As embattled Joe Biden and his dumpster-fire presidential campaign continue to sink further into the abyss, a respected Washington Post columnist has said the quiet part out loud. (I loathe that trite phrase, but it works here.)
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Kathleen Parker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist who weighs in on politics and culture for WaPo, thinks 81-year Biden would ease concerns about his age and declining cognitive capacity by kicking woefully unpopular Vice President Kamala Harris off the ticket and replacing her with 76-year-old Hillary Clinton, who lost the 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump.
Related Reading: ‘The Voters Don’t Like Her’: Arizona Focus Groups Offer ‘Brutal’ Assessments of Kamala Harris
Genius? Or idiotic? Maybe both — if you’re a conservative.
As Parker sees it, the move would extricate the country from what she calls the “old-white-men dilemma.”
I’ve touched on this topic in recent weeks, but with no clear vision for a fix. To sum up, Americans, including Democrats, are concerned about Biden’s age and the increasing probability that he wouldn’t be able to complete a second term. If he wins reelection, Biden will be 82 on Inauguration Day.
Democrats have focused on two basic strategies concerning Biden’s cognitive decline: either pretend it’s not happening and that the right is lying about it, or toss Trump into the same boat with Biden by claiming he too is in in mental decline. Parker opted for both strategies.
The problem isn’t his numerical age. People age in different ways. In some cases, people hardly age at all, they’re so physically fit and mentally astute. But even the most robust 80-year-old would be challenged to keep pace with the White House job. Far younger presidents have turned gray in the Oval Office.
Biden’s steady decline the past few years — his stumbles, his search for words, his occasional blank stare — has been impossible to ignore. Such change isn’t a reflection of character; it’s part of the natural order of life, and it isn’t ageist to take note. But Biden and former president Donald Trump, 78, have forced the issue to the forefront of our politics.
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Yeah, no. While Trump certainly has more than his share of — let’s just call them “detractors” — an ever-increasing number of voters clearly see Biden’s steady decline with their own eyes. Now, virtually every time he appears publicly, it happens.
Inarguably, a significant obstacle to a Biden win is Kamala Harris
Parker tried to dance around “The Kamala Issue” somewhat gently, but that’s an impossible task for anyone who chooses to be honest about arguably the most inept and bizarre vice president in at least modern history.
Inarguably, a significant obstacle to a Biden win is Kamala Harris, whose low popularity has not been improved by her lackluster performance as vice president. More independents and disenchanted Republicans might swing for Biden if it weren’t for the prospect of a President Harris — not because of her sex, race or any other demographic category, but because of her competency, or lack thereof.
The question now is, how risky would it be for Democrats to replace her? Some worry that a change would jeopardize Black votes. It was never clear, however, that Harris was a draw for Black American voters, even if some Black women celebrated her rise. When she dropped out of the presidential race in 2019, she was polling below Pete Buttigieg in South Carolina.
After singing Hillary’s praise a bit, Parker popped the question:
No one has mentioned her as a possible running mate for Biden, far as I know, but why not replace Harris with Clinton?
Yeah, Joe — why not?! Maybe I’m wrong, but I believe the fervent anyone-but-Hillary crowd would resurrect in a nanosecond if she hopped on the ticket with Joe.
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“At 76, she might want no part of it, but it’s hard to retire when you feel your job isn’t done,” Parker said, adding:
If Biden needs to step down, even those who didn’t vote for Clinton would have confidence in her ability to keep the country on track. It’s just a thought, but worse ideas have met with regrettable success.
Super fun to speculate about, ain’t it?
Related Reading: Hillary Clinton Makes Disgusting and Vile D-Day Post
And why can’t I help believing that every time the phone rang in Vice President Hillary’s office, she’d quickly pick up the receiver and excitedly ask: “Is he dead, yet?”
The Bottom Line
Hillary’s never going to go away, is she?