the GOP. Why? Trump is nearly as old and he’s a batshit crazy criminal. But that makes him a better story than boring old Joe Biden. If you haven’t read it already, check out Athenae’s thoughts on that subject in her latest Dame Magazine column.
The legacy media misses the point of the Vice Presidency. The founders created the position to ensure a smooth transition of power should a president die in office. The 25th amendment added a process to deal with disability. We heard a lot about that during the Trump regime, but nothing recently. Why? Joe Biden is still up to the job.
Allow me to repeat the best thing I’ve seen about Biden’s fitness for office. It comes from WaPo columnist Perry Bacon:
“President Biden is flying around the world, giving long speeches and making tons of complicated decisions. He’s very up to the job right now. I hope and expect he will be able to serve his full four-year second term if reelected. That said, he’s 80 — so no one can promise he will be in great health in 2028. But Vice President Harris of course could step in if needed. She has plenty of experience — and the presidency isn’t a single person anyway. All of the people helping Biden would be by her side, too. And a President Harris would be much better than a President Trump.”
That’s why we have a Vice President.
The Vice Presidency is a miserable job. It’s hard for any Veep to stand out. It remains as the first holder of the office described it:
The track record of Veeps who succeeded a POTUS who died in office is good, especially in the 20th Century. Accidental presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Lyndon Johnson are usually ranked as among our better Oval Ones. Hell, even Chet Arthur rose to the occasion. John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson and Gerald Ford also attended.
That’s why we have a Vice President.
There have been many successful women leaders of other countries. A few examples: On the right, Margaret Thatcher; in the center, Angela Merkel, and on the left Jacinda Ardern. Are the United Kingdom, Germany, and New Zealand more advanced than we are? It appears that way since many Americans have a John Wayne complex about women in public office. Americans like to think leaders must be tough and brutal. But who was tougher than the Iron Lady? Besides, John Wayne was an actor, not a hero.
Back to this perilous time in the history of our Republic. Joe Biden’s 2020 victory saved us from a second Trump term. He selected Kamala Harris as Veep for political reasons but also because Biden thought she could do the job if something happened to him. That remains the case.
Before becoming one himself, Nelson Rockefeller said he didn’t want to be Veep because he wasn’t cut out to be stand-by equipment. But that’s why we have a Vice President: to back up the president and be ready to hit the ground running if the boss dies or resigns. A woman can do that just as well as a man. Does anyone seriously think Kamala Harris would be a worse president than Andrew Johnson or Donald Trump?
Joe Biden is old. There, I said it. Despite his many accomplishments in office, it’s been nearly impossible for him to be as popular as past presidents. Trump and his MAGA minions have spent the last three years lying about Biden and the 2020 election, that’s taken its toll and must be considered when perusing the polls.
It’s high time that the MSM and some Democrats accept the fact that we have a binary choice next November. As long as we have the electoral college, only a Democrat or Republican can win a presidential election. The next president will be Biden or Trump. The latter has floated names such as Kari Lake, Marge Taylor Greene, and JD Vance as possible running mates. Do you really want to enable the Indicted Impeached Insult Comedian to install one of those lunatics as stand-by equipment?
Kamala Harris is up to the job but it’s impossible for her to stand out since, like every other Veep since John Adams, she’s stand-by equipment.
That’s why we have a Vice President.
The last word goes to Tim Finn:
This is roughly the point in the election cycle where eedjit pundits spin fantastical scenarios of “what if X resigns, but then Y is appointed, followed by blah blah blah, resulting in some cray-cray outcome”.
There should be an Anti-Pulitzer Prize for such articles, with the award being one gram of pure anti-matter.