In 48 hours
In 48 hours, everything changed.
That which we feared the most came to pass. President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential election.
But that which we also feared evaporated, like dew in the morning.
Pres. Biden's immediate endorsement of his vice president, Kamala Harris, began a process which has no precedent in American political history.
In 48 hours, Vice President Harris raised $231 million.
In 48 hours, Vice President Harris was endorsed by every major Democratic player, from unions to governors to politicians on the Hill.
In 48 hours, Vice President Harris easily surpassed the number of delegates she would need to secure the nomination.
In 48 hours, the world was made anew.
Gone was Donald Trump's swagger. He was counting on Pres. Biden to dig in his heels, and to stay in the race. I believe Pres. Biden would have still won. But the narrative was set against him. The media wanted its shiny horserace, and it would get it by hook or by crook.
Now Trump is facing Kamala Harris. Like Pres. Biden, she is an accomplished person, with decades of public service under her belt. But, unlike Pres. Biden, she's Black, and she's a woman. She is everything Trump fears. Look at how he has lashed out at Fulton County DA Fani Willis. This is as if DA Willis were now the Democratic nominee. Trump will know of no other way to react to Vice President Harris than with racism and sexism. We see his minions already trying it.
Joe Biden, like Obi-Wan Kenobi, took that weapon away from him. By closing out his political career, he has become far more powerful than Trump could have ever imagined. By coalescing Democrats around his vice president, he has re-energized the crusade to save American democracy. By giving up, he has gained us a future. This act, in a lifetime of service, will secure his legacy.
I was shaking when I read Pres. Biden's statement bowing out of the race. Because I feared that the party would devolve into a war of all against all. But Joe Biden didn't just fall off of the turnip truck. This wasn't a rash act, a spur of the moment move. The contingency plans, I'm sure, existed. And after the political press and a few Democrats kept mounting the pressure, the choice was to keep fighting, or engage in an unparalleled move of political jiu-jitsu. The enemy didn't see this coming, for the enemy cannot imagine anyone voluntarily surrendering power for the greater good. King George III marveled that George Washington, of his own volition, served only two terms as president. Those enamored by the sociopathy of power cannot fathom that the rest of us are not equally in thrall to it. Like Washington surrendering his office after eight years, so will Pres. Biden's act be remembered as defining what's different about this country. The men—and women—come and go. But no one is bigger than the nation. No one has the right to scupper this beautiful, enraging, hopeful experiment. Joe Biden showed what a true American leader is. He put country over everything else. And he has pulled it off masterfully, uniting a party and electorate which were threatening to spin apart behind his chosen heir.
We rode with Biden. Now we stand with Kamala. There will be enough time after we secure the election to talk about repercussions for the gross disloyalty on display these past three weeks. Many will find that this election will be the last they will win, as furious Democrats punish those who jettisoned Pres. Biden. But first, win. Then define what it means to be a good Democrat.
Let's fucking go.
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