Another Opinion: While Biden Balks, Kamala Is Set To Win White House With Roy Cooper Or Andy Beshear

-by Harvey Wasserman

While Joe Biden digs in his heels, Kamala Harris is ready to become President… again.

Once Biden finally gets out of the way, the Vice President can beat Trump in November. Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky or Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina could help.  

Harris in fact officially assumed presidential powers on November 19, 2021, when Biden signed them over to her before undergoing a colonoscopy.

Joe emerged from anesthesia without incident. Had he stayed under, Kamala would today be President.

She could retake the position if Biden resigns soon enough. Or if Joe’s cabinet invokes the 25th Amendment to rule he’s unable to continue.  

Or by beating Donald Trump in November. 

The pressure mounting on Biden to step down as the Dems’ Presidential nominee is reminiscent of the campaign that forced Richard Nixon to resign during Watergate. Every day the questions escalate about his ability to serve out the year, let alone the coming four.

Of course, the aging Donald Trump has long been unable to distinguish truth from fiction while also exhibiting escalating signs of dementia.

If/when Joe leaves, Kamala will be our best— maybe ONLY— hope to waylay the Trump Dictatorship. 

Here’s why: The Democrats are sitting on a quarter-billion-dollars in campaign funds that can directly go only to her. The Democrats’ campaign apparatus is hard-wired to segue seamlessly to her control.

Harris has served as Vice President for four years without a hint of scandal. That she’s a woman of color carries epic weight. A transformative shift in the political calculus of race and gender may be the only thing that can now energize an alienated progressive left.  

Kamala is proven, tough, seasoned. Her debate with Trump— he’ll have no choice but to do at least one— could be a sight to behold.

Except for Michelle Obama, who still says she won’t run, nobody’s polling significantly better.  

The Dems’ previous female nominee, Hillary Clinton, won in 2016 by three million ballots. But former prosecutor Harris seems far more primed to fight electoral “irregularities” like the ones in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin that flipped the Electoral College to Trump.  

As in 2016 among many others, this election will be decided in a dozen swing states or fewer. Kamala’s choice of a running mate will be critical.  

Outgoing Governor Roy Cooper can deliver North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes, and might help in Virginia (15) and Georgia (16).

Incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear can deliver Kentucky (8). If Trump’s doesn’t nominate J.D. Vance, Beshear might help in neighboring Ohio (15) and West Virginia (4), plus maybe Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia.

Roy and Andy are well-spoken white southerners who’d balance well with Harris. Both are nationally unknown, though a surprising Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Beshear trailing Trump in a presidential race by just 5%.

Gov. Josh Shapiro could deliver Pennsylvania (19), but is up for re-election. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer can deliver Michigan (15), but the national ticket won’t fly with two women.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is a rich, slick white Californian who adds nothing to the electoral vote count. 

Women’s issues could conceivably give Harris a glimmer in Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas. Florida and Texas remain prohibitive long-shots.

Biden’s refusal (so far) to graciously step down is supported at least in part on the false assumption that Kamala can’t win.

But with NH, PA, MI, WI, NV, AZ, VA, NC— and with good runs in KY, OH, WV, GA— she can. 

The invisible “elephant in the room” is the vital need to focus the Democrats on grassroots, door-to-door, relational organizing that deals up front and personal with the hyper-stressed hardships of working-class America.  

If they squander their millions on slick, annoying, irrelevant media buys, it will not matter who the Dems nominate. 

But if Kamala Harris can manage a steady, grounded campaign based on grassroots realties, and can withstand another MAGA assault on the electoral process, she may yet transform our history... this time for four years instead of just the few hours she’s already served as our president.

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Harvey Wasserman, a regular DWT contributor, has co-authored six books on election protection.