Until it’s not Joe Has Arrived

Well, I wrote here earlier it’s Joe until it wasn’t and wasn’t is now the reality. VP Kamala Harris is the presumed nominee, with the Biden endorsement. I don’t think Biden had any choice but to do so, as leaving and throwing it open invites a chaos no one needs and loses the party a month of not knowing who the nominee is to go against Trump and his cul. Even if you buy into the idea the race does not start until after Labor Day, the optics of an open race would be damaging.

The worst thing Democrats can do is assume that relief and exhuberance inside their political bubble is how the story plays out. There is a long way to go in this campaign. One of my initial thoughts was, she will clean Trump’s clock in a debate. Thinking about it more, there is a fine line between effectively taking Trump down and avoiding/deflecting Trump’s condescension of being mean and divisive. Both on the campaign trail and in debate, she needs to thread the needle and netter listen to people who understand that.

Harris also has the opportunity to define a vision that moves past a lot of the narrative of two ol men arguing. It may even be that talking about what the Biden administration has done and what Biden put forward for the first 100 days, will take on a very different tone.

So in the end, go figure in politics, there are challenges and opportunity. It is an important moment right NOW, a point where you have the attention of the country. Those initial impressions are going to be crucial. But we have a long way to go, with ups and downs for everyone. My message is if you want Democrats to win, you wake up every day thinking you have ground to make up.