After President Biden’s historic – and in our opinion heroic – decision to withdraw from this election, all eyes are on Vice President Kamala Harris, who Biden has already endorsed to take his place in the race. And while it’s still not certain whether other Democrats will run, Postindustrial strongly supports Harris for president.
For a moment there, we weren’t sure Biden was going to do the right thing.
Just days ago, the 81-year-old president, suffering from COVID and the lingering ill effects of his horrendous debate performance, was talking about returning to the campaign trail, the kind of bullheaded rhetoric that had us worried about the fate of the Republic.
But then, reality seemingly set in for the president. Whether it was the donors closing their checkbooks to him or polls showing his reelection was less than likely, Biden finally conceded he wasn’t meant to serve another term.
And while he promised in 2020 to be a “transitional leader” for the next generation of Democrats, he hadn’t expected that transition to occur so abruptly, and in the middle of an election.
Alas, President Biden, perhaps the most consequential American leader in the last half-century, someone who has overcome personal hardships and political setbacks to ascend to the highest office in the land, could not defeat the one opponent that has gone undefeated: time.
We have no doubt that Biden is very much still dedicated to serving his country, but his capacity for serving as commander-in-chief for another four years is lacking.
And as an indicator of his dedication to the betterment of the nation, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place in the race.
In an email to supporters announcing his endorsement of Harris, Biden wrote:
“… my very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made.
Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump.”
Team Harris then hit the ground running, sending their first campaign donation email shortly thereafter.
After thanking Biden for the honor of serving by his side and enumerating their accomplishments, Harris noted she had already secured Biden’s endorsement, putting her atop the potential candidate’s list.
“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement, and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.
In the coming days, as I hit the campaign trail to meet with Americans and lay out the choice in front of voters in the fall, I cannot imagine two more starkly different visions for where we want our country to go.”
As Harris noted, the vice president does not have the party’s nomination locked up.
However, she does have the early and perhaps insurmountable lead, in that she is going to have access to Biden’s nearly $96 million campaign warchest right out of the gate.
Also, Harris has the advantage of incumbency that already gives her a more presidential air than any other potential candidate.
More importantly, she terrifies Trump, what with her being a former prosecutor who will kick the absolute ham salad out of him in a debate, but also a woman of color, which perhaps scares Trump even more.
But her oratory skills and background aside, Harris is a thoughtful leader unfairly maligned by both Republicans and Democrats during his turn in office.
It’s time we give Harris her due and throw our support behind a candidate who can inspire voters of all stripes to turn out at the polls and rally others to do likewise.
