Biden's Dilemma: To Run With Harris Again?
All that did not happen by luck of the Irish.
Rather, it took deft skill, patience and horse sense in negotiations with Congress. Centrist Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, W.Va., got a special place at the table.
While Biden cherishes democracy's winding way under the dome, President Barack Obama found that part of the job vexing. He's not an easy extrovert like Biden.
Suppose we reframe Biden's age as a positive. A "grey champion" in early New England was treated with respect and honor. Elders were apt to be leaders, especially in times of crisis, noted the historian David Hackett Fischer.
That's exactly what happened here, when the pandemic hit in 2020.
Biden thought Harris would do better, given her campaign for president as a freshman senator.
But only a shooting star in the sky -- like Obama -- can pull that off. Several senior senators urged him to run.
The California senator did not connect on the hustings and failed to make it to the first 2020 contest in Iowa.
I've seen Harris in the Senate, where her demeanor was a bit icy to many of the other 99. Aloof, she did not mix much on her side of the aisle, much less across it, to make new friends.
Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren even said the 2024 ticket should be "what makes Biden comfortable."
...continued
Copyright 2023 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
