The summer 2024 firehose of breaking news is continuing apace. One month after the catastrophic debate against former President Donald Trump that irreparably damaged the elderly president’s reputation, and eight days after his rival was shot in the ear on national television, President Joe Biden announced he is no longer seeking the Democratic nomination.
“I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” he said in a written statement posted on X.
No one has seen or heard from the president in several days, and the choice to announce this unprecedented move on social media instead of in a live address to the nation has raised questions. Biden, along with high-profile Democrats such as the Clintons and running mate hopefuls Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
Notably, former President Barack Obama did not endorse Harris in his statement praising Biden’s decision to step aside. Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) reportedly toyed with the idea of challenging Harris but decided against it and called for a contested convention. It is reasonable to assume that Harris will, in fact, be on the top of the Democratic ticket this November.
Both Democrats and Republicans have convinced themselves in the last 24 hours that Harris’s ascension to the top of the ticket is fantastic news for them. Of course, they can’t both be correct, and I would argue that neither are.
Republicans lost their easiest and likely most effective pitch. Biden’s senility will no longer affect the economy or U.S. standing in the world after, at the latest, January 2025. Harris, for all her flaws, is sentient and can communicate with staff, the press, and voters in a way Biden has been incapable of doing for years. At 59 years old, Harris checks all of the right intersectional boxes and has the stamina to hold her own against Trump on the campaign trail, not to mention the massive Democratic war chest that will immediately become available to the Harris campaign.
On the flip side, Harris is barely doing better than Biden, and in some states, she is actually performing worse in head-to-head polls against Trump. She will have to defend Biden’s horrendous policies, from economics to the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, and, assuming there is one real journalist left in the United States, will have to answer questions on what she knew and when she knew it while she was lying to the public for four years regarding Biden’s health.
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Making things worse for Democrats, Harris is not some battle-hardened Democratic warrior. She began her political career accepting political favors from powerful California Democrat Willie Brown, with whom she was sexually involved at the time. She ran for statewide office three times in a one-party state, and when she introduced herself to the nation in 2020, her fellow Democrats thoroughly rejected her candidacy. Harris was losing her home state, polling at 3% nationally, and dropped out before Iowa.
Harris endorsed the Green New Deal and pledged to end private health insurance, raise taxes, and ban guns while having to defend the Biden regime’s destructive and unpopular foreign policy. As the Trump campaign continues its move to the center, Harris will certainly be the radical in the race, regardless of how hard the press pretends otherwise. Republicans would be unwise to get cocky, but Trump is still the heavy favorite. There is a reason why Biden waited this long to drop out, and the reason is not because he feels Harris is a sure thing against Trump.
Brady Leonard (@bradyleonard) is a musician, political strategist, and host of The No Gimmicks Podcast.