Imagine the next presidential election in the USA was reduced to a single penalty kick at a soccer match.
The Democratic party are on the penalty spot lining up to take the penalty.
In front of them lies a big wide open goal.
The only defence is a bad tempered geriatric goalkeeper with Attention Deficit Disorder.
Everyone thinks it’s going to be a walk over.
But, in some weird sense of fair-play the Democratic party has selected an even older geriatric to take the penalty kick. Worse still, the penalty kicker has (policy wise) been known in the past to kick the ball in the wrong direction.
Will he score? Will he in fact even manage to kick the ball? Or will his flailing leg miss the ball completely so he falls flat on his face?
Or maybe the ball will just dribble forward and stop short – just like the previous penalty kicker did.
But at least Biden isn’t the entitlement candidate. Everyone hates entitlement. As Bidens predecessor found out.
But at 77 (81 after one term) it hardly bodes well for USA (let alone the world) that this contest will be won by someone (either Republican or Democrat) considerably the wrong side of “three score years and ten”.
Of course Biden is only there because the rest of the sane division of the Democratic party baulked at the possibility of suffering the same humiliation that was meted out to Clinton. Nobody wanted the job - except the loonies, and even then, their prime candidate was even older than Biden.
Why didn’t anyone want the job?
Because Trump (bad tempered geriatric and sometimes just plainly bizarre) was driving a booming economy.
The job as Democratic Presidential candidate had the word LOSER written all over it.
But somebody had to do it. So old Joe Biden stepped up to the plate to be the sacrificial offering to democracy. To that extent we should say good for him. At least he wasn’t a coward like the rest.
Then along came Covid-19. Trump, ambushed by “events” appears out of his depth.
Today Trump is on the back foot. That big open goal is even bigger and now slightly downhill from the penalty spot.
But still, the Democratic party seems obsessed with some strange concept of giving the Republicans a chance. It has insisted on an all female short list for the Vice President role.
The short list for this role is (to say the least) very important. With the President nominee at the end of his natural life there is a significant possibility that the deputy president will in fact become the President before the next four years is out. Excluding half of the potential candidates because they have the “wrong” reproductive organs seems hardly rational. We are not filling a quota here! But never mind.
There are people on this Democratic party short list who are clearly worthy of the position (IMHO this lady particularly) and undoubtedly they would have been there irrespective of their sex. But some of the candidates are so fashionably woke and divorced from the electorate (like Clinton was) that they could actively inhibit the penalty shot.
So in my humble opinion, the success or failure of the Democrats challenge to Trump will succeed or fail NOT on the quality of the geriatric presidential contenders but on the character and credibility of their running mates.
I reckon if the democrats choose Tammy Duckworth, (War hero, competent and popular) then they’ll win. Probably hands down. But if they choose one of the entitlement “woke” candidates on the short list - they’ll get hammered.
Anyway, that’s the view of a remote and distant Englishman. You may well ask: Why the hell is an Englishman commenting on an American election anyway?
I’m actually tempted to agree with you. Why the hell am I?
First of all I loved the image of Trump and Biden engaged in a penalty shoot-out.
But I really decided to post it because the world is in the shit.
The USA (like it or not - as you will) is the only country in the world capable of turning it around. So everyone must take an interest.
So for my American buddies: Let me remind you that the next president of the USA is going to be in their late seventies. De-facto. That’s Zimmer* frame territory.
So when you make your decision, fully check out the quality and integrity of the Vice Presidential candidate.
Factoring that into your decision would appear to be a very good idea.
* Zimmer Frame (UK) = Walking frame (USA) . Thanks to Lee Alley for the translation!
