5 Viable Alternatives to Uncle Joe
There are no moral victories in 2024.
I am a Black pragmatic progressive male under 35. Biden was not my pick in the 2020 primary — not by a long shot. But today, unlike many others with those cross-tabs, I have been on the Biden Bus since the better-than-expected midterms and passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. Forgive me for wanting to reward winning and the largest investment in climate in the history of the world. That doesn’t even include successfully navigating the post-COVID economy: keeping folks employed and avoiding the threat of recession. That’s not to say the administration has done all I had hoped of a Democratic administration, but Uncle Joe has exceeded every expectation I had for an executive branch helmed by the ’94 Crime Bill author and a proud prosecutor. All while wrestling with Manchin and Sinema.
That said, I can’t ignore the headwinds. The lack of enthusiasm for a second Biden run is showing up in small-dollar donors. No matter how positive the news is, the steady economy is not helping Joe’s standing. Now we’re seeing him tied with Trump in a 2024 hypothetical. And he’s 80. The fundraising and approval ratings are problematic. Being tied with Trump is heart palpitation inducing. The 2024 election is truly a referendum on American democracy. This is not losing to Mitt Romney or John McCain. This is losing to authoritarianism, the end of majority rule, and the true weaponization of the government against political foes and adversaries.
That prompted me to ask: why Biden? From his perspective and mine. And the honest truth was that the Democratic bench doesn’t present an electable alternative. I’d love to see a woman, especially a Black woman, become President. That doesn’t make Vice President Harris a viable option in 2024. I hope we progress to an inclusive society that supports the election of an openly gay President. That doesn’t make Secretary Pete a plausible candidate in this vile moment. I was an avid Warren supporter in 2020, but we don’t need another septuagenarian or an even older Bernie. So why Biden? Because who else? The Democratic base is multiracial and skews female, true. But, 45 of 46 Presidents have been neither of those things. If we want to remain competitive, we need some appealing straight white guys with strong, quality records on the bench. Even the biggest foodie wants to go back to their familiar comfort foods in between trying new things. It’s clear the American voter is no different.
With the first Republican primary debate season getting started, I surveyed the Democratic field to see if there are any electable alternatives for 2024. I repeat: a straight, white male under 70 is the goal. Because there are no moral victories in 2024, we need the most mass appeal like a flipped house. We’ll diversify the ticket with the VP pick; no Democratic ticket can be two white guys ever again. Period. Hasn’t been since 2008, no need to go back.
Potential Democratic Presidential Candidates:
This list includes all Cabinet members who were once elected officials, all Democratic governors since 2018, and all sitting Democratic US Senators.
STRAIGHT
Listen, this isn’t a reflection of personal views but an accurate telling of political reality. The GOP has begun an all-out assault on the trans community, which has ballooned into violent assaults on LGBTQ+ people and pride displays alike. As much as some would love to use an open field as an opportunity to break ceilings, we need to win tough elections, not simply feel good about how we “lost but moved the country forward.” There are no moral victories in 2024. It’s win or lose the democratic experiment that is America.
WHITE
You may be saying, “Hey, we’ve had a Black President already.” Or may deem my pro-Black self an Uncle Tom because this is all you know from me. (I assure, I am not that.) First, are you not seeing the cultural backlash that’s used Trump as its vehicle to gain prominence? Second, when else have you looked at the odds of 45 out of 46 and chosen the option with the 1 in 46 chance? Candidly, that includes Jewish officials as well (0 in 46). Whether practicing or cultural, we have yet to elect a Jewish person to federal office, and this moment in the cultural zeitgeist doesn’t appear to be the ripest opportunity to change that. Could we nominate a first-of-some-kind candidate and lose the general? Sure. Again, no moral victories. Democracy is on the line in 2024.
MALE
As a dedicated supporter of a woman candidate in 2020, that election cycle taught me A LOT. In 2016, they cudgeled Hillary Clinton for being married to the man who signed NAFTA and the ’94 Crime Bill into law. They claimed that was the explanation for her poor performance in the Midwest and Black voters. In 2020, the author of both laws was hand-picked by Black folks in the primary then those same states went for him in the general. TL;DR: America, unfortunately, hasn’t proven ready for a woman to be Commander-in-Chief. Ask the 55% of white women who voted for Trump in 2016. I repeat: there are no moral victories in 2024. We win, or we don’t.
UNDER 70
This cancels anyone who would be 70 on Inauguration Day 2025. Seventy would still be the third oldest President, behind Biden and Trump; I may needle this down further. We want a historic win, not a historic candidate.
REPLACEABLE
This cancels anyone running for reelection who could flip the Senate or would be replaced by a Republican governor’s appointee. We can’t afford to weaken the defense system of any state now that the Supreme Court is redirecting so much authority to them. Nor can we afford to lose the House or Senate in our effort to keep the White House.
From this list, we can remove those who previously ran and got no traction:
- Fmr. Gov. Steve Bullock (MT)
- Sen. Michael Bennet (CO)
Next, we remove the creatures of the Senate (folks who’ve been there and never expressed interest in a White House bid):
- Sen. Chris Coons (DE)
- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)
Now we’re down to the Sweet Sixteen.
Sweet Sixteen
There are still a couple of very obvious names to remove:
- Gov. John Bel Edwards (LA) signed a “heartbeat bill” into law
- Sen. John Fetterman (PA) is in no condition to run for President
- Sen. Mark Kelly (AZ) has two whole years of political experience
Eliminate senators with little name ID because it’s much easier to establish and point to a record to run on as a governor. That gets rid of the following:
- Sen. Martin Heinrich (NM)
- Sen. Gary Peters (MI), keep doing your DSCC thing
- Sen. Chris van Hollen (MD)
We can eliminate little-known officials whose states don’t help get to 270:
- Gov. John Carney (DE), we already have and are trying to replace Biden
We can eliminate officials who make the case all too easy for Republicans:
- Gov. Gavin Newsom (CA), this would be his Florida curriculum equivalent
We can eliminate officials whose resumes aren’t yet well-rounded enough:
- Fmr. Sec. Marty Walsh, mayor of Boston turned Labor Secretary
We can eliminate those whose age would complicate a second term:
- Gov. Phil Murphy (NJ) would be 71 during his second inauguration
- Sen. Jeff Merkley (OR) would be 72
- Gov. Roy Cooper (NC) — we’re keeping in play because we need that state
Locked In
Final target list of primary participants:
Gov. Andy Beshear (KY), Gov. Roy Cooper (NC), Sen. Chris Murphy (CT), Fmr. Gov. Ralph Northam (VA), and Gov. Tim Walz (MN)
Gov. Andy Beshear (KY)
Andy Beshear, who would be 47 on Inauguration Day 2025, is the youngest of the proposed candidates. He’s in the middle of a gubernatorial reelection against a Black candidate hand-picked and financially propped up by Sen. Mitch McConnell. That’s right, should Beshear win in November, he’ll have won three statewide races in McConnell Country. He’s had to work with a Republican super-majority his entire time in office. Still, he signed an executive order restoring voting rights to nonviolent former felons, worked with the legislature to implement a medical cannabis program, and reestablished and expanded Kentucky’s state health insurance marketplace. Moreover, due to a mass shooting at a bank in Lousiville that took the life of a close friend, Beshear can talk about gun safety from both personal and red-state perspectives. I’m suggesting he pull a DeSantis: win reelection to prove his strength, then immediately declare his candidacy for the nomination. Kentucky isn’t in play for the Presidential general election, but southern Democrats have a long record of national success.
Gov. Roy Cooper (NC)
Roy Cooper isn’t the youngest at 67, but he’s a two-term governor of a state that hasn’t elected a Democratic president since Obama’s 2008 run. The same state whose Democratic Senate candidate lost in 2022 by just 3.5% points with little to no financial investment. Cooper has won statewide six times. Though another Democrat executive working with a Republican supermajority in the legislature, Cooper managed to pass a bill to curb carbon emissions by 70% by 2030 and be carbon-neutral by 2050. Beyond that, he got the same Republican supermajority to expand Medicaid in the state, insuring 600,000 North Carolinians. What makes Cooper really unique, however, is his Appalachian appeal. In 2017, 45 tapped him to be on a commission to reduce opioid addiction. In 2019, he became the first NC governor since 1978 to be elected co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission. Even the Biden campaign recognizes they need the Tar Heel state in play.
Sen. Chris Murphy (CT)
At age 50, Chris Murphy is here because he’s the prototypical “he should have a bright future” kind of guy, but his case is perhaps the weakest. His three signature issues: (1) the Affordable Care Act, for which he was the House bill’s author; (2) gun safety, with Sandy Hook Elementary being in his former congressional district; and (3) foreign affairs. While a popular bundle of policies these days, the ACA is dated and I dare say secure. Maybe a public option push? Gun safety should be an issue Dems get aggressive with the general. Absolutely. I don’t think it makes the foundation of a presidential platform, however. And foreign affairs isn’t typically a strong motivator in a Democratic primary. But what complicates Murphy’s case the most, is that his state’s demographic composition hasn’t given him the opportunity to prove that he could be a strong draw with the multiracial base on which the national party relies. Not to mention, Connecticut is reliably blue and doesn’t expand the map or shore up a potential vulnerability.
Fmr. Gov. Ralph Northam (VA)
Former Gov. Ralph Northam, 63, is the second oldest potential primary participant, but like Gov. Cooper, he has a strong statewide electoral history in a commonwealth that is critical to get to 270. Electoral success aside, Northam has a track record that appeals to Black and brown voters and Appalachia alike. In his first two years as governor with a Republican legislature, he passed Medicaid expansion & established the Virginia African American Advisory Board, and used his executive office to expand non-discriminatory protections to the LGBTQ community, establish a goal of being carbon-neutral by 2050, & create a cabinet-level Chief Diversity Officer position. He then flipped both houses of the state legislature to Democratic control and got to work passing major gun safety, police, & sentencing reform, abolishing the death penalty, expanding civil (Virginia Values Act) & voting (Voting Rights Act of Virginia) rights, and legalizing marijuana. Then reenfranchised the voting rights of 22,000 former felons who had already paid their debt to society. All this in a state whose population reflects the Democratic base nationally.
Gov. Tim Walz (MN)
Last but not least, Governor Tim Walz, 59. Minnesota’s population resembles the Democratic base even less than Connecticut, but being the lead executive of the state in which George Floyd was killed allowed Walz to prove his benefides a bit. In 2020, he called special session after special session until the legislature passed comprehensive policing reform. The rest of his record also has strong Democratic appeal. He codified abortion rights, passed universal background checks & red flag laws, legalized recreational cannabis, required paid family and medical leave, increased spending on climate resilience in infrastructure, and set the state on the course to being carbon-neutral by 2040. When Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin went red in 2016, Minnesota held true to its Blue Wall status. Perhaps it's high time we reward them for it. And Walz has quite a compelling case to make us do so.
The Democratic bench does have a few solid straight white guys under 70 whose elevation wouldn’t create pain downstream. They just aren’t known. Neither are their long records of accomplishments. That’s what a primary can do — elevate the little-known prospects.
Rep. Phillips (D-MN) might be right, the Dems need to primary Biden. He’s also right when he says it shouldn’t be him. These five, however, could.
Again, I don’t take pleasure in the current political climate decreasing my faith in the viability of another candidate of “other.” I’ll never forget where I was when Obama won and how much I felt I had become a fully recognized piece of the fabric of America. Yes, I want everyone to experience that moment of affirmation. The headwinds in 2008, with Iraq fatigue and the financial crisis, were such that practically any Democrat was going to win. That’s not the case now. And again, there are no moral victories in 2024. In the ongoing cultural backlash to the first Black President, we need to serve comfort food. Uncle Joe was that in 2016. At 80, he’s comforting far fewer.
