It’s almost inconceivable that Democratic elites would get behind President Joe Biden in 2024.
His approval rating sunk to 37% in two end-of-week polls on Real Clear Politics. He’s becoming more of a liability every day as inflation eats away at household budgets.
But it will be folly to expect Vice President Kamala Harris to step into his shoes. But that isn’t stopping her handlers from floating 2024 trial balloons already.
It’s always a perilous dance to support your boss while trying to measure the drapes. That’s exactly what Harris is doing now. She’s tiptoeing around delivering speeches that border on the inappropriate while waiting for her opportunity to push Biden aside.
She came under blistering attack this past week for her uninspired comments in the wake of the Highland Park massacre. “We’ve got to take this stuff seriously, as seriously as you are because you have been forced to take this seriously,” she said according to multiple reports.
Somebody wrote that? The days of speechwriters pouring their souls into the mouths of politicians are over. Still, Harris hangs on.
A poll from the Harvard University Center for American Political Studies found that Harris enjoys 39-37% support when matched against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis 37% in a theoretical contest — yet 23% can’t decide, Newsweek reported.
NBC News is writing that the mess Biden finds himself in is actually giving Harris “a second act.” This is how it works. The Democrats who control the party align themselves with a candidate and ride that choice into the Oval Office or into the ground.
Hillary Clinton pushed aside Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden bumped Liz Warren back into the Senate. This time it appears Harris will send Biden off into the sunset where he can tell stories about this long career to anyone who will listen in Maryland.
But Harris — and the Democrats — are going to hit the wall. The vice president was once a rising star but somehow her ability to stir passion has disappeared. Her giggling as a bridge between making points is as alarming as Biden’s forgetfulness.
Friday’s NBC item has a telling passage: “Biden allies have bristled at suggestions even from within his own party that the president is not meeting the moment.”
Biden won’t go easily into retirement. But Harris will continue to step out on her own to seize the day. But that’s a danger for any VP, because she does not have the authority to do anything.
A case in point is Friday’s decision by Biden to sign an executive order to try to protect access to abortions.
The actions Biden outlined, the Associated Press wrote, are intended to head off some potential penalties that women seeking abortion may face after the ruling, but his order cannot restore access to abortion in the more than a dozen states where strict limits or total bans have gone into effect. About a dozen more states are set to impose additional restrictions.
It’s too late for Biden. He isn’t going to win re-election and the Democrats know it. Harris won’t either.
Someone else will ascend to the podium at the party’s convention. It still won’t be enough to stop a Republican from winning in 2024. That’s unless there’s a seismic shift in how Democrats get behind a candidate. That, as history tells, is highly doubtful.
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