"THE DECISIVE WEEKEND"

 “THE DECISIVE WEEKEND”

For over a year, I have been arguing that Joe Biden should not run for re-election because he is simply too old.  The same can be said of Donald Trump, but I have other reasons for not wanting him to run.  How I wish that Nikki Haley had beaten Trump in the primaries. How I wish that President Biden had decided over the Christmas holidays of 2022 that he had saved the country by beating Trump in 2020, and that now it was time to turn over the reins to a younger leader.  I remember a conversation with my friend Ted Smith in late 2022 concerning the 2024 Presidential election.  Trump had already announced that he was running, and given the many opponents, we felt that he was likely to win the primaries and sweep into the nomination.  We so hoped that President Biden would see that the aging monkey was coming for him, but we both felt that his ego was too big to allow it, that he would seek the nomination again.

And now, over the weekend, President Biden has fooled me (and others) by wisely choosing not to stand for re-election.  I am grateful to him for his fine presidency and for his many decades of service to the nation.  It shows the stark contrast between Biden and Trump – Biden put the country’s interest ahead of his own, while Trump continues to put his own interest ahead of the country’s. I am also grateful to President Biden for stepping down, though I wish that he had done so earlier.  I am grateful that he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, and I think that she would be the logical choice.  I don’t think that she is the strongest Democratic candidate, but that is not her fault – she will face deep racism and sexism.  My choice has been Gretchen Whitmer, but that is precluded now by the narrow window of opportunity.

    Assuming that the Democratic party does not continue to shoot itself in the foot, I expect V-P Harris to be the nominee.  Though she does bring liablities, she does generate excitement and hope for defeating Donald Trump.  Harris should choose Josh Shapiro or Andy Beshear or Roy Cooper or Mark Kelly as the VP (again, I prefer Whitmer, but if Harris gets the top spot, there will need to be a white man in the VP slot.)  I’m hoping that the bickering and arguing will now stop, so that the Democratic party can try to build itself up enough to take on the MAGA Donald Trump.  .

As many have said, this is a Presidential election with existential consequences for the future of America. It is hard to believe that so many Republicans have coalesced behind Donald Trump, a grifter superb and now a convicted felon.  That they have done so reminds me of my days growing up in the neo-slavery South.  Demagogues like Orval Faubus, George Wallace, Ross Barnett, Gene Talmadge and others were given so many passes by the white populations of the South, because they held the line on keeping the “black menace” in check.  Well-meaning and good people like my mother kept them in power because they promised to keep the social order of neo-slavery in place.  Trump is making the same appeal, seeking out like a laser our white grievance and deepening it and solidifying it.

I have been comparing this election in 2024 with the 1968 election, in which a sitting President decided not to run for re-election (President Johnson’s decision came late, at the end of March, 1968).  Like this year, political violence rang out, with the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy.  The parallels are striking – a once defeated presidential candidate, Richard Nixon, running for President again, the Democratic convention once again in Chicago, and Robert Kennedy’s son now running on a third party ticket. 

Despite those parallels, though, this 2024 election is now seemingly more similar to the presidential election of 1876, which marked a fundamental turning point in American history and which marked a decisive step away from the civil rights won for Black people in the Civil War.  Because of all the MAGA shenanigans, I am anticipating that the results of the 2024 Presidential election might be given to the House of Representatives to determine the winner, as happened in 1876 because neither Rutherford Hayes nor Samuel Tilden got enough electoral votes to win.  Hayes made a deal with the Special Committee of Congress to pull federal troops out of the South in exchange for their support.  That deal was made, and neo-slavery became a reality in the country, and especially in the South for the next 89 years – and of course, Hayes became President.

So, buckle up – whoever is at the top of the Democratic ticket is in for a rough ride.  And, if Trump wins, we face sea changes comparable to those made in 1876.  The turnout will be key, not only in voting for President but in voting for House members, because they will ultimately determine in a ceremonial (or in a real) way who will be the next President of the United States.