What needs to happen now

Not doing these two things means bobbling away this phenomenal opportunity

Entirely due, I am sure, to my What the Good Angel on Joe's Shoulder Needs to Whisper to Him Right Now, Joe has dropped out of the race. Beautiful. I love Joe Biden, because he can almost always be counted upon to do the right thing. (I say “almost”—which at this point is a caveat I hate to mention—only because I watched and remember the 1991 Senate Judiciary Hearing wherein Anita Hill so heroically and explicitly warned us about the vile monster she knew Clarence Thomas to be. During those hearings Joe was . . . less than the man he should have been.)

Democrats are renowned for their astounding capacity to never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. If ever anyone had an opportunity before them, it is the Democratic National Committee right now.

I’m not saying that I know they’ll blow it, but . . . you know. History being the best predictor of the the future, and all.

There are two things the DNC needs to do now to ensure that America’s next president is Kamala Harris, instead of that . . . burbling sack of fetid bile.

First, do not anoint Harris. Don’t make it so anyone feels that she was in any way forced upon them. As Politico reported yesterday:

Within a few hours of the news [that Biden had bowed out], state party delegates had put together a “KDH Endorsement” Google form . . . that read, “Today I am proud to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris to be our Democratic nominee and the next President of the United States!”

[California] State party chair Rusty Hicks and other party officials spread word of the pledge via email, text message and phone calls, according to delegates who received the outreach.

“I am asking delegates from our great state of California and home to our Vice President, Kamala Harris, to officially endorse her nomination for President of the United States at the convention in Chicago. Please use this link and fill out this form to register your support for Kamala Harris for President,” Hicks wrote in an email.

That, right there, is exactly the bullshit that will ruin this golden opportunity handed to the DNC by the wise Mr. Biden. They need to stop in any way pressuring anyone into voting for Harris. Let Harris run for the nomination. Let her earn it. Let her show that she is the person to wipe Trump out. Because she absolutely is that person. Let her prove it. Not letting that process unfold naturally will leave a lot of people feeling confirmed in their worst suspicions, which is that Ms. Harris is fundamentally a DEI/affirmative action hire.

Fuck. That. Let Harris run this race like the thoroughbred she is. Let her show us who she is, so we’ll want to vote for her, rather than telling us who she is, and insisting that we must vote for her. The former way, she wins. The latter way, she—and thus this country, and the whole wide world—loses.

Secondly, Harris needs to name Gretchen Whitmer as her VP. If she does, she and Whitmer win the election. Easy-peezy. Why? Because, A: Whitmer is every bit as qualified and beloved as any other potential running mate. B: She is the middle-American Harris needs to balance out her California-ness, and, most importantly, C: Whitmer’s a woman.

Is America ready to elect a black woman for president? I think so—but the fact remains that we need to do everything we can to make comfortable all those Americans who might feel uncomfortable with a Harris candidacy. One excellent way to do that is to not make a strong alpha-male—like a Roy Cooper, a Josh Shapiro, an Andy Beshear—her obvious and public subordinate.

It’s ridiculous, I know. But it’s also politics. And politics is perception. And there are too many people out there who might be able to swallow a women as president, and who might also be able to swallow a black woman as president. But untold millions of those same people will finally balk—will not find themselves able to vote—for a black woman at the top of the ticket, and a white man right below her.

Again: insanely stupid. But why fuck with that potentially troubling dynamic at all? Give us two strong, deeply charismatic, long-proven women, bonding together, being sisters in spirit and conviction, reminding the world of what everybody knows is true, which is that, when it comes to actually getting things done, a woman is almost always your best bet.

Harris and a man might win, for sure. But Harris and Whitmer together? There’s no maybe about that. That’s a guaranteed victory. Here’s hoping it happens.