VICTOR JOECKS: Diversity pick complicates push to dump Biden

If Kamala Harris weren’t vice president, it would be much easier for Democrats to force Joe Biden out of the presidential race.

Democrats are still scrambling after Biden’s disastrous debate performance Thursday. The American public saw what Democrats and the national media, but I repeat myself, denied for years. Biden is physically fading. He didn’t just confuse his words, like when he boasted, “We finally beat Medicare.” He looked frail and diminished, as if the act of pressing his lips together required more energy that he could summon.

It’s hard not to conclude that Biden is struggling with dementia. After the debate, a CBS poll found 72 percent of registered voters don’t believe Biden has the “mental and cognitive health to serve as president.” Not great.

Democrats, at least anonymously, recognize that this is a massive political problem. After the debate, NBC political analyst Chuck Todd reported Democrats were in a “full-on panic.” Politico reported Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, told the Biden campaign that he couldn’t win her state after his debate disaster. If Biden loses Michigan, his chances of winning re-election are almost nonexistent. The New York Times editorial board called for Biden to “leave the race.”

It would be easier to push Biden out if had a well-regarded vice president. It might be feasible even with a bland VP, like Mike Pence was for Trump. But Kamala Harris is a disaster.

Her favorability rating is -14.8 percentage points in the Real Clear Politics polling average. That’s close to Biden, who’s favorability is -15.3 percentage points. More concerning for Democrats, pre-debate polling suggested she would trail Trump by a larger margin than Biden. That may be changing. In a CNN poll taken after the debate, she had better numbers against Trump than Biden.

Harris, however, would be a weak candidate. That’s not conjecture. She ran for president in 2020. Democrat voters were so unimpressed that she dropped out before the Iowa caucus.

She hasn’t improved. Biden stuck her with fixing the border and voting rights. Those are no-win policy areas, and she hasn’t won. Her word salad ramblings have gone viral. Even her scripted video at the recent BET Awards was cringe.

But Biden didn’t pick her for her policy chops or eloquence. During the 2020 primary campaign he promised to pick a woman as VP. Leftist activists then pressured him to pick a Black woman. They argued Biden would lose if he didn’t.

Whitmer, the popular governor of a must-win state, would be an ideal replacement candidate for Biden. But Democrats are trapped by the identity politics they’ve long embraced. A key segment of their own voters think that it would be racist to pass over Harris.

Facing that conundrum, it’s not clear if Democrats would be better off replacing Biden, although the knives are out. It’ll be hard to do so unless he decides to step aside. And there’s every indication the power behind the throne — his wife, Jill, and son Hunter — want him to remain in the race.

The left’s obsession with color over character may ensure Trump’s return to the White House. Don’t expect Democrats to learn the obvious lesson.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.