It's Time for President Kamala Harris
And hope, optimism, and kicking Republican ass...
Kamala Harris in Indianola, Iowa on October 22, 2018.
Don’t Fear the Reaper
Enough fear. No more. Don’t fear Trump—the Grim Reaper of democracy. Cue video:
Biden stepping down isn’t a failure, it’s an opportunity
Remember—it’s the Biden-Harris administration, and the Commander-in-Chief has stumbled, and it’s time for Vice President Harris to step in. And it’s not just one bad debate. He’s stumbled before, time and again, and Democrats promptly stuck their heads in the sand and rallied to his defense. I was one of them. But enough is enough. He’s going to show his frailty again and again.
My God, we learned last week that he had to take afternoon naps during debate prep, and now he’s going to try to avoid events after 8:00 p.m. As Thomas Friedman writes, “Is this the man you want answering the phone at 3 a.m. if the Russians or the Chinese or the Iranians attack us?” More Friedman:
Yes, what Trump fears most right now is that Biden will teach the country how to say goodbye.
He fears that Biden will demonstrate the difference between a leader and a party who put the country first and a leader and a party who put themselves first, namely Trump and the Republicans who enable him despite knowing how many of Trump’s former advisers say he is unfit for office, despite knowing that Trump tried to overturn the last election, despite knowing that Trump has articulated no real plan for the country’s future other than “retribution” against all who crossed him and his followers.
How might Biden do what is best for the country and worst for Trump — a small man at a big time who is so unwilling to say goodbye that he will not even admit he lost the election in 2020 fair and square? Not by scrambling to shift a few panicky donors to his side to tough it out until November, insisting that he just had one bad debate night. And not by daring the party to remove him. He should elevate himself and the party above the whole fray.
It’s time for President Kamala Harris. Biden needs to specify a date when he will step down for the good of the country, and be her bulldog. Cement his legacy, and help save democracy. Biden’s lack of competency owns the news cycle and it will until the election. Wouldn’t you rather have a news cycle that focuses on the opportunities a new administration would bring? Speculation about who her vice president might be? Young people would be energized, as would minority groups. Independents would shift toward competency and away from the Republican wrecking ball.
I first met then Senator Harris at an event at the Brickhouse Tavern in Indianola in 2018. I was at the top of the stairs in the room where her event was to be held. It was early in the caucus cycle, and I think she may have only been in Iowa for a couple of days. I watched her walk up the stairs, and when she first heard, and then saw the size of the crowd, she was surprised, joyful and loving. The crowd returned the love and appreciation. Please note the number of young people you see in the above photo.
Matt Fidel and then Senator Kamala Harris
My friend Matt Fidel introduced Senator Harris. Matt, from Pittsburg, was in Iowa to work the caucuses, and he impressed me so much that I declared him an “honorary Iowan” in the New York Times. After the caucuses he went to work in Congress, and is now in law school at Harvard.
May we all have someone who looks at us like Matt looks at Senator Harris!
Below is an interview I did with the Senator. Please listen, and you will hear why I think that she will make a great president.
Replacing Biden is a winning strategy
Millions of people can’t unsee what they saw during the debate and what followed in the media. I can think of half a dozen Democrats who can beat Trump, and a friend tells me that he thinks that there “isn’t a weaker legitimate candidate in the country worse than Joe Biden.”
My friend tells me that American values are on the ballot, and Americans want a government that works, and a fair shake for everyone.
He says, “Democrats need to reframe the race around values, invest in a process that's transparent, fair, AND smartly facilitated, and where leaders emerge that carry on the values of the last four years as a legitimate alternative to the horrors of the plans to which the Republicans in the Trump candidacy have committed.”
And, "we are proud of being Democrats because Democrats put country and people first."
I recently wrote about the CNN dumpster fire of a debate and made the case that President Joe Biden should step aside for a younger candidate who can generate excitement and bring out voters. I also argued that it isn’t about Biden and Trump. It’s about values, the great things the Biden-Harris administration has done, the long history of Democratic accomplishments, and a bright Democratic future.
What if Biden Stepped Aside?
Late in the afternoon Wednesday I asked you—subscribers to Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture—about your opinions of Biden stepping aside. It was with a post called a “thread” by Substack, where you engage with each other. It was an experiment for me, but those of you who commented were remarkable. Knowledgeable, thoughtful, and passionate. Here is the thread.
At 3:00 am today as I finish this, there are 103 comments, a few of which I’m going to highlight here. All of you deserve a mention, but it would make this post too long. Let me say thank you, to each and every one of you, as your commentary influenced this column in many ways.
Many of you said we should be talking about how Trump should withdraw. I agree, but Biden is dominating the media, and not in a good way.
It appears that every one of you, except one Trump supporter, will vote for whoever is the Democratic nominee.
Perhaps about half of you are standing by Biden, and the other half want someone new.
Before I get into more details, it’s important to follow the advice of Ralph Rosenberg and David Dettmann, who stress the importance of supporting down-ballot issues and candidates no matter what.
In my column about the debate suggesting that Biden step down, I suggested that we should consider other candidates aside from Harris, my friend and fellow Writers’ collaborative Laura Belin convinced me I was wrong in only two sentences (and this isn’t the first time).
If you want Biden to step down, the only realistic alternative is Harris. It's not tenable to pass over the Black VP for some white politician and anyone other than Harris would have to start from scratch with no access to campaign funds or infrastructure.
My friend and author Diana Goetsch summarizes the situation nicely.
…In the case of Biden, switching will steal news cycles from Trump for months, give the new candidate a chance at voters disillusioned with Biden's Gaza policies (hello Michigan), pull the rug out from Trump's (and the entire GOP’s) anti-Biden campaign. Switching will give us a candidate who can hammer away at Trump's corruption, bigotry, misogyny, racism, fascism, nepotism, ignorance, idiocy and mental decline (which Biden lacks the capacity or willingness to do), a candidate better able to sound the alarm about the plight of reproductive rights and the danger of the current Supreme Court.
This isn't about loyalty to Joe, it's about beating Trump and preserving democracy. This isn’t about "norms” or “staying the course”; we've never seen a situation or trajectory like this (comparisons to LBJ in '68 are ridiculously off; every congressional Democrat is currently outpolling Biden). The Biden admin is currently gaslighting desperately, trying to hold the base with familiar appeals. But it's swing voters who are critical, and they are not swayed by appeals to policy, let alone the dangers of fascism (as insane as that may be). Biden is sinking in the polls daily, he’ll only get worse.
Switching greatly improves the odds of beating Trump. Democrats must switch.
Josiah Wearin always makes thoughtful and occasionally provocative (in a good way) comments.
…Not a time to panic, I agree. But neither is it time to follow a great leader over the cliff due to his own blindness to the optics/reality (take your pick)…Those with influence need to get real and convince our President to choose a successor candidate. Now!
…I’m no political analyst, but can feel it in my bones as a citizen. Trump must be defeated and Biden is not the one who can do so. If the Democratic Party would just get in gear, it has plenty of time to win. But this good honorable patriotic President must first act. This mess is far worse than Watergate. A coverup of cognitive functioning cannot stand. Each hour that passes makes this worse.
Wearin also points out an essay in the New York Times I missed: There is a name for the trap Biden faces by Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The name of the trap is escalation of commitment.
Escalation of commitment helps to explain why leaders are often so reluctant to loosen their grip on power. Losing a high-status position can make them feel they’re losing their place in the world. It leaves them with bruised egos and wounded pride.
Of course, we can’t know for sure which decisions will turn out to be good. But decades of research led by the organizational psychologist Barry Staw have identified a few conditions that make people especially likely to persist on ill-fated paths. Escalation is likely when people are directly responsible for and publicly attached to a decision, when it has been a long journey and the end is in sight, and when they have reasons to be confident that they can succeed.
It’s striking that Mr. Biden’s current situation checks all those boxes. He announced his re-election bid to the world in April 2023. He has poured 14 months of energy into his campaign and has only four more to go. And he’s beaten the odds before: Many voters told pollsters he was too old before the 2020 election, and in hindsight it’s unlikely that any other Democratic candidate would have won.
So what should the president be doing to navigate this enormously consequential decision? So far, we know that he gathered his family and top aides. (According to reports, they all encouraged him to stay in the race.) That’s a natural enough impulse, but it doesn’t necessarily help, since the people closest to a leader are precisely the ones who are most susceptible to confirmation bias. They’re too personally invested in his success and too likely to dismiss warning signs.
I’m going to close on David Weaver bringing the point home:
I think Biden should step down from the Presidency. He should use the phrase “for the good of the country” as much as possible. Harris will take the oath of office and select a running mate…Democrats are not in a good situation. Biden has been great President, but he is a poor candidate - as Claire McCaskill stated, he had ONE job in the debate, and failed MISERABLY. Most independents won’t make up their minds until Labor Day. If I am an independent voter, I really doubt I am casting a vote for Biden through 2028. You HAVE to think Harris will step in at some point. Let her run Joe, give her the reins. Hell you have earned retirement. Just run the clip of Harris questioning Bill Barr every day. Make the election about a cop/DOJ expert, v. a crime-committing, mobbed-up Putin/Xi dictator-loving expert. Who do you want to vote for? The cop or the criminal?
Below is that clip. Please watch Senator Harris as she logically and powerfully eviscerates the former Attorney General and traitor Bill Barr, and know that she will be a powerful force for democracy and the American people as president of the United States.
Sometimes it seems to me that we are in the middle of a blockbuster summer disaster movie, and the monster is Donald Trump and the MAGA Republican party. To me, our best protagonist is Kamala Harris.
In the “movie” playing in my mind, and like Katniss in the Hunger Games, Harris takes an arrow from her quiver, draws back her bow, aims it at the monster Trump and his petty sycophants, and at the tip of her arrow, is what will save America and our democracy. The truth.
Two years ago today, on July 5, 2022, I published my first column as a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. If I remember correctly, I was the first member to publish, and Laura Belin quickly followed on July 19. The Collaborative now has over 50 writers who provide news, features, and commentary, primarily about issues that matter to Iowans.
The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative is a gift to the world from the remarkable Julie Gammack, veteran print and radio journalist, with an assist from her husband, the also remarkable and steadfast Richard Gilbert.
Julie had to convince me to join the collaborative. She drove to Pleasantville to meet me at Smokey Row where she held my hand and showed me how to use Substack, and I will be forever grateful. I never thought that I could produce enough quality content regularly, or that many people would subscribe.
I was wrong. I have over 2,600 subscribers, and my column is read in 46 U.S. states and 42 countries. I have written over 160 columns in two years that most readers have found valuable. One of my most popular columns, Iowa State Senator Ken Rozenboom Loses his Cool, has been read by over 8,200 people, not counting forwarded emails.
If you are a subscriber, thank you. If you are a paid subscriber, double thank you—you are helping pay for my daughter to go to college with her plan to become a mental health professional who works with kids. Many of you paid subscribers will soon be getting renewal notices. My hope is you will renew. If not, please keep reading.
My column will always be free for the same reasons public libraries are free.
Thanks Julie!
Now, an announcement from Julie:
I am thrilled to announce the formation of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Politics Panel, comprised of political analysts who are members of the collaborative, along with Kathie Obradovich, Editor-in-Chief of Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Political commentators with a long career in broadcast news, political reporting and commentary, will discuss what is going on in Iowa today. The podcast will be produced twice a month, and then in September through November, it will be held weekly.
It will be supported by generous Benefactors.
I’m honored to be a member of the panel, and our first panel will be this coming Wednesday at 10:00 a.m.
Please also consider subscribing to the columns of other members of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. We are proud of our association with the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Thank you, Bob. I would get behind Kamala if she runs. I am a fan of hers. I like her style. I have a number of friends who think she is a little cold and hasn't done much. I address their concern for her demeanor as the result of being a woman of Asian/ African descent she had to be stronger than anyone around her just get noticed let alone respected. I told them I thought that is a strength of hers. It is evident in the video you shared. She was direct, intentional, and focused in her questioning of Bill Barr. And, she is not afraid to call out BS when it is coming her way. Those are qualities of a leader. As to what she has accomplished - she had a rocky start, but I think her actions as VP were more harshly viewed than the actions of any of the white men who preceded her. She gets the blame for the immigration problem, but that is the responsibility of Congress, not the administration whose only power in that area is using Executive Orders that republicans view as an overreach. She has taken on the Supreme Court's rulings in the Dobbs case in appearances to large crowds of young people across the country and last week the Court has given her an even bigger opportunity to make some powerful connections across the country. I think she is a smart, talented woman who would make a very good chief executive.
Not so fast on VP Harris. Move faster on changing national strategy and messagin. Before I point out some differences, I want to commend writers like Josiah who offer constructive criticism and comments.
VP Harris has yet to demonstrate growth in her leadership skills and expertise on issues ranging from immigration to Ukraine . She had 3 1/2 years as VP and previous experience as a Senator and AG. However, her strengths seem limited to articulating social issues. The Queen (“King”) wears no clothes. Her uneven appearances are evidence of not growing with the job.
As Bob wrote: "Switching will give us a candidate who can hammer away at Trump's corruption, bigotry, misogyny, racism, fascism, nepotism, ignorance, idiocy, and mental decline (which Biden lacks the capacity or willingness to do), a candidate better able to sound the alarm about the plight of reproductive rights and the danger of the current Supreme Court."
The Democrats won't succeed if they focus only on social issues; they need to address more immediate concerns. I have yet to read of Harris’s accomplishments or powerful speaking on economic issues, immigration, and international issues.
The Democrats won't succeed with Harris or anyone else if they keep the same team responsible for political missteps in debate preparation, poor messaging over 3+ years, and constant failure to predict and respond to Trump. Trump was prepared and focused on his messaging (despite its falsehoods) and his team was strategic. Look at how quickly national Republicans spoke in unison after the verdict (Reynolds issued her press statement 11 minutes after the verdict), contrasted with the silence of anti-MAGA voices. During the debate, it seemed the preparation team was playing checkers to Trump's chess.
Harris has yet to prove she can be the top of the ticke. For the good of the country (as is often said about Biden), Harris should be approached with two options: stay on the ticket as VP and improve her image in the coming weeks, or be replaced by another woman or person of color. Biden's replacement could also be another woman or POC, reducing the need for a specific VP candidate. If the goal of the “never Biden” side is to make a change to defeat Trump, that standard should apply to a Biden replacement. Harris falls short.
To only focus on whether Biden should say or go, it's easy to make a binary choice. However, progressives and Democrats have yet to demonstrate the ability to plan for the next steps, predict Republican actions, or plan for contingencies. Replacing Biden with Harris without a change in strategy and messaging would be a mistake.
With these criticisms in mind, I am also not confident that an open convention would be successful at coalescing people and unifying opposition to Trump. In the past days since the debate, here have been opportunities to unify around issues, messaging, and need to support down-ballot issues, or specifically respond to the Trump Court, or Project 2025. D’s did not have a contingency plan for a national response to the Trump court on immunity or the accelerating extreme views of Project 2025 (calling for a second revolution), I do not trust this same team of D and progressive leaders to organize a convention.
Changing national support team, including consultants should be in the works. I want national leaders and strategies which predict Republican actions and plan for contingencies, rather than only playing defense or being defensive. Replacing Biden with Harris without a change in strategy and messaging would be a mistake.