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By: Nathaniel Ballantyne
Washington, DC –
Suppose President Biden became incapacitated; the natural order of things would be Vice President Kamala Harris would take over as President, and that would be normal but NOT if some white people in the Democratic party had their way. What is it about Black women in power that upsets white people, especially white men? What is it?
As debate rages on about President Biden’s impending withdrawal as the nominee of the Democratic Party, a small war is brewing inside the party’s elite establishment. The latest person to go public was Sen. JOE MANCHIN (I-W.Va.), who did a round of Sunday shows this week to announce he believes Biden should not run for reelection. “I come with a heavy heart to think the time has come for him to pass the torch to a new generation,” he told Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week.”
When asked what he would like to see happen if Biden stepped down as the nominee, Manchin, who registered as an independent earlier this year, said, “The Democratic Party needs an open process.” When Raddatz pointed out that “KAMALA HARRIS is the first woman, the first Black American to be elected as vice president, Manchin said, “This is not about race and gender,” and that a “healthy competition” will help Democrats figure out whether Harris is the best person to beat Trump.
Whenever a white person says it is not about Race and Gender, you know they are lying; it is always about race and gender when we speak of power and privileges.
That debate over whether there should be an “open process” is being seen as a proxy war between pro- and anti-Harris factions. However, the open process crowd is framing it as beneficial to the vice president, saying, “There has to be a process,” a senior administration official said, arguing that Harris and other potential Democratic nominees should compete to replace Biden. “I don’t think that Kamala can just be anointed. And it’s not in her interest for her to be anointed.” Would they be saying the same thing if Harris was a white man? I doubt it. Harris is the VP, and she is there exactly for that purpose to take over if Biden is unable. To suggest there has to be an open process is to undermine the very reason why Harris is the Vice President and her authority and position.
“What is it about Black women in power that upsets white people especially white men? What is it?”
Some of these white democrats argued that short-circuiting a democratic process would feed conspiracy theories that Harris engineered Biden’s ouster and/or that she didn’t earn the nomination. But others like myself disagree. “You know how his is fucking insane, don’t you!” Democratic strategist MARIA CARDONA told us about the prospect of a mini-primary in the run-up to an open convention in Chicago.”
“This will NEVER happen, and if the white Democratic elite are seen as trying to push aside the first African-American/South Asian woman, daughter of immigrants, on a presidential ticket, who is imminently qualified and extraordinarily talented, a civil war, such as we have never seen will ensue, and we might as well inaugurate Donald Trump tomorrow night.”
Many people began to question the enormous complexity of handing over the campaign to Harris. We at TrueNewsBlog are raising the same questions:
- What happens to JEN O’Malley DILLON, MIKE DONILON, and the existing Biden campaign leadership?
- How does Harris unite the party, including a significant faction of Biden Democrats who feel he’s been robbed?
- What happens to DNC Chair JAIME HARRISON, the Biden campaign’s existing co-chairs, and all the other Biden loyalists now in power?
- Does Harris do better in the old Dem “blue wall” states of the upper Midwest or the Sun Belt swing states, and how would current campaign resources be reallocated to reflect that?
- Does Harris have time to make bio ads and (re)introduce herself in the way that a typical presidential candidate would have done a year ago during the primary?
- Would the (much-questioned) Donilon-led message strategy centered on Trump’s threat to democracy still make sense?
Vice President Kamala Harris would be asked to do something unprecedented and historically difficult: to take over a presidential campaign, unite a party, and defeat a well-funded and united opposition in just three (3) months. The scale of the challenge is daunting, and Democrats fear that every day that goes by without a decision, the chance of Harris succeeding diminishes. As one Democratic operative put it, “hearing more anger from Dems that the Biden team is imperiling the party and the country with each passing day. Dems are moving from sadness to anger.”
