Tough times for anyone opining publicly.
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We live in an accelerating world where the speed of breaking news events just keeps increasing.
One day, we have a set opinion about a subject. The next day, or even within minutes — influenced by rapidly unfolding events and new information — we feel the opposite. Back and forth we go. And we don’t know whether we’re right or wrong. We won’t even know after breaking news suggests we were wrong. As the saying goes, only time will tell.
So it was for me and for others. Like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (“AOC”) who, on Friday, July 19, released a heartfelt, frank, one hour video ruminating critically about those who wanted Biden, at that moment still the Democratic standard bearer, to drop out. Millions viewed it. It must have felt important to say at the time, but 48 hours later Biden was no longer the candidate, and her perspective, for all its perspicacity, had now been mooted.
I can totally relate to how she must have felt.
You will certainly recall that just hours before he pulled out of the race, President Biden was still doggedly determined to ride it out. Some, myself included, had long before brought up the age issue and worried that no real succession plan had even been considered and so, in light of the disastrous debate, I had said it was time for the president to accept reality and step down.
Weeks passed, then suddenly the president dropped out. Another 180-degree paradigm shift.
At the moment the news dropped, I already had a piece about to publish — again calling for him to step down, and worrying about Harris’s viability as a candidate against Trump.
My concerns included the fact that Trump and his formidable media machine — which effectively portrays him as the Teflon Don to whom no legitimate criminal conviction will stick — amount to an almost overwhelming molder of public opinion. With the future of the country and world in the balance, I suggested Democrats consider and hear from other talent. Allow the delegates and the American people to ponder those options.
I recommended two prospective standard bearers: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
Now, with Biden suddenly out, and despite the volatility and uncertainty of the moment, the main point was still worth making.
Yet within 48 hours, ideas like AOC’s, mine, and others, were simply no longer germane to the situation.
The Democratic establishment seemed to unite and move immediately to consolidate the Harris position, effectively silencing any discussion of alternatives; the movers and shakers in the party quickly coalesced around Harris, and that was that.
It was impressive how swiftly and seamlessly Team Biden transitioned to Harris as the party’s candidate. But the point about the party needing to broaden its appeal, examine the Democratic deep bench and bring in fresh leadership — that still is worthy of discussion.
The Harris Team must be ready to counter the Trump media machine and its schoolyard-bullying mouthpieces. And it must be prepared not only to answer all the lies that the MAGA minions put forth, but to offer voters an easily understood vision of what the country would look like if Kamala Harris becomes president.
And it must be ready, starting now, to keep up the fight for the next 100 days, while the terms of engagement keep changing almost hour by hour.
Today, The New York Times reported on Harris’s preferences for a running mate. While noting she had already begun to draw a bead on the criminality swirling around Trump (“prosecutor vs. felon”), the article pointed out that three of the contenders for the vice presidential nod had, significantly, served as their state’s attorney general: Pennsylvania’s Gov. Josh Shapiro and — Cooper and Beshear.
So here we go, into uncharted waters, mixing and matching and strategizing and debating, doing the best we can to keep up with fast-moving events.
A great deal will happen between now and the election — and, almost surely, after it as well. Fasten seat belts, anticipate sharp bumps, and take deep, calming breaths.
More to come.
