Democratic Party elites successfully executed a bloodless coup in getting President Joe Biden to step down as a candidate in November. We can hope the current euphoria expressed by those anointing Vice President Kamala Harris lasts long enough to get her elected. I am not here to bury our party, but to praise Joe Biden.
As a longtime Biden supporter — I was with him in 1987, 2008 and a delegate to the national convention in 2020 — we have been fortunate to have a steady, guiding hand for the last four years. The chaos caused by former President Donald Trump was massive, nationally and internationally. Biden restored some faith in American leadership.
Think about what the world would look like had Trump been reelected in 2020. We could be in a depression and possibly still in a pandemic. Biden rapidly distributed the COVID vaccine to help end the pandemic. Trump had no plan. Biden re-established relations with our allies and stood up to dictators. Biden stood up to China, expanded NATO, supported Ukraine and is trying to bring peace to the Middle East. Trump could give away Taiwan and surrender Ukraine.
Biden inherited a mess of an economy, but his policies including the Infrastructure Act, Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act have led to the United States leading the world back. Trump couldn’t do any of that — the convicted felon has no plan, except for the 2025 Project which is a national betrayal of all of our values.
Now Harris inherits all of what Biden accomplished and the agenda he has already set forth. I have no doubt that Harris can be president. My worry is that all Biden’s initiatives and significant achievements will be stalled, as well as the uncertainty of Harris’ national campaign.
Many of us still believe Biden was the strongest candidate against Trump, despite his showing in the first debate. A greatly exaggerated, but admittedly bad performance. Pundits and our party elite reacted as if they were certified neurologists claiming him to be “too old” for the job. In short, they turned on their own. A jarring portrayal, especially if you juxtapose the leadership of Republicans who came to the defense of their candidate, a convicted felon.
Clearly, Biden knows more than his detractors about the job, but the American public must be entertained. It’s not enough that he does his job well, he must amuse us. His critics cite his drop in the polls, a self-fulfilling effect of the circular firing squad they created. Love to have seen the polls if the leadership had defended him.
Now we must rely on Harris to entertain us. We all hope she does well. But if we lose this election, the party elites can blame themselves for that loss. This election in now on their shoulders, not Biden’s. Given that Trump is a felon, sexual predator, fraud and liar, Harris should win handily. Some of us believe Biden would still have won in a landslide.
It is exciting for the Bay Area to have its first presidential candidate since John C. Fremont. We hope Harris can win. I know Biden would have won.
San José Spotlight columnist Rich Robinson is a political consultant, attorney and author of “The Shadow Candidate.” His columns appear every fourth Wednesday of the month.
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