View From Here
“Who will be Vice President Kamala Harris’ Running Mate?”
I was standing with Congressman Hakeem Jeffries on Lafayette Avenue by Herbert Von King Park several years ago, and I remarked how he was “swimming with the big dogs now” on the Budget and Judiciary committees. Congressman Jeffries responded, “Yeah, I may have to whip some Brooklyn on ‘em.” Now is that time, Congressman.
The president has got to be told what the word is on the street. That he’s grown too old for the biggest, most important job in the world. And the person who would replace him would use his power to destroy who we are as a nation in order to stay out of jail.
I suggest you gather up a posse with fellow Brooklynite Chuck Schumer, the Obamas, the Clintons, Jim Clyburn, Nancy Pelosi, and committee chairs and go to the White House. Have a heart-to-heart with our valiant hero Joe Biden and tell him what the majority of voters, not his aides, are thinking. Aide’s insistence that Biden is not declining is self-serving and cannot be taken at face value.
Tell Joe if it was up to the delegation, you’d want him to stay, but it’s the mass of voters who will decide. And after looking at the data and hearing constituent voices, the voters see him as old now, and they imagine how he’ll be in a year or two. Ask if he’ll have more energy two years from now. The voters don’t believe he will.
To save our republic, it’s time to do the patriotic thing; he has to let go so that his policies and positive legacy will continue. Tell him, don’t become the “Only I can fix it” guy who believes his delusions are real. They are not. You’re going to lose.
In this life-outside-the box, after that meeting, Biden announces he’s stepping out of the race and assigning his delegates to Vice President Kamala Harris.
With that decided, the only remaining question is, “Who will be Vice President Kamala Harris’ Vice President?”
I believe the person has to be a straight, White male from one of the “must-win” states. We can return to our tribal corners after we defeat this common threat.
I would suggest Senator Mark Kelly from the swing state of Arizona. He has a phenomenal background: astronaut and combat fighter pilot. After his wife, then Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, was shot and disabled in an assassination attempt, he co-founded Americans for Responsible Solutions, now Giffords, a gun control advocacy organization that has kept his name fresh as an advocate in the gun control movement. As such, he comes to the table with a national base of passionate voters and name recognition with good vibes.
This team would give us a new generation to run the country. Kamala Harris is an outspoken advocate for abortion rights, and Mark Kelly is a well-known antigun advocate. Both issues are supported by a vast majority of voters. They would be further armed with the Biden/Harris record of achievements and the Harris/Kelly plan for the future.
This combination will bring a huge sigh of relief across the country and fire up the party and everyone who understands that our very democracy, who we are as a nation, is on the line.
They will bring a blue wave that keeps the presidency and the Senate, wins the House, and gives us the power to deal with the Supreme Court.
We cannot let history remember us in this time as having left our fate to be decided by deference, niceties, and the stubbornness of an old man.
This is an election the nation cannot lose. We just can’t.