Dear Editor,
Will Kamala Harris in the Home of the Brave, be given the opportunity to break the ceiling glass and become the first female to preside over the United States of America? Is America, the Land of the Free, ready to be ruled by a woman, more so, by a Black woman, or, Asian? Or, in the Land of Milk and Honey, will history repeat itself as Déjà vu for Donald Trump? Despite winning the popular vote in 2016 by almost 2.9 million votes, the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, lost to Donald Trump in the Electoral College Vote. Is America ready for a second stint of the ‘Mogul’ who instead, wanted a code name ‘Humble’?
All these eventualities became possible when President Joe Biden retracted his candidacy for the US Presidential 2024 election over the weekend and endorsed his Vice President to be the Democratic presidential candidate. Will the aging and feeble 81 years old 46th US president continue to serve out his full term, or, will he resign and allow Kamala Harris to become the next US President by way of default? A precedent would be created in the U.S. of A. The “States” was known as Turtle Island and “Sleep Joe” was changed to “Crooked Joe” by the Republican 2024 presidential candidate, Donald Trump.
Biden, now considered too old to be selected, was once too young to serve. He was 29 years old when he won a US senate seat in 1972. From being former President Barack Obama’s vice president, he weathered the storm to defeat the incumbent Donald Trump from holding a second presidential term in 2020. Despite his disastrous debate performance with Trump, Biden still outraised and outspent Trump in last month’s campaign. President Biden raised US$64 million and spent US59 million to leave US$95 million in the bank. Trump managed to raise US$21 million while spending US$10 million to leave US$128 million at the end of June.
The walls caved in as President Joe Biden’s loyalists and influential Democrats, namely, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, doubted his viability and expressed frustration over the Democratic criticism in Biden’s ability to beat Trump. His slips, spills and stumbles did not help as his age caught up with him and he was unable to jog with his VP. Recently, he proved positive for COVID and had to rest. Unable to briskly board Airforce 1, his physical declension showed as he slowly climbed the stairs. At a social event, he looked lost among dancing people and on another occasion, Barack Obama held his arm to lead him off the stage. He even fumbled when he named Trump instead of Kamala Harris as his vice president, after calling Ukraine’s president “Putin” and quickly correcting himself. Being a grown man who wanted to finish the job, he told Trump, “Make my day pal.”
The 77-year-old Donald Trump is not a happy camper with Biden out of the race. He now has to face a potential Kamala Harris, the current seasoned VP, a brilliant attorney younger than him. He cannot side stepped by pointing flaws at age and agility or ability. His cognitive abilities are also questionable as he got the name of his own doctor wrong, seemed to think Obama was the current president and even mistook his arch Republican rival Nikki Haley for Nancy Pelosi. Trump, the felon, has been convicted in the damaging Stormy Daniels case. President Biden told Trump, “You have the morals of an alley cat.”
Republicans are shielding Donald Trump of any wrong doing on the January 6th 2021 attack on Capitol Hill. Ironically, he is making this a cornerstone on his bid to return to the White House. Five people died, many injured and some 1,200 people have been charged and many have been fined and sentenced to jail. He promised to pardon them the first day he returns to office. Jason Stanley, a philosophy professor at Yale, said in history the question comes up over and over again: “When a coup against the democratic regime happens and it’s not punished, that is a very strong indicator of the end of the rule of law and the victory of that authoritarian movement,” said Stanley, the author of “How Fascism Works.”
The attempted assassination on Donald Trump has helped to unify his party and reinvigorated him as he clenched his fists shouting, “Fight, fight, fight.” At the Republican’s Convention, presidential candidate elect, Donald Trump, warned of his vision which includes harsher immigration laws, tougher stands on foreign adversaries and rallying against electric vehicles as he pledged to, “Drill, baby drill.” Trump once described climate change as a “hoax” and said that, “he will take America out of the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat climate change and support greater use of declining fossil fuels such as coal.”
Kamala Harris, a product of an Indian mother and Jamaican father, is yet to be fully endorsed by the Democratic Party. The ‘ugly truth’ is that, being far younger than Trump, she is a breath of fresh air and a sigh of relief for the younger generation. She will appeal to the colored population and her “stance” on border policy may influence the Spanish community. Being of a mixed descent, she will reach out to the colored population. Trump is known as a flirtatious woman grabber, his attack on women, shady business deals and other negativities. Women overall, may be more sympathetic with Harris.
Is Kamala Harris the “Trump” card for the Democrats?
Yours respectfully,
Jai Lall.