Put Me In Coach

           “…Oh, put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today; Put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today; Look at me, I can be centerfield…”  Put me in Coach, John Fogerty. The wolves are circling around Joe Biden, pledging their love and loyalty, by jockeying for position if Joe decides not to run. I haven’t seen this many people hedging their bets, and carefully choosing their words, since Bill Clinton had to explain the pecker tracks on Monica Lewinsky’s blue dress. On January 14th, 2024, before the first primaries were held, in an article titled “Bridge Bet”, I wrote the following: (1) Joe Biden's health is failing. He’s not up to a full campaign and he knows it. As soon as Trump is out of the race, he’ll announce he’s not seeking a second term. (2)  Kamala Harris will clap her hands and grin for about 30 seconds until the Democratic money and power brokers explain to her that she couldn’t get elected Township Road Commissioner. (3) Ten minutes later, Gavin Newsom will be drafted as the democratic candidate for president. I wrote that article as “tongue in cheek”, a long shot, a little humor, throwing some guesses out there, but it looks like I may be a better book maker than I thought. I still believe Biden will step away due to age and health issues, but then, as Miss Marple used to say, “…somebody has put the cat among the pigeons…” and it’s going to get interesting. Kamala Harris is the natural successor as Biden’s VP. But her approval ratings are dismal, and she’s done nothing during her tenure as VP to make her stand out in the crowd or indicate she might steal a few voters that are leaning towards Trump. But sidestepping Harris, and choosing a different democratic candidate, brings a whole new set of problems. Harris is a black female, and you risk alienating two of the democrat’s most loyal voters-women and minorities. Today in a column,  Andrea Shalal and Jeff Mason, writing for Reuters, said  “House Democrat Jim Clyburn - a kingmaker of sorts within the Democratic Party, and who was instrumental in Biden's 2020 win - told CNN on Wednesday “… that the party should hold a "mini-primary" if Biden steps aside, the first senior party member to talk publicly about how, exactly, replacing Biden as a candidate, would work. Clyburn, who said on Tuesday, "that he would back Vice President Kamala Harris as the presidential candidate if Biden were to depart…”  You don’t have to be a codebreaker to understand what he was saying, if you want Black support, Kamala Harris is going to be the candidate. Black folks have always been the infantry of the Democratic Party-rain, snow, sleet, or hail, they show up at the polls. They organize and campaign in their community, offer rides to the polls, put out signs and pass out the flyers. Without the black vote, no democrat is going to get elected president. Hypothetically, if Harris should falter, or some kind of deal is cut, the next logical name is Gavin Newsom-Governor of California, the most populous state in the union, the 4th largest economy in the world, and probably the most diverse, wealthy and sophisticated state in the union. Young, well-connected, he would bring Hollywood money and glam, and L.A. star power to a campaign, and be a tough opponent. He’d have immediate detractors in Texas, the deep south, and the plains where they view California as a collection of gun-hating liberals, perverts, homeless people, junkies, commies, queers, Mezzzzicans, petty regulations and burned-out druggies still listening to the Grateful Dead (Thankfully !!). In fairness to Newsom, Kamala Harris is from the Bay Area and would hear the same stuff, plus she’s black and could probably pick up a few extra haters…I think Biden will step aside in the near future, and behind closed doors, hell will reign… the ultimate goal of the democrats is to keep Trump out of the White House, so it’ll be very interesting to see how the democratic powerbrokers play their  cards ….