Now it's time for the Democrats to get their ducks in a row, story and a photo by Hal Brown, MSW

 

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After we heard about President Biden dropping out my partner and I were relieved. Like many Democrats we believed he would lose to Trump in part because of his not reassuring enough voters following the debate that he could handle the rigors of the campaign and, if elected, of the presidency.

The Democrats have the next week or two to make sure that their convention does not descend into chaos and to begin a well-crafted campaign in earnest.

Kamala Harris is the likely candidate at present, but her running mate hasn't been decided. If she's at the top of the ticket it can't be Gavin Newsom because he's also from California.

It could be Gov. Andy Beshear from Kentucky, the son of former Governor Steve Beshear, or it could Josh Shapiro, the newly minted govenor of Pennsylvania who happens to be Jewish. If it was Shapiro I can see the pundits asking whether America is ready for a Black woman and a Jewish vice president. I say damn well it is.

Also being talked about for the VP slot: Arizona's Senator Mark Kelly was an astronaut  which gives him a certain star power. He was appointed to replace Senator John McCain defeatingb the incumbnet Martha McSally.  Roy Cooper is the governer of the important swing state of N. Carolina where he narrowly defeated the incumbent Republican Pat McCorry in 2016.

Conventional wisdom (pun not intended) is that Harris won't pick a woman so this would leave Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Sen. Amy Klobuchar out. 

If it isn't going to be Harris a floor fight should be avoided at all costs. I think the Democrats are united in this. Any decision should be made in the modern version of the smoke filled rooms of old times. The eventual nominee should be nominated by acclamation. Ideally there will be a consensus of who the best person to run as her VP would be.

Of course there would be no smoke and at least half of the politicos there would be women.

No matter what happens now Trump can't play the "Biden is a doddering old man card." He has to the rejiggering his Irish jig choreographed to go after Biden.

His attack line calling his likely opponent  "Laffin' Kamala Harris" and saying that her laugh proves she's insane is, well, insane. (Watch video)

You can see videos of her laughing here and judge for yourself. I think her laugh is unhibited, joyful, and spontaneous. According to Sean Hannity (here) it is her laugh that is causing voters to "detest" her.

I couldn't find a good videoTrump laughing. I did find this of his enjoying talking about shooting migrants.

It will be Trump who is open to the charge that he is too old, and as a bonus, too unhinged, to be president and there will be numerous examples that Democrats can use in their ads. They and ther allies in groups like The Lincoln Project can quickly run counter-ads showing clips of Trump ads juxtaposed with clips of Harris or whoever is the Democratic candidate with a tag line like this one from Rocky II (see video).

Being Jewish I like "If that's all you got you ain't got bupkis! (This is bad grammar either way but it is accepted usage.)

AI generated images

Continuing with the boxing analogy, Harris can rope-a-dope, or I should say rope-the-dope, Trump the way Muhammad Ali, who was the 4-1 underdog, did when he fought and beat George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle.

You can watch a video about how he did this here.

On being to old to be president:

I am 80 and healthy but I know that someone my age even without any other health issues has to accept that doing the job of the presidency is tempting fate. Even if Trump wasn't a wannabe dictator he is 78 - I can say he's no "Spring chicken" considering all the images that came out of the Trump chicken-like balloon being ubiquitous - he's too old to be president because the odds of a life-threatening illness is just too great.

In addition to being 78 Trump has several health factors which could lead to his not being able to continue his term or dying in office. Among those we know of he is obese and has the thick fatty neck associated with several diseases, he has a lousy diet, he has poor sleep hygiene, unless you count his spastic attempts to dance at rallies, he gets no heart healthy exercise, and in addition to this he's a ragaholic. He also has Alzheimer's in his family and could succumb to psychosis.

Trump is going to need all the Geritol and Prevagin he can get to offset his crap diet and life style.

Meanwhile a very human and relatable side of Kamala Harris that hasn't gotten much publicity, and it should, is described here.  Run against this Trump and J.D. Vance!

In this Hollywood celebrity culture where a so-called TV star got elected despite having had no political experience Americans respond to "the it factor" (definition) or star quality. Enough people thought Trump had it, although many didn't.

Kamala is more than ready for the wall-to-wall TV coverage she will be getting starting today.  

Check her out on Jimmy Kimmel here.

Harris, who says she's a big Star Wars fan, said she just met Mark Hamil in The Green Room and he told her that the Force was with her. How can she lose?

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