I love Joe Biden, believe he was/ is a great president. But it’s time as in Time. No person is spared by Time and neither was the great heavyweight champion Joe Louis, aka, “ The Brown Bomber”.
When Rocky Marciano knocked out the formerly great Louis he cried in the aftermath because he knew he had just dispatched greatness, but a greatness well past his prime. It was truly a sad spectacle, the aging champion, a shadow of his former self lacing up the gloves only to be viciously knocked out by the new great champion on the block.
If Joe bows out many tears will be shed. He truly has been a president of all the people and yet he somehow hasn’t received the credit he deserves. But among the people who know, love and respect this great president and incredibly decent human being, we will raise his hand in victory one more time should he decide to bow out and our tears of sadness will be what washes doubt and despair from our political beings.
When a fighter enters the ring, when a soldier joins the battlefield they do not have the luxury of underestimating, dismissing the capabilities of the opponent. No matter what one thinks about Donald Trump there is no doubt that he is a very formidable opponent who will tooth and nail his way all the way to the very bitter end. Trump is a brawler, a bruiser who does not give up and he is the opponent. This needs to be honestly acknowledged for the sake of strategy.
The outcome of a fight, a battle is often determined by matchups. Joe Frazier beat Muhammad Ali in their first fight; George Foreman destroyed Joe Frazier in their fight; Ali knocked out Foreman to regain his title.
Enter Kamala Harris. I believe Kamala is a difficult matchup for Trump. She does not have any easy obvious targets that Trump could exploit. Invoke gender or racial stereotypes and risk further alienation of the voting bloc that still remains the one massive wildcard that could upend Trumps bid: Women voters still enraged over the Dobbs decision. A younger candidate would be like a cool breeze blowing through an old stuffy and stale room and the younger generation would open their windows again to the smell of a sudden political spring.
Kamala would provide a voice that could powerfully articulate the Democratic Party message. Just as Joe Louis was a compromised fighter in his last days, battling Donald Trump with Joe Biden feels like fighting with one hand tied behind the back, and with an opponent as formidable as Trump one needs both hands and all hands on deck.
Kamala would gather all hands on deck and more. I believe she will galvanize, inspire and increase the female vote in this country because at the end of the day, women are going to be the deciders of this election as they should be in the wake of the Dobbs decision.
Of course Kamala could rise or she could fall and perhaps a little bit of both will occur should she be the candidate, especially in the early days. But at the end of the day I believe Kamala and the Democratic Party will catch lightening in a bottle, peak at exactly the right time, voters running hard and far for her candidacy, breathing the fresh air of new hope and possibility.