This is a common theme, but what is it exactly? I’ve yet to hear a coherent explanation of what is so bad about her apart from the left saying she’s too right wing and the right saying she’s too left wing.
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That’s why I said something, I cant put my finger on it. Maybe that’s what it it, I cant place her, not sure where she stands. Seems to change with the wind.
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If you don’t come up with something people are going to jump to the obvious conclusion.
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Why bother, those people are going to regardless.
Edit: You see, that didn’t take long at all.
She fared terribly in the 2020 primaries…and all time terrible campaign. The people she had around her just did not act in her best interests at all and a lot of that still lingers in terms of how people on the left and those within the party view her, hence her not being seen as the default replacement for Biden should he need to step down.
The reasons the right dont like her are clearly something else as why would they be concerned about internecine intraparty squables. It is so difficult to put your finger on though. Literally undefinable
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I think that is more telling regarding where you draw your information from - I have not seen a serious Democratic source for even a discussion of this, and for that matter not even any DC Republicans. It seems to be an alt-right fantasy of sorts.
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I googled it and still didnt see that rumour.
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I think the other factor is that in terms of ideological position, the current President-VP combination is among the most centrist the Democrats have ever put forward. Harris offers up symbols for the Democrats’ left, but not a great deal else. to distinguish her from Biden. Biden is generally well-liked personally in the Democratic Party, but he is too much of a old school compromise Senator to really appeal to the left. So the conversation that (sort of happened) was should someone step up to run against Biden from the left. That didn’t happen in any serious way. The people who wanted that to happen are not particularly fond of Harris, they don’t like her in a policy sense, and many of them don’t particularly like her as a person.
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I’m racking my brain to think of any politician; US, UK, European or other, who I didn’t like for some indefinable reason.
There’s always a reason.
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I think that conversation [A challenge to Biden-Harris from the left] only happened on the internet left, which is a frankly weird place totally divorced from the real world. In practice Biden’s presidency has been accommodating of the actual left so generally retained a lot of support from key opinion leaders like Bernie, AOC and Jayapal that would have been required for an insurgent campaign to go anywhere
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You’re not on Truth Social then Sweeting?
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It was an opinion piece, that why was not sure if it was rehashed. Not sure where it was from, saw it in a news feed, that referenced the original article.
There was some chatter about it about a year ago, but as you say, some of the key figures on the left of the Democratic Party have chosen to stay the course and live with some elements of dissatisfaction - I believe pragmatically in the realization that it would be a lot easier to make things worse than better. At the same time, with the House GOP having transformed themselves into a JK civics field trip, a Democratic sweep remains a possibility. Even if they cannot take the Senate (most likely outcome, Manchin will be missed as soon as he is gone), a Biden White House will be able to work with about half of the GOP Senators reasonably well.
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There is one piece by an academic in the US Today which doesnt support Harris taking over, only Biden stepping down. The entire argument appears to be based on “the replacement would need to be decided at the convention and that would introduce some much needed excitement into an even that has become boring”. If you gave someone who didnt believe the argument 3 mins to prepare for a mock debate where they had to present that side I would expect a better argument to be presented than the one this guy presents.
There is another piece from Fox News that does support the Harris replacement idea.
That appears to be it of recent debate
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The underlying problem, that people have misgivings about Biden’s age and are not thrilled by him, is not going anywhere. But the discussion both cycled and terminated around the same sticking point, that being there is no young, appealing, centrist Democrat waiting in the wings. The Democrats really have to get over the Clinton (and Obama) phenomena - Newsom ain’t it. Most of the names thrown forward as possibilities just won’t fare well in the swing states.
The Democratic prince is not going to come. They just need to grind out an electoral win, force the GOP into a difficult campaign that starts to crack the incoherent coalition they now represent.
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Almost all the maneuvering within the party was based on the possibility he would choose not to run again, as was the expectation from 2020. Once the midterms were over and he made clear he was not going to step aside the only debate about finding a challenger was really from outside the party and based on his age and ability to campaign, and that was something that lacked any ideological valence.
I agree with you that there is no white knight…not now and not in the next cycle. Not because we’re waiting for the next generational talent, but because the concept is naïve. Biden is a basic bitch and the right have still turned him into a character in a criminal conspiracy narrative. When people point to alternatives who lack Biden’s supposed baggage the only reason that might be true is because the opposition has not put time into characterizing them in a way they can attack yet. It is simply not possible today to run a presidential campaign that will not have significant liabilities whether real or only imagined and people pointing to the liabilities of the Biden campaign as a reason he needs to step down are just being incredibly naive thinking the alternative would be any cleaner.
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I know very little about her.
I know the VP is a largely ceremonious post, but I expected a greater presence/voice from her. Specially considering that there was this notion that Biden is a one-term President and Harris is his heir apparent. After nearly four years, I feel that she is too happy staying in the shadows.
No one ever viewed her as the heir apparent. Had Biden announced after the mid terms he was stepping aside there would have been a robust campaign for his replacement. Some of the more cynical observers have suggested this was part of her attractiveness as a VP pick, where a VP who had more friends in the party might have put more pressure on Biden to not seek reelection.
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The best Democrat I’ve seen, and would vote for if given half the chance, would be Pete Buttiegieg. Former soldier. Clever as you like. Multi-lingual. Great debater. Big grasp of policy, ideas, etc. Young. Photogenic. And not that it matters as it is his personal business, but gay, married, young child, person of faith… so he confronts a lot of stereotypes there, and as such, would be a very modern choice.
I can’t quite put my finger on it, but when the Dems had a contest last time, he dropped out early on and didn’t gain the momentum I thought he would.
Perhaps America just isn’t ready, but he would add gravitas to the job again quickly.
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Just did a search out of curiosity as I was thinking that the path to presidency would have been skewed towards governors (from governor to president). It seems there is quite a balance between house, senate, vp and gov.
The main ones:
Senators to President - 17
VP to President - 15
Hose to President - 20
Governors to President - 14
Presidents like Biden and Clinton are in multiple places (JB - VP and Senator, Clinton - Governor and AG)