Another liability for democrats that you are leaving out in this post, perhaps on purpose, is Kamala Harris. Nobody wants to see her as president (and with an 81+ president, what are the biological chances ...). If Trump picks wisely --which cannot simply be discounted--, this will make it even more difficult for Democrats to enthuse their base.
Thank you Susanne for mentioning the Kamala Harris liability. I have great admiration for Hillary Clinton, but the misogynistic distaste for her competence and self-confidence on the part of too many is a deeply unpleasant memory from 2016. I fear that Kamala Harris who is also competent and confident carries the same sort of negatives. If Biden should decline to run for a second term, I hope that the Vice President does not assert a stance of entitlement at the Democratic Convention which might serve to alienate the African-American electorate from the eventual nominee. Democratic governors like Whitmer, Shapiro, Beshear, and yes, our own Roy Cooper, might be good possibilities to head the Democratic ticket, perhaps paired with Cory Booker as VP. Thank you Gavin Newsom for your courage in going on Fox to debate Meatball Ron, but you are from California. :) The bottom line is that Trump must be defeated.
Thanks for this comment. This has been an additional critique of Democrats' current malaise that has been repeated in the comments on this blog and in commentary elsewhere. I concede this is how many people feel, but I don't see all that much compelling evidence for Harris' unpopularity other than being a loyal vice president to an unpopular president. The grievances against her are detailed in the Stephens/Collins dialogue today in the NYT and I have to say they are mostly petty and unconvincing. If there were a graceful way to move Harris to a different position, say Secretary of State, and have a different running mate, perhaps Gretchen Whitmer or Gina Raimondo - that might ease some of the Biden concerns, but it comes at the risk of fracturing the Democrats' fragile coalition even more. I don't know the answer, but it could be worth pursuing if Democrats go into the late spring/early summer and are still losing this race as they are now.
A slight counter to David, I think Cal Cunningham would have defeated the unpopular Thom Tillis in 2020 but for you-know-what. There are moments, however, when I am glad that we have Thom Tillis as our senator, most recently in his defiance of Trump and MAGA on Ukraine. There have been other instances such as when he attempted to defend the independence of the DOJ and the Attorney General against Trump while Trump was disemboweling Jeff Sessions. Tillis did not vote to convict Trump, however, while Richard Burr did.
Another liability for democrats that you are leaving out in this post, perhaps on purpose, is Kamala Harris. Nobody wants to see her as president (and with an 81+ president, what are the biological chances ...). If Trump picks wisely --which cannot simply be discounted--, this will make it even more difficult for Democrats to enthuse their base.
Thank you Susanne for mentioning the Kamala Harris liability. I have great admiration for Hillary Clinton, but the misogynistic distaste for her competence and self-confidence on the part of too many is a deeply unpleasant memory from 2016. I fear that Kamala Harris who is also competent and confident carries the same sort of negatives. If Biden should decline to run for a second term, I hope that the Vice President does not assert a stance of entitlement at the Democratic Convention which might serve to alienate the African-American electorate from the eventual nominee. Democratic governors like Whitmer, Shapiro, Beshear, and yes, our own Roy Cooper, might be good possibilities to head the Democratic ticket, perhaps paired with Cory Booker as VP. Thank you Gavin Newsom for your courage in going on Fox to debate Meatball Ron, but you are from California. :) The bottom line is that Trump must be defeated.
Thanks for this comment. This has been an additional critique of Democrats' current malaise that has been repeated in the comments on this blog and in commentary elsewhere. I concede this is how many people feel, but I don't see all that much compelling evidence for Harris' unpopularity other than being a loyal vice president to an unpopular president. The grievances against her are detailed in the Stephens/Collins dialogue today in the NYT and I have to say they are mostly petty and unconvincing. If there were a graceful way to move Harris to a different position, say Secretary of State, and have a different running mate, perhaps Gretchen Whitmer or Gina Raimondo - that might ease some of the Biden concerns, but it comes at the risk of fracturing the Democrats' fragile coalition even more. I don't know the answer, but it could be worth pursuing if Democrats go into the late spring/early summer and are still losing this race as they are now.
A slight counter to David, I think Cal Cunningham would have defeated the unpopular Thom Tillis in 2020 but for you-know-what. There are moments, however, when I am glad that we have Thom Tillis as our senator, most recently in his defiance of Trump and MAGA on Ukraine. There have been other instances such as when he attempted to defend the independence of the DOJ and the Attorney General against Trump while Trump was disemboweling Jeff Sessions. Tillis did not vote to convict Trump, however, while Richard Burr did.