There is no way to sugarcoat what happened. President Biden was pushed out of the race by his own party and has largely disappeared from view since withdrawing from the candidacy. In the eyes of some, he is a tragic figure. But that is not the case. His poll numbers have risen 10 points to 46 percent.
The ways of history are mysterious, and Biden has a chance to be a more successful president for the rest of his term than if he had stayed in the race.
When he appears with Kamala Harris in Prince George’s County, Maryland, on Thursday, he will receive a hero’s welcome. His designated successor is heating up the race in a good way. And by confirming Biden’s judgment, he is giving her the legitimacy of his moderate, single-minded policies, a legitimacy she could not otherwise achieve without his support and reputation.
The release of the Russian hostages earlier this month is a testament to Biden’s extensive knowledge and personal contacts around the world. The complex agreement called for the release of 16 political prisoners and required the commitment of seven countries. Biden said he had called on the leaders of Germany and Slovenia to do things that were against their interests. Harris stood with Biden on the airport tarmac to greet the returnees.
The relationship between a president and vice president is always complicated, and no one knows that better than Biden, who served two terms under Barack Obama. A late-night greeting of released prisoners, which Biden had worked on for nearly a year, is not an occasion he would normally share with his vice president. But she was there to share in the praise. “Biden is including her in the good news, he obviously wants her to win,” said Jack Pitney, a professor of American politics at Claremont McKenna College. “He was hesitant to step down, but he is determined not to see Trump win.”
“We’ll see more of them, maybe something good will happen in Ukraine and he’ll share it with them,” Pitney continued. “As vice president for eight years, he knows better than anyone what that position entails. Part of him certainly wishes he were running, but the desire to beat Trump overwhelms everything.”
This election is more about personal qualities, likeability, charisma and the question of which campaign puts on a better show. Biden’s name will not be on the ballot, but his protégé greatly appreciates his services to the public. After a long dry spell, the Democrats are back in the race with Harris at the helm, a result that the Trump team should have predicted.
Republicans have for so long propagated the idea that Biden is a puppet and that someone else is pulling the strings, namely Harris, they mischievously claim. Now she is so successful because Biden is trustworthy as “Scranton Joe” – because he put his trust in her and seamlessly handed over the power of the candidacy to her. He owes her – and she owes him.
“It wouldn’t be surprising if Biden had bad feelings about this. He was pushed out. But he’s being very cocky,” Republican pollster Greg Strimple told the Daily Beast. “It’s a big plus for her that she was there for the release (of the Russian prisoners). Right now she’s fine, she’s new, she’s inexperienced, she’s not Biden or Trump. If he (Trump) wants to win the race, he’s got to get back to the issues – inflation and the border are a big issue for her.”
Republicans believe that a more disciplined Trump could stand up to Harris if he sticks to the issues. This isn’t necessarily about policy positions. It’s more about scaring voters.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris raise their hands as they stand with First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff on a White House balcony during an Independence Day celebration in Washington, U.S., July 4, 2024.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
There’s a reason Trump’s attacks on Harris as an out-of-control liberal aren’t working. There’s little difference between her and Biden on the issue areas. The economic policy proposals she puts forward will show how far she deviates from Biden’s agenda and whether she has new proposals of her own. Stealing Trump’s idea of repealing the tax on tips is a smart political move designed to rile him.
It can link this to a legislative increase in the federal minimum wage, which at $7.25 an hour is a shameful testament to Congress’s inability to act. Nearly two-thirds of tipped workers do not even earn enough to pay federal income tax.
Harris is expected to support the usual Democratic ideas, such as universal pre-K, expanding the earned income tax credit and significantly increasing the child tax credit, but there could be surprises.
“Tim Walz is the first Democrat on the national ballot since Jimmy Carter who knows the price of soybeans,” says Jim Kessler of Third Way, the centrist progressive group. “We should see an economic agenda for rural areas that doesn’t look like it was thought up in a suburban focus group.”
The Trump campaign calls Harris a chameleon for changing her views. Well, yes, she is not running to be president of California. She is running to represent all the people, and the old tricks of politics to push people into positions they would rather not be in may not have the power they once did. “I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it,” John Kerry said, a clumsy statement about money for rebuilding Iraq for which he has been pilloried.
Voting for both sides in lengthy legislative processes is a common nuisance in Congress. Harris hasn’t been in the Senate long enough to have a record that wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny. But in politics, there’s always something. Biden is now free of all that. His character is strong. His legacy could spell Trump’s end, if only by denying the former president the retribution he seeks on the man who defeated him in the election he claims he never lost.
