1968 All Over Again?

The 2024 Democratic Convention will be held in Chicago in August. And it’s shaping up to be a doozy of a show. Everyone on the left – media, DNC, governors, House reps, Senators – have been sounding the “please don’t run” horn to Biden. The only people not joining in the newly arising chorus are the White House staff and Biden aides. Oh, and Everybody-Must-Call-Me-DOCTOR Jill, of course. (I have a Ph.D., and yes, I told my students that they would be calling me Dr. Jones or Prof. Jones. I most emphatically did not tell the rest of the world to call me that. That’s a level of insecurity even I don’t possess.)

The 1968 Democratic convention included riots, fires, the Chicago Seven, more riots, a sitting president (LBJ) who announced he would not seek re-election, and a final ticket of Hubert Humphrey and Edmund Muskie. A bit chaotic to say the least.

Before you ask, yes, I am going to watch at least some of the convention. I’m really curious to see what happens and how or whether the Democrats get rid of Biden. It’s very possible that those who stand to lose a lot will fight tooth and nail against Biden’s retirement **cough** Jill and Hunter **cough**. The man himself may be visibly and rapidly failing, but they’ve gotta keep their phony-baloney jobs, doncha know!

There have been a bunch of names floated as to who would replace Biden if he were to back out of the race. Michelle Obama has come up a few times, but she has said she does not want to run and won’t run. And, much as I dislike her, I believe she’s being honest. She spent eight years in the White House. She saw what it did to her husband and what others said about him and her. She doesn’t do well with criticism (no, she really doesn’t, just go look at the transcripts of her speeches and remarks). I believe Michelle is out of the running.

Another name tossed out as an “obvious” choice is Gavin “I Use Gallons of Hair Gel” Newsom. Newsom has made it clear that he has his sights firmly set on the White House. However, Newsom brings with him a lot of very heavy baggage. He’s like those folks you see in the international arrivals area of airports, you know the ones. They’ve got a family of three or four and they’re pushing three of those luggage carts, each piled high with the largest suitcases money can buy. That’s Newsom and his baggage.

Economically, California has been in a steep and rapid decline for the entirety of his governorship. There are more people leaving California than entering. U-Haul tracks the migration of people around the country and it’s expensive and difficult to get a U-Haul truck for a one-way trip out of California. According to Forbes, California has the third highest cost of living after Hawaii (1) and Massachusetts (2). People elsewhere in the U.S. see that, along with the damaging social policies Newsom has championed (boys on girls sports teams, shared bathrooms, massive illegal immigration), and know they don’t want that for the rest of the country. Oh, but the biggest problem Newsom has that threatens to tear Democrats apart if he’s the appointed candidate – he’s a straight, white male. Persona non grata right there.

Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan was another name bandied about. She is the national co-chair of the Biden campaign. Whitmer has tried to shoot down speculation about her becoming the Democrat nominee, but I think it remains to be seen. Like Newsom, she is very ambitious and also a strong proponent of hyper-progressive social policies.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is another one. But, again, rich, straight, white male is his biggest downfall for the uber-progressive wing of the Democrats (and yes, I believe them when they say they will rain fire down on the party if it nominates a straight white male). Plus, Pritzker isn’t that well known nationally so he would have a hard time catching up in that arena.

Finally, there’s Vice-President Kamala Harris. A woman who couldn’t keep her campaign afloat past Labor Day 2019 when she ran for president, yet who was picked as Biden’s running mate. Gee, I wonder why they picked her? Hmmmm… think, think, think… This is the woman who slept with Willie Brown, the powerful leader of the California Assembly, who in turn helped get her elected as first San Francisco DA when he was mayor, and later California AG. Coincidentally, Newsom was elected mayor of San Franciso succeeding Brown, when Harris became the DA. Brown has said that Harris is dumb as a box of rocks (paraphrasing… he said she was stupid. He did say it during her failed presidential campaign. As I’m fond of saying… go look it up.) And if you watch videos of her interviews, or anytime she’s speaking without a script, it becomes clear that this is not an intelligent woman. (And, no, you don’t have to be intelligent to get through law school. It helps, but it’s not mandatory. You have to be able to think in a certain way and be insanely detail oriented. Intelligence allows good lawyers to think outside the box and they become the successful ones.)

BUT, and here’s the big BUT… Harris is a woman of color. Thus she is the perfect candidate for the fanatical far left wing of the Democratic party. And likely the one to become the candidate should the Democrats actually get Jill Biden and Hunter Biden to agree to Joe dropping out of the campaign. The convention is going to be a fight between those who want to “save” the Democratic party and run somebody other than Biden, and those who are afraid of what will happen to their lives and side-gig income streams if they can’t keep Biden in the White House for another four years and enjoy the grift they’ve created from that position.

In the end… oh, hell yeah, I’m gonna watch the Democratic Convention. This is going to be better than Survivor meets Real Housewives of New Jersey meets The Bachelor. With riots. In Chicago. What’s not to love?