Biden-Harris 2020: That’s the Ticket! -The iPINIONS Journal

Joe Biden is easily the most qualified American to be president of the United States. Moreover, to recover from this Trump presidency, we will need to inaugurate a president with the experience and character to restore competence to and respect for the office of the leader of the free world.

Like me, you probably thought no president could be worse than George W. Bush. Then along came Trump. And he has inflicted so many lies, embarrassments, and absurdities upon us over the past two years, it’s easy to forget all we suffered during Bush’s eight years. At least Bush had character, which proved a very redeeming trait.

But only a president with Biden’s unassailable gravitas can complete the restoration of normalcy, which Democrats began in midterm elections last November. That, of course, is when they wrested control of the House of Representatives from Trump’s enabling Republicans.

In any event, the last thing we need is another clueless narcissist interested only in vainglory, personal enrichment, and entertaining the rabid ignoramuses who compose his base. We face the categorical imperative of completely exorcising Trump and everything he represents from politics.

I hasten to note that, but for his nightmare presidency, I would have picked Kamala Harris to head a ticket with Beto O’Rourke. Here’s why:

She is even more accomplished and appealing than Barack Obama was when he launched his presidential campaign.
He exudes all the personal charisma and progressive convictions that made Robert F. Kennedy such a formidable presidential candidate. (And, yes, he even looks like RFK.)
They could have emulated the young guns who upset George H.W. Bush and Dan Quayle in 1992, namely Bill Clinton and Al Gore.

It might seem way too soon to be speculating about the 2020 presidential election. And, given that Putin’s influence will be even more insidious than it was in 2016, it might seem foolhardy to pick any candidate who does not have his blessing.

Incidentally, despite pronouncements and presumptions to the contrary, Trump has been an epic disappointment to Russian President Vladimir Putin, so much so that this puppet master might be trolling for another puppet this go-round.

Indeed, you may have noticed how panicky Trump seems lately. It’s clearly dawning on him just how much America’s system of Constitutional checks and balances will limit his power to do Putin’s bidding. And he must fear that it’s only a matter of time before Putin cuts his strings.

After all, Trump was supposed to be Putin’s Manchurian president, not some ordinary useful idiot like Paul Manafort or Carter Page. And the only way for Putin to save face for the disappointment Trump is turning out to be is to tar and feather him with wikileaks of all of the compromising information he has on this hopelessly compromised president of the United States.

All of this just reinforces my contention that Trump will resign as part of a plea bargain to avoid impeachment and keep his equally venal kids out of jail. But I digress …

Apropos of too soon, at this point in the 2008 cycle, Obama was putting the final edits on the speech to announce his candidacy on February 10, 2007. Therefore, you can bet your life savings that every Democrat who wants to be president in 2020 is doing the same right now.

In fact, several of the more than twenty who were just lying in wait have already declared their intent to run. And, whether or not Trump resigns, I suspect more than one Republican will run to replace him.

As I did last election cycle, I will not be commenting on the horse race. This, notwithstanding that it will dominate public discourse over the next 18 months; that is, on the odd day when news of Trump’s impeaching doom is not breaking.

That said, I’m all too mindful that Trump fluttered in like a black-swan in 2016 and pooped all over Hillary – who was my pick. But it would take an even rarer phenomenon either for him to get re-elected or for any Republican to win in 2020. Such is the reputational damage Trump has done to that party’s (and to this country’s) brand.

[Note: Pete Buttigeig is my second VP choice. Never mind that, like Harris, he is running for top billing. The point is that, like Harris, his background and experience are so impressive, he has more presidential potential today than Obama had when he announced his candidacy in February 2007.

Buttigeig is a Harvard graduate and Rhodes Scholar; he is 37; he is gay; he is a military veteran; and he is serving his second term as mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Oh, he is married (not that that’s a requirement, mind you).

Yet chances are that you have never heard of him. For America’s sake, I hope that changes soon.]

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