A Tale of Two Torches

 

This week is a momentous one. On Friday in Paris, the Olympic torch will light the flame that kicks off the 2024 Games. But yesterday, President Biden dropped out of the upcoming presidential election race, passing his torch to Vice President Kamala Harris.

I have written several versions of this commentary since Saturday, but all of them hoped that do this. I believe it is the cleanest way to end this political logjam and the unseemly debate about his mental acuity. There is nothing wrong, in my opinion, with Biden’s brain, nor his heart and soul, nor his patriotism.

The leaders in his party left him no choice. In their defense, their concern is the survival of this country as we know it. But Biden couldn’t do any less than endorse Kamala Harris, even though her own polling numbers haven’t been great. Failure to do so would have been a sign of disrespect for someone with a prospect of becoming the first American female president, indeed, minority female President.

Biden’s decision has injected new enthusiasm into Democratic voters, including not only women and minorities but young people. Many feel that the only way Donald Trump could win in November is not by converting voters to his side but by apathetic Democrats and independents staying home and not voting at all. Now, though, no nose-holding is required. And who will Harris’s running mate be? There is a big crop of rising Democratic stars to choose from.

One Republican attack being mounted is that Harris participated in a cover-up of Biden’s clear mental decline for a long time. But Biden’s very rational decision Sunday seems to blunt that argument.

Harris is not quite the Democratic nominee yet. There is a process to go through, culminating in a formal vote at the Democratic convention in late August. But even if she is the nominee, she brings with her not only the record of accomplishment but also the negative baggage of the Biden administration, of which she is a part, so she does have a fight on her hands. The game isn’t over by any means, but sometimes, it’s the backup quarterback who wins it.