Democratic stampede toward Harris could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory
SLOW DOWN!
The most dangerous moment for making a fateful decision is just after you have achieved a victory. This is true for individuals, groups, and political parties.
Democrats show signs of sweeping reason aside as they are flush with the joy of Biden’s withdrawal from the race and avoiding certain defeat in November in the elections for the presidency, the Senate, and the House.
These are the same Democrats that allowed Joe Biden to rig the Democratic primary process so that he would not have to face any real competition for the nomination.
These are the same Democrats who hardly uttered a peep when Joe Biden and Merrick Garland decided—for nearly two years—not to investigate and prosecute Donald Trump and his accomplices for trying to overthrow the 2020 presidential election and the Constitution.
These are the same Democrats who remained silent while Merrick Garland allowed the statute of limitations to run out in the ten cases of obstruction of justice that Robert Mueller described in his report, along with an outline of the abundant evidence supporting a potential indictment in each case.
These are the same Democrats who allowed Nancy Pelosi to avoid launching a broad impeachment investigation of Trump and his many crimes, and who were satisfied with a narrow impeachment investigation for Trump’s high crimes and misdemeanors related to seeking private advantages and withholding foreign aid in Ukraine.
These are the same Democrats who waited until the very last minute to bring pressure on Biden to withdraw from the race, long past the time it was clear he would lose and only when it became manifest that he would drag the Democrats in the Senate and the House down with him to defeat.
These are the same Democrats, or at least many of them, who now sing high praises of Biden’s courage, self-sacrifice, and statesmanship, ignoring the fact that he fought tooth and nail to hold on to the nomination and only let go in the face of a broad and quickening revolt by Representatives and Senators and a virtual end of contributions from large-scale donors to his campaign.
Yet for all of their faults Democratic leaders in the House and the Senate did finally step up to the challenge and do the right thing by pressuring Biden to withdraw.
And Joe Biden, yielding to these oressures and the prospect of certain defeat, did finally decide to release his fateful grip on the Democratic nomination. He deserves credit for doing the right thing, for acting to save the Democratic Party and the country from Donald Trump and the fascist threat Trump and the current Republican Party represent.
Yet he does not deserve credit for an act of heroism, of immense self-sacrifice, for simply yielding to his inevitable fate.
Biden deserves credit, if you want to call it that, for not dragging the Democratic Party and the country down to defeat and the triumph of fascism in the United States.
The effusive praise heaped on Biden for his decision to withdraw only underlines the extent to which the Democrats have taken leave of their senses in the present moment of euphoria and hope, for their party and for their own individual careers.
This is not a moment when Democrats should join a stampede toward the coronation of Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee.
They face a choice between anointing Harris as the Democratic candidate, and one who might well beat Donald Trump, or someone else with netter chances of victory and better prospects for being a good president who will help solve the daunting problems faced by America and the world.
Harris might beat Trump. On the other hand she might not. And the risk that she might not means the Democrats and the country still face the terrifying risk that Donald Trump and the Republicans might win in November, ushering in a government of fascist inclination and even plans, led by a cult leader who has no respect for the truth, the law, or American democratic traditions.
News reports indicate that business leaders are increasingly leaning toward supporting Trump, operating on the assumption that they will be able to control him. In Germany, big business swung behind Adolf Hitler in 1932 and 1933, and thrived under his leadership–until the country was destroyed in World War II.
The history of Hitler and the Nazi regime is instructive in one further respect. As the attempt on Trump’s life has just reminded us, unexpected and violent acts can change the course of history, The attempted assassination of Trump failed by an inch. Who knows what would have happened had he been killed?
On February 27, 1933, less than two months after Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, the German Reichstag burned down. In all likelihood the fire was set by the Nazis, although this was never definitively proven.
One day later, on February 28, Hitler persuaded President von Hindenburg to issue a presidential emergency decree suspending civil liberties. Hitler then accelerated the arrests and oppression of his opponents. In elections on March 5, 1933, the Nazis increased their vote by five and a half million votes reaching 44% of the votes cast. They represented the largest party in the legislature. On March 23, the Reichstag passed the so-called Enabling Law which granted Hitler dictatorial powers. That was the end of democracy in Germany. It all happened very suddenly.
The threat to democracy posed by Trump and the fsscist Republican Party is very real. Unexpected events could lead to sudden shifts in public opininion, resulting in Republican victories.
Consequently, the Democrats should aim for a big victory in November, and not merely a narrow one, which could slip away under the force of unexpected events.
Whether Kamala Harris is the strongest potential candidate to produce such a victory is open to doubt.
She brings with her all of the baggage of the Biden administration. Republicans will campaign against her as if she were Biden.
She will be a hot target on the hot issue of immigration, which was one of her principal portfolios. Whether the situation has actually improved under Biden is a factual question, in an election in which many voters are not likely to investigate or be persuaded by the facts.
Harris has other negatives.
She was a poor candidate in the 2020 Democratic primaries. She failed to gain traction with potential voters and was forced to drop out of the race before the first elections. Voters didn’t like her.
She was chosen to be the vice-presidential candidate in 2020 because of identity politics in the Democratic Party. However, independent voters and Republicans who might vote Democratic are unlikely to be persuaded by the identity politics of the Democratic Party.
Above all, to some voters she appears to be false, not genuine. They recall how she ambushed Biden in a 2020 primary debate with a set-up story about busing (which was very unpopular among voters at the time), plaintively saying that she was that little girl waiting for the bus. The whole story and ambush of Biden reeked of falseness and cynicism.
She often speaks in a voice which sounds whiny and girlish to some, adding to the impression of a lack of authenticity. If voters come to the conclusion that she is false she could lose the election.
With so much at stake, the Democrats need to avoid a stampede toward Kamala Harris if they want to field the strongest possible candidates against Trump and J.D. Vance.
There are other potential candidates who might not merely eke out a narrow victory over Trump, but rather who might lead a broad and deep Democratic victory in the presidential race, in the Senate, and in the House.
Given the extraordinarily poor quality of the Republican candidates, if the Democrats can choose their strongest candidates who will not be playing defense from day one, and who can mount an aggressive and effective attack against Trump and his policies, Such candidates might well achieve a Democratic sweep and landslide that erases Trump and his fascist cult from the American political landscape.
Now is no time for the Democrats to stampede toward the coronation of Harris. They need to see how she compares to other candidates. Ours should be a vibrant democracy, and not a staid, established order where the presidential nomination is simply handed to the next in line.
Let all the candidates compete, without fear of antagonizing the party establishment.
In other words, let there be a real and open competition, so that Democratic Convention delegates can judge for themselves who might have the best chance of beating Trump, leading a Democratic sweep, and being an extraordinary and capable president.
James Rowles is a former Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School and professor of international law at other universities. He is the author of The Rape of American Democracy: Republican Actions and Democratic Failures, 2016-2021. What We Knew and When We Knew It (forthcoming in August, 2024).
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