Evil Brandon and Kamala’s Masterstroke

Joe “Evil Brandon” Biden and Kamala Harris turned the 2024 election campaign on its head Sunday in one of the most stunning turnarounds in American history. It was a masterpiece of political decision making which both energized Democrats and other anti-Trump, pro-democracy advocates and threw the Trump campaign which was reveling following the GOP national convention into complete chaos and what can only be described as panic.

It also accomplished something else, it restored the importance of the party in nominating a candidate who can win. Parties lost much of their importance with the advent of the primary system to select delegates to nominate a candidate for President. That system was designed to make nominations more transparent but in the end removed the oversight of party elders who could hold candidates to the standards of the party and prevent the takeover of a party by a rogue yet popular candidate, or a candidate so weakened that he could not win. That system failed a number of times when factions of a party so crippled it that it lost the election. The two notable examples include the election of 1860 when Southern Democrats refused to support Stephen A. Douglas, nominated John Breckenridge and lost to Abraham Lincoln, the other when Teddy Roosevelt and the “Bull Moose” movement bolted from the Republican Party in 1912 ensuring the election of Woodrow Wilson. Likewise, in 1932, the Republican Party refused to challenge their hopelessly damaged and unpopular incumbent president, Herbert Hoover, ensuring his resounding defeat by Franklin Roosevelt, and when the GOP departed from the successful policies of Dwight Eisenhower in 1964, and nominated conservative firebrand Barry Goldwater who adopted the racist policies of Southern Democrats and Dixiecrats in a doomed campaign against Lyndon Johnson.

Those were different times. In 2024 the political landscape features an increasingly radical Republican Party which is completely in the thrall of Donald Trump. The Democrats were supporting President Joe Biden who appeared to have what was needed until his physical and cognitive decline became apparent in their debate. They were already noticeable, but they were on full display. Though he tried in interviews and on the campaign trail to recover, but failed to convince leading Democrats, donors, and many of the rank and file as his poll numbers slipped to where he was trailing Trump, when before the debate he was ahead and most people believed that he could not lose, me included.

As Biden struggled, Trump was nicked in the ear by a would be assassin’s bullet and went to his convention to be coronated as the GOP nominee. Trump gained a bit in sympathy supporters in the polls and promised to bring a new tone of civility in order to bring the country together. However, Trump did two things that blew up his promise to bring the country together. First, he made J.D. Vance his running mate. Vance is among the most radical Christian Nationalists on the national scene. He is profoundly misogynistic, anti-LGBTQ+, a supporter of Vladimir Putin’s campaign against Ukraine and NATO, and an advocate of all of the fascist proposals of Project 2025. He was chosen because of his popularity with the already loyal Trump base but added nothing to the strength of the ticket. This was not an issue at the time because President Biden was vowing to stay in the race. Vance is the most unpopular vice presidential nominee in modern history, his nomination was a net loss to the GOP. The second thing Trump did was to give a rambling, and pathologically misleading acceptance speech in which he repeated long proven falsehoods, and abject lies. It also had no real focus and went on for 90 minutes during which attendees had to stay on their phones to stay awake.

Vance’s speech was pure propaganda and filled with lies about himself and his Democratic opponents. Likewise it attacked the foundations of American democracy, our Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence. It was a fired up speech by a potential theocratic dictator built upon Christian nationalism and Project 2025. In 2016 Vance called Trump “Hitler.” Now Vance is Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s most loyal follower, even more loyal than Herman Goering and Heinrich Himmler.

The optics of GOP delegates holding up signs that said “Deport them Now!” as well as other posters, and wearing solidarity bandages over their ears lent an air of ludicrousness to the convention. This was magnified by the appearance of felons for Trump Rob Manafort, Peter Navarro, and disbarred lawyer and future convict Rudy Giuliani on the floor. The warm up speakers for Trump on Thursday night, serial dictator supporter and misogynist Tucker Carlson, was up former rock star Kid Rock, UFC president Dana White, and wrestling star Hulk Hogan, made asses of themselves before Trump even walked on the stage. It was a display of cultic love for Trump and hatred of America.

During the GOP, President Biden came down with COVID-19 during a campaign stop in Nevada and had to return to his beach house in Delaware where he promised to continue his campaign this week. His words were cheered by Trump and the Republicans, but met with deep by many rank and file Democrats as calls from leading congressional members, and other important members of the party for him to drop his campaign increased, even as others urged him on despite further dismal polling that indicated that the Democrats could lose the House and Senate despite the crippling effects of the GOPs policies against minorities, women, LGBTQ people, and the threats of Project 2025 impacting their congressional candidates, even in areas considered relatively safe.

But, there were warning signs. Some experts predicted that Trump peaked too early, and others believed that Biden would withdraw from the race. Still others predicted that if Biden withdrew that there was a strong possibility that factions in the Democratic Party could create chaos by backing different candidates. That was Saturday night, but on Sunday afternoon all of the calculus was upended when in a letter President Biden announced his decision to withdraw from the race and his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Nobody knows the details of how the decision was reached and it had to be a difficult decision for President Biden. Biden is a proud man who has overcome long odds in his political career and suffered much in life, he made a habit of overcoming the odds. He was in the race to win it as he saw Donald Trump as an existential threat to the United States and our entire constitutional system and democracy, as well as to our allies and friends in the world. He beat Trump once, and thought that he could again, but the game had changed. He obviously was convinced by the facts and evidence presented by leading Democrats, party officials, and influential donors that he could not win and would drag the party down to defeat, but in spite of that he made the decision.

Within minutes of the announcement Vice President Harris announced her candidacy, and within hours money began pouring in to the new Harris campaign, over 25 million dollars n the first few hours, over 100 million by Tuesday, and it keeps coming in. Instead of numerous contenders jumping into the race, the Democratic Party, its leaders, and rank and file members coalesced around the Vice President. By Tuesday well over the number of delegates required for her to secure the nomination announced their support. Instant polls showed her ahead or tied with Trump, and she hit the road making speeches, the first in Milwaukee, the site of the GOP convention. She was energized and well received, her speech was solid, and she followed it up with other stops.

The Democrats now showed energy that had been missing since the debate debacle, as well as campaign smarts. Vice President Harris was sharp in all of her appearances and showed herself to be the opposite of everyone in the Trump campaign, the ability to smile and show genuine happiness and joy on the campaign trail. She is what we haven’t seen in many years in American politics, she is a happy warrior, and person, which infuriated Trump surrogates who unleashed racist, sexist, and other hateful rhetoric against her, much of which backfired.

Tonight, President Biden explained his decision to withdraw from the campaign in an inspiring speech. He said that it was for the good of the country, to protect democracy and to pass the torch to the next generation. It was a speech unlike any other in the history of the American presidency. It had gravitas and sincerity, and exactly what was needed.

Vice President Harris should be nominated before the election in a virtual vote. Her first big decision will be to nominate a Vice Presidential candidate, and she has many strong people to choose from, people who make J.D. Vance look like the inexperienced and out of his league pretender.

I do not know exactly how President Biden’s decision to withdraw transpired, but I would guess that he made it Friday or Saturday with a few close family members and advisers, likely including Vice President Harris. The letter that he released on Sunday showed a lot of preparation that would not be easily accomplished the morning before it was released.

My guess though is that he waited until after the GOP convention and maybe even fibbed a bit by saying that he was still in the race in order to deceive the GOP and to stoke their overconfidence which seemed to increase up to the point of the release of Biden’s letter. If as some experts believe that Trump’s campaign hit its culminating point, that is a military term that when an attack or campaign appears to be at the point of victory, but actually has reached the point where it is vulnerable to counterattack, and that Biden delayed his announcement to get Trump and company to extend themselves and leave themselves vulnerable it was a brilliant move. Such is rarely seen in military history or political campaigns, though more examples are found in military history, and it takes a special commander to realize when to launch the counterattack, and President Biden made the decision, while Vice President Harris launched a brilliant political counterattack, both of which threw Trump, Vance, the GOP and conservative commentators into a frenzy approaching panic. It was a masterstroke that completely changed the race.

The already weird campaign of 2024 has seen a dramatic shift and with 100 days left until Election Day there might well be more twists and turns, but now it looks as if the Democrats have the upper hand. The racist and misogynistic rhetoric against Vice President Harris has become in earnest, and expect the GOP to pull out every dirty trick they have employed since Richard Nixon against her and whoever her running mate turn out to be.

As for me I am encouraged. Vice President Harris is sharp, good on her feet, and as a former prosecutor knows how to handle felons like former President Trump. If they debate, something that he now is saying he won’t do, she will make him look like the incoherent fool that he is. He knows this so he will try to avoid any direct confrontation with her.

Until next time, which should be soon, peace.

P.S. I apologize for the lengthy delay between articles. My wife suffers from often severe depression and a couple of weeks ago her antidepressants stopped working and she crashed hard. It wore me out, and combined with how fast the political news kept coming I hit the wall. I had ideas and wanted to write, but was too stressed and wiped out to write. Thankfully, Judy will begin a new and very effective treatment program called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. It will take ten weeks and many patients report positive results within a few treatments. I appreciate your kind thoughts and prayers.