If Biden is forced to withdraw now, it would be logical to anoint Bernie Sanders as the Democrat presidential candidate. At a policy level, the effect would be minimal because Biden has already embraced Bernie Sanders’s entire socialist platform.
However, in terms of optics, Bernie Sanders would present serious problems for the Democrat party. When less radical Democrats looked at Biden, they saw the lingering remnants of an old-school Democrat. That allowed them to hope that, while Biden might appeal to the more extreme base during the campaign, he would govern either to the center. Blacks, too, saw something in Biden – Obama’s shadow.
Bernie, however, is an open socialist, which Democrats know rebels mainstream Democrat voters. Additionally, mainstream minority voters never warmed up to Bernie.
The next choice down the line would be Elizabeth Warren. She too is a hard socialist, though, and she has a very distant relationship with honesty. Blacks will also resent having her at the top of the ticket if Biden is knocked out.
Theoretically, Democrats could use complicated party procedures to throw out the primaries and simply name someone to occupy the top of the ticket. However, as the problems with Biden’s vice-presidential pick have shown, there’s serious factionalism going on behind the scenes. Monica Showalter looked at the top vice-presidential candidates and dug into that problem:
Whoever Biden picks is going to represent the triumph of the represented faction over the other rivals. If Biden goes for Bass, he wants to win the Bernie-ites. If Biden goes for Rice, it's back to Obamadom and being Obama's shadow. If Biden goes for Harris, it's the Hillaryworld hog wallow, which should provide for young Hunter Biden and the rest of the family, as well as bring in the California elites.
None of the three women is very appealing: Bass is a communist, Rice has the stench of Benghazi trailing behind her, and Harris is a corrupt prosecutor try to appeal to a base that hates the police.
Sometimes, it hurts to see people caught between a rock and a hard place. And at other times, you just want to buy some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the show |
