General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)Guys, we are *not* doomed! [View all]
When I saw the news my first reaction was probably like most of yours: "Aww, fuck!" and a feeling of despair. But rather than stay on DU and vent about Vichy Democrats and greedy donors and the general suck of the situation, I decided to go for a walk - the rain had stopped and I figured a couple of miles worth of contemplation might calm me down. And it did, and I feel better.
It occurred to me, first, that this isn't Biden's first rodeo, or his second or his third. He's one of the canniest politicians out there, and if anybody can figure out which way the political wind is blowing, it's him. So he must have had a good reason, or reasons, for making this extremely consequential decision. We don't know yet what those reasons were, but they could include a serious drop-off in fund-raising that couldn't be overcome or some worrisome internal polling. Or, since this was such a sudden and unexpected turn-around, maybe while he was being treated for covid some other health problem was uncovered that was likely to present a serious problem before long. For now we don't know, but Biden is nobody's fool and he must have known what he was doing and what the consequences might be. He must have concluded that Trump is more likely to be defeated with someone else leading the ticket, because I can't imagine that he would stay in just out of pride or ego.
So where does that leave us? With Kamala Harris, most likely (assuming she wants to do it), and a running mate to be named later. Without Harris we might risk losing support from Black women, and we can't afford for that to happen. I could be wrong about that but that seems to be the consensus. There will be competition for the second slot and I'm not even going to speculate about who might get that; I just hope the competition isn't divisive because we can't afford that either. In any event, our ticket will be the Not Trump ticket. Regardless who ends up on our ballot, they will be Not Trump. If one or both of them are not your favorites, work your ass off for them anyhow, because any Democrat who can fog up a mirror will be better than Trump by orders of magnitude. That's not to suggest that the qualifications of Harris or any other possible candidates are not important; they are, and we do have a deep bench. But importantly they are Not Trump.
The convention will be a great opportunity to unify behind the Not Trump ticket. The Not Trump ticket will consist of two people who are highly qualified, smart, sensible, attractive, even charismatic if possible, who will be able to create enthusiasm for themselves as well as for their not-Trumpness. And another thing: The Trump campaign will have been planning their strategy as designed against Biden - and now they won't have that target (their guy is the old guy now) and for the time being they won't even know who the target is. That gives the Democrats a big advantage.
Anyhow, I don't think we're screwed; I think we have an opportunity. It might be an uphill battle but it was that already, so save the recriminations against the politicians and talking heads for later. Get ready to donate and GOTV. It's not over.
