The only thing that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will achieve by re-emerging into the public square is to remind Americans souring on Donald Trump that they didn’t like their other options, either.
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Joe Biden is back, and so is Kamala Harris. Both of them gave speeches in the past couple of weeks, and the former president also has an appearance scheduled on The View tomorrow, which raises an important question: What are they thinking???
Why would either of them believe that a return to the public arena is going to be a net positive for anybody (other than Donald Trump and the GOP)?
It’s not as though they are offering unique insights. In their respective speeches, Biden and Harris warned that the current administration is bad for the country and for the rule of law, which isn’t exactly a major epiphany… it’s all anybody is talking about, and, based on the most recent polls, the American people are figuring it out on their own.
The only thing that sets Biden and Harris apart is that they are the two people most responsible for Trump getting elected.
Admittedly, in Harris’s case, that’s a bit unfair. Biden’s insistence on running for a second term, and his petulant refusal to drop out when it became apparent that he wasn’t up to it, are the main reasons why voters felt that a mentally ill fascist was their best option.
As for the former vice president, she chose to muscle her way into the nomination instead of going through a mini-primary. Sure, that might have also had downsides, but a candidate less tied to Biden’s inflation and immigration baggage probably would have had a better chance of defeating Trump.
Because, while Trump is wrecking the economy, ignoring the rule of law, ruining international relationships, and leaving chaos in his wake, all the appearances of Biden and Harris are doing is reminding the American people that they really didn’t like the other options either.
In any case, she took the best shot at the presidency that she was ever going to get and lost, and it’s tough to blame her for that.
What we will blame her for, however, is trying to make a personal comeback at the expense of the country, because that is exactly what is happening here.
What she should do is simply enjoy life and keep a low profile. She can travel and meet with sympathetic leaders across the globe who will tell her that everything would have been better if she had been elected. Or she can sit in her nice home, hang out with her friends, and muse about what could have been.
Or, if she wants to get rich(er), then she can command a seven-figure advance for her memoirs or give corporate speeches at $50K a pop.
That will take care of money, personal gratification, and the urge to scold Americans for the poor choice they made last November.
As for Biden, he should really just disappear from public view and stay in that place in Delaware that he loves so much.
That’s it.
Why, you ask?
Because, while Trump is wrecking the economy, ignoring the rule of law, ruining international relationships, and leaving chaos in his wake, all the reappearances of Biden and Harris are doing is reminding the American people that they really didn’t like the other options either.
For example, seeing Biden on The View tomorrow is not going to make anybody wistfully sigh: “Oh man, I wish that guy was our president.”
It’s a bit different for Harris, since she was clearly a superior option, but sometimes the breaks just don’t go your way. And, after forcing Democrats to fall in line behind her last summer, she now should take one for the team and lie low.
But, apparently, personal ambition and the urge to say “I told you so” are superseding the public good, which is why, instead of letting Trump self-destruct, they both chose this moment to reappear.
The timing is probably no accident.
Chances are that some of those high-priced Democratic consultants who also share responsibility for this mess have determined that, with Trump’s approval ratings tanking and the economy on the brink of a recession, it’s now safe for Biden and Harris to reemerge.
That might be true for their personal brands but not for what’s good for the party and country.
Again, it’s a slightly different story for Harris. While she should bury her presidential ambitions, she could certainly run for governor of California.
However, it would serve absolutely nobody if she sought the 2028 Presidential nomination and, notwithstanding the lead she currently enjoys in some way-too-early primary polls based purely on name recognition and pity, such a bid will almost certainly end in an embarrassing defeat.
Of course, it would be an entirely different story if Biden and Harris were dragged back into the public square — and that day will probably come.
With the president going after anybody and everybody who played a role in his 2020 election defeat, it seems it will only be a matter of time before his Department of Justice contrives some trumped-up charges targeting Biden and possibly Harris.
When that happens, they can be virtually assured of public support, not just from Democrats but also independents, because Trump will try to make both of their lives a living hell.
And that’s another reason why, for now, they should just enjoy the calm before the storm. We will all be better off for it.
