Debate raises critical question for Democrats: What next?
Opinions expressed within this article are solely the author’s and do not represent the opinions and beliefs of The Weber Shandwick Collective.
“To see what is in front of one’s nose takes a constant struggle.”
If only the Democrats had heeded George Orwell’s dictum, party elders might have awakened this morning serene in the notion that the American people would never elect a convicted felon who can’t utter a coherent sentence and is transparently unfit to serve in the Oval Office.
Instead, if the elders were able to get any sleep last night, they awoke to the notion that the party is about to nominate someone who failed miserably in the vital presidential role of public performance and confirmed pre-existing doubts about his ability to win and do his job in the next difficult four years.
So, the reality is there’s panic coursing through the party’s veins at the prospect of Joe Biden’s electoral chances. Crisis communications 101: when you see a problem coming at you, the worst thing you can do is close your eyes and hope it goes away.
Having spent months averting their eyes and refusing to acknowledge what the entire country could see, some of the party leaders are now said to be considering another candidate to head the ticket. Great idea. There’s only one tiny problem: Kamala Harris. The problem of her getting the nomination pales in comparison with the problem of her not getting the nomination.
Since the election of 1944 — that’s 80 years for those who don’t have a calculator handy — every single Democrat who served as Vice President and wanted to become the party’s presidential nominee got the assignment: Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson (yes, they were already president), Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Al Gore and Joe Biden.
So, how’s the party going to explain to one of its core constituencies, Black Americans (or to women for that matter), that the streak should be broken with Kamala Harris?
Yes, the excitement of an open convention and the possibility of Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Andy Beshear, Josh Shapiro, Michael Bennet, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey or George Clooney (you have your fantasy candidates, I have mine) becoming the nominee is exhilarating.
But unless Ms. Harris declines the opportunity to run — assuming Mr. Biden decides to avoid the legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — the fantasy is just that. Something the mind conjures that reality never delivers.
Democrats have spent the last year saying the return of Donald Trump to the White House means the end of democracy in America. They never acted as if they believed it. If they had, some brave souls would have trooped down to the White House (look up Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon in August 1974) months ago and told Joe Biden the truth:
You served the nation by depriving Donald Trump of a second term in 2020. Despite the manifest problems that currently exist, you had a successful presidency. It is time to make good on your promise to be a transitional president and let the next generation of leaders take over. You don’t want to end your political life by ensuring Donald Trump of a second term in 2024.
Crisis communications 102: the best way to handle a crisis is to avoid it. Too bad the Democrats missed that class.
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Powell Tate is the Public Affairs Unit of the Weber Shandwick Collective. For more information, visit: www.powelltate.com
