Forcing Joe Biden to drop out to let someone younger and less senile take his place was supposed to give Democrats a shot at winning the White House when Donald Trump appeared on the verge of a landslide victory. For a while, Kamala Harris was succeeding, but the month of October was a disaster for her campaign. Now we're seeing more talk about how the Democrats would have been better off keeping Biden.
"No matter who wins, we have to ask: Would President Biden have been a better candidate and choice despite suffering from the effects of age and 81 years?" asks Harlan Ullman over at The Hill. "Further, suppose that the disastrous June 27 debate with Trump had not taken place, or that Biden had been firing on all cylinders that night. Would Biden have been forced to withdraw? And whether Harris loses or wins, some will ask whether Biden might still have been a better candidate."
Today’s politics remain visual, whether on television or social media with a constant flow of posts that millions of subscribers download every day. In fairness, Trump is an entertainer, showman and salesman. He may be overweight and wear excessively long ties while obsessing about his finely coiffed hair, but he gets away with it. And Trump, like the Energizer Bunny, seems to have unlimited endurance.
The physical comparison between the two presidents could not be more striking. That must favor Trump and in a small way accounts for some of his widespread public support. He is also interesting — love him or hate him, Trump is far from boring. The size of his audiences at rallies confirms that.
Gee, that's weird. According to Kamala, his rallies aren't big at all.
Harris is a generation removed from both presidents. As President Vladimir Putin slyly observes, she has a “contagious” laugh and a very buoyant and positive attitude. That is refreshing and a counterpoint to Trump’s bleak and dystopian view of the world.
If Biden were still the candidate, he would have to overcome these physical and visual disparities with Trump. To do that, Biden would have to mount an aggressive campaign to portray Trump as a convicted felon, unfit for public office. For some reason, the Harris campaign has downplayed this conviction and his three other pending cases, as well as Trump’s major character flaws.
Ullman notes that the public, like senior Democrats, may have concluded that Biden is too old to serve another term. This was a legitimate issue because had he won reelection, he would have been 86 by the end of his second term, which would raise concerns about his ability to avoid a major health event, though I doubt anyone thinks he'd have lasted a full term. People didn't expect him to serve a full single term.
Recommended: Did Kamala Harris Lie to Get Into a Law School Program for Impoverished Students?
Ullman, who doesn't like Trump, seems to think that Harris is weak and argues that the real question that some will ask is not whether the best option in the election was Harris nor Trump but if America would have been better off had Biden won a second term. This is classic buyer's remorse. If Harris were performing better in the polls, he wouldn't ask this question at all.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member