Biden, Harris, and DEI (Democrats’ Exquisite Irony)

Not long ago, Democrats dreamt of replacing Kamala Harris; now they dream of replacing Biden. Ah, “such stuff as dreams are made on.” Wakeful reality tells us that Biden and Harris help keep each other in place, just as Democrats’...

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Not long ago, Democrats dreamt of replacing Kamala Harris; now they dream of replacing Biden. Ah, “such stuff as dreams are made on.” Wakeful reality tells us that Biden and Harris help keep each other in place, just as Democrats’ weaknesses put both there in the first place.

Four years ago, Joe Biden was put atop the Democrat ticket because the party’s top presidential contenders (and really the party itself) were too far-left. So, they plucked from their history the only non-extreme leftist they had.

Biden had made a career out of simply being there. The political version of Chauncey Gardner, he had spent six unmemorable terms in the Senate, then two equally overshadowed terms as Barack Obama’s vice president. By 2016, he was seemingly done, and the party equally so with him.

But Joe had other ideas — or rather, dreams. Despite his obscurity, which was only punctuated by repeated presidential failures, hope sprang eternal. His defeat in 1988, his withdrawal in 2008, and his being passed over by Obama for Hillary Clinton in 2016 had not dimmed his desire. Even two early losses in 2020 would not dissuade him. Nor could it deter Democrats from nominating him — even with Obama’s admonition ringing in their ears: “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to f**k things up.”

Yes, Biden was a poor campaigner — as evidenced by three presidential rejections. Yes, he was a walking malaprop, at best — calling himself a “gaffe machine.” And yes, he was without serious legislative accomplishments — even with almost four decades in the Senate. But in 2020, Democrats needed his moderate reputation too badly — even as their other presidential contenders rejected him for it, with Kamala Harris stingingly slapping down his exhibition of those moderate credentials in a 2019 debate.

Still, such pointed rejection could not stop Democrat stars from aligning around Biden in 2020. Even so, he still nearly blew the presidency once again. A global pandemic, lockdowns’ severe economic fallout, nationwide civil unrest, and his opponent’s divisiveness were still almost insufficient: while Biden racked up a 4.4-percentage-point margin in the popular vote, in the determinative electoral vote, just 77,000 votes (spread across four states) were what won him the White House.

Yet perhaps the greatest of the Biden presidency’s many ironies was that in spite of all Biden’s liabilities, Democrats insisted his administration embrace their leftist policies. It was of course the very opposite of what had qualified him — him, and him alone — for their presidential nomination.

Biden obliged. It was seemingly a small price to pay for fulfilling his lifelong presidential dream. He turned left with the fervency of the converted, and his administration became American history’s most left-leaning. It adopted DEI throughout, it spent big, it was green to the extreme, it adopted a supine foreign policy, it threw open the southern border, and it used all means available to pursue political opponents.

In its No. 2 slot was Kamala Harris. She had been tapped because Democrats’ diversity mandate demanded it — and they needed a lot of diversity to compensate for Biden’s profile.

Harris checked a lot of boxes and, most importantly, she was someone who didn’t threaten Joe at the ticket’s top. She too was inarticulate. She too was a poor campaigner (as her 2020 run’s inability to even make it to 2020 proved). She was seemingly well on her way to being Joe Biden — holding a safe Senate seat for as long as she wanted it — in another form.

Once in office, Harris promptly disappeared. Like Biden, she had fulfilled her role of getting Trump out and Democrats’ extremist policies in. Nonetheless, negative Harris stories still emerged. Looking at the establishment media’s yearslong coverup of Biden’s problems, the mind reels at what has been ignored with Harris.

Today, we see Democrats’ past finally catching up to their present. Biden has, unsurprisingly, played down to his level. His debate with Trump did not reveal so much as it ensured Biden’s failings could no longer be denied.

Now, Democrats and the establishment media, who orchestrated and enabled Biden’s placement and presidency, want him to step down. Growing numbers of both have even called on him to do so.

However, the exquisite irony is that they can’t do so en masse because of Harris. Were anyone but Harris vice president, Biden would already be gone. The charade would never have gone into 2024.

But Harris is there, and Democrats cannot remove her, even though she is viewed less favorably than Biden (or Trump) and just as negatively as a candidate.

Democrats must keep her because she is Biden’s most logical replacement (when President Lyndon B. Johnson didn’t run in 1968, Vice President Hubert Humphrey took his place). Passing over her would be an affront to the groups she was picked in 2020 to represent and open a chaotic free-for-all within the party. She is the only Democrat who has been nationally elected; she is also the only one with a clear claim to Biden’s $91 million war chest.

Rarely is justice so swift, so clear, and so circular. Democrats stuck themselves with Biden and Harris in 2020. Four years later, they still are stuck with Harris — and because they are, they are also still stuck with Biden. Harris has gone from being someone who protected Biden from being shown up to being someone who prevents Biden from being easily shoved out.

Democrats have done both Biden and Harris to themselves. In the process, they have pumped up Trump beyond where he was four years ago: In RealClearPolitics’ July 15 average of national polling of a two-way race, Trump stands at 47.1 percent (slightly above his 2020 46.9 percent popular vote share) and in a five-way race, he leads Biden by 4.1 percentage points (over an 8-percentage-point swing from 2020’s popular vote deficit).

They have also pumped up the presidency’s executive powers. And, because Trump can only serve one term, with the youthful Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate, Republicans could be in a position to hold the presidency for multiple terms.

J.T. Young was a professional staffer in the House and Senate from 1987-2000, served in the Department of Treasury and Office of Management and Budget from 2001-2004, and was director of government relations for a Fortune 20 company from 2004-2023.

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