Reality Check

Healdsburg CA

Description

It is time for the Democratic Party to take stock of what has happened this past year, where we are now, and what lies ahead. And more importantly, what changes can we make to regain some kind of political momentum and maintain some kind of presence in the next Congress and the next White House. We all read the papers and know this administration is in the tank. If you don’t believe that, then no point of reading further because nothing I can say will change your mind. But if you can see the reality, then you know we need to make some bold moves to save massive loses in the Midterm election and the loss the White House in 2024. The window for making big, progressive changes in this Congress has closed. This spring Congress will be focused on a new Supreme Court confirmation, the debt ceiling and some other “house-keeping” legislation, then will close for everyone to go campaign to protect their future in the next Congress. In all probability, Democrats will lose the House and perhaps the Senate in the Midterms. If we lose either, the Biden White House becomes a “lame duck” administration. No social spending bill will get the support of a Republican controlled chamber in the last two years of his tenure. And it means Biden will have very few “wins” to campaign on compared to his massive “losses” during this past year. Republicans will surely hammer home Afghanistan, covid, inflation, immigration, energy independence, the border, voting rights, dementia, and maybe a few more that have not happened yet, like Ukraine. As I see it now, Congress is lost in 2022 and the White House in 2024 unless something bold happens. And I mean bold. The sooner Biden leaves the White House, by resignation, the better. And he needs to take Harris with him. The poles see Biden as a losing “coach” and Harris a completely incompetent “assistant coach” and as any football fan knows, when you have a 1 and 16 season, they go first. The Presidency then passes to the Speaker of the House, Pelosi. The problem with Pelosi is she has so aligned herself with the Progressive Left, which moderate voters have blamed for this whole mess, that the overall image of the Party would not be improved with her as President. For the good of the Party, she should not accept the post and defer to the next in line, the President Pro Tempe, Patrick Leahy. Not many people know who he is, outside his home state of Vermont, which is actually a good thing, but he has been in the Senate since the 1970s. He is senior to just about every Senator and has announced his retirement effective this year. He would ascend to the White House a basic unknown, but an unknown without baggage. But he would have a vitally important role as a new President: the nominate a person to be his Vice President. Here is the chance for the Party to bring a new, moderate Democrat into the political limelight. A “John F Kennedy” figure if you will. Someone to give the Party a breath of fresh air. A chance to throw off the gloom of failure that now permeates the halls of the Dem caucus. A person to truly reach across the aisle and be bipartisan. A person to fulfill a Biden campaign promise to unify the country. Then Leahy retires and his VP pick becomes President. He, or she, would then nominate a like-minded person to be VP. If done soon enough, this would give the Party three years to heal the wounds and restore the image of an Administration, and Congress, working together for us, the people. This would give the Party some glimmer of hope for the election of 2024, which I don’t think we have now.