Super Snoozeday
Even before yesterday’s Super Tuesday nonsense I think we were all pretty sure of the outcome. Normally, Primary season is interesting. We hear about platforms and why their opponents suck and all of the fun things that happen during a heated election contest.
Not this time.
This time we knew early on it was going to be President Biden versus former President Trump on November 5th.
Knowing that, neither candidate has really said much about anything regarding their future for America. President Biden knows better than to open his mouth and show what he is lacking and former President Trump has maintained his normal pace of vitriol.
Nothing new there.
Obviously, there is a long way to go and a lot of things can happen between now and November 5th and I think there are quite a few Americans wishing something would happen to change the story. Be it President Biden realizing (or his wife and staff) that he just is not up to the campaign and possibly four more years. It can take it’s toll on younger men, God only knows what it will do to an 81 year old man. Former President Trump will not come to any realization. He has too big an ego and he surrounds himself with too many Yes men and Yes women to ever hear otherwise. The only thing that may stop President Trump is a legal entanglemnt he can’t wiggle out of. That is a long shot for sure.
With both men maintaining their trajectory I think it may be time to actually take a deeper dive into the most important people in this election cycle, the Vice Presidential running mates.
I don’t think there has ever been an election in US history where the running mates from both parties will be under such scrutiny that it may potentially alter the election one way or the other.
For the Democrats this is a major concern for sure.
I do not wish this on President Biden but let’s be real here. He is diminished in many ways and time does not allow for turning itself back. There are quite a few people that believe that President Joe Biden will not finish his second term should he get reelected. By the way, that still boggles my mind how knowing this, they still want him to run but that is a story for a different day. Granted, he will not be out on the stump raising the temperature. He will most likely campaign the same way he did last time, from his basement in Delaware. Kamala Harris will be out there fighting the good fight. Oh Jesus.
With most of America believing that Joe Biden will not make it through four more years, all eyes will be on Vice President Harris. Is she Presidential material (even if it just to occupy the seat)? What will our allies think about having her as President? What will our enemies think? Is she a leader of a nation?
It has been made pretty clear that I do not like Vice President Harris. I think Democratic leadership was looking to appeal to the base they already had, instead of reaching for someone who might appeal to the block of Republican voters that hated Donald Trump. Maybe some of them did vote for Biden in 2020 but I think Trump lost because his party let him down, not because the Democrats offered anything substantially better. In 2020, Kamala Harris was a non entity. Something that she has maintained throughout the Biden presidency, a non-entity.
If anyone has been paying attention, the Democrats (or is it Biden) have been sending VP Harris on the road. She is giving speeches all over the globe and showing our partners how well she understands the complexities of Global politics. Yeah right. To be fair, I have watched a couple of her speeches over the last weeks and she sounds well informed and actually intelligent. She is giving good face as Madonna would say but does she really get it? I doubt it. She has been VP for over three years and done nothing, zero and even at time sounded worse than Joe Biden, if that is even possible.
This is what America has to decide. Is Kamala Harris capable of being President?
The importance of Kamala Harris may not be front and center tomorrow night but if President Biden crashes and burns in front of America while giving his State of The Union speech, the fickle finger of fate will point right behind him to Vice Rresident Harris
On the Republican side, things are a little more complex. While Donald Trump is 4 years younger than President Biden, he, at least mentally has most of his faculties. His health seems to be pretty good but he is 77. There are multiple situations brewing around Former President Trump and there is a slim chance he may be convicted of something prior to November 5th. With that in mind, his running mate will be under a lot more scrutiny than Mike Pence ever was.
Do the MAGA Republicans even care who his running mate is? They should. While Trump feeds off of all these rallies he attends, it is hard work. That’s not a lifestyle you want to live at 77. Campaigning is hard for a middle aged man or woman, imagine it must be crippling at times at 77. The crappy food. The exposure to every known virus on the planet. The constant smiling and electioneering. It is a grind. Can Trump go full force into this yet again? He has incredible stamina and vitality but Father Time is no friend to 77 year old people.
That is another reason that his running mate will be so important. We do not know what may end up happening with all of the different indictments. We do not know how well he will stand up to the punishing campaign trail. We just don’t know.
President Trump is in a very tricky space now. Last time it was easy, Mike Pence was just glad to be invited to the party. He wasn’t going to say anything or do anything to rock the boat and if need be, he looked presidential. Politics aside, he was a safe choice.
Things are going to be different now. While the MAGA Republicans would vote for Trump no matter who he had with him, that will not be enough to carry this election. It didn’t last time, it won’t this time. I do think that voters are going to want to see who he picks. Another Presidential looking empty suit or someone of substance.
With Donald Trump’s ego still intact, I doubt you will see anyone who, as a stand alone, could make a good or great President. Why pick someone who could potentially take the spotlight away from you? You are running not him/her. That’s the Trump ego and that once again, is not the smart play.
President Trump may still have a great vision for the future of this country but as I have said (and countless others) in the past, he is his own worst enemy. Former President Trump needs to keep his vision intact and curb his inner demons. He needs to be able to accept that his time is limited but his ideas are not. Finding a running mate who can sell the ideas, be in the background when needed and be someone, America will be comfortable with eventually sitting in the White House.
That will never happen of course but this is the election where American will listen to the candidates but will also focus on their running mates as well.