Months, even years, of feverish Republican speculation that President Joe Biden may not seek re-election is finally coming to a head. With Biden’s disastrous debate performance sparking widespread calls for him to drop out of the race, the vultures are beginning to circle. But there’s no reason to believe this would leave America any better off.
In fact, all of Biden’s most likely replacements would be significantly worse.
The New York Times, which quickly issued a plea for Biden to bow out, was ready with a list of potential replacements. At the top of the list: Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
In @nytopinion
The greatest public service President Biden can now perform is to announce that he will not run for re-election, the editorial board writes after Thursday’s presidential debate. https://t.co/45eaovSBKX
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 28, 2024
Harris aside, what do these Guvs all have in common? They’re some of the worst COVID-19 tyrants we saw throughout the pandemic.
Harris is the obvious choice, but there’s little love for her within the Democratic Party. She’s perhaps the only politician more unpopular than Biden, and the party clearly doesn’t have faith that she can win against Trump. If Biden steps down, there would likely be a contested convention — meaning that all the COVID tyrants would go for the jugular.
The favorite, according to The Times, is Newsom. Cartoonishly handsome, he certainly looks the part. But think back to the COVID-19 days; California had some of the strictest lockdowns in the country. Newsom shut the state down in early March 2020, and didn’t lift the stay-at-home orders until June 2021. California became famous for arresting the guy paddle boarding alone on the ocean, but Newsom had no issue flouting his own social distancing guidelines to dine at the French Laundry, one of the most expensive restaurants in the world.
Next up, Whitmer. It’s hard to even see how she’s even a contender. She’s a lightweight through and through, and as a fellow Spartan, I can assure you our former sorority girls are not fit to lead the nation. Her only real qualifications come from locking down her purple state, showing she’s tough enough to keep up with the big, blue heavyweights. Like California, Michigan did not fully re-open until June 2021. Whitmer’s orders were especially capricious, however, like when she ordered certain sections of retail stores to be shut down. As if the garden aisle was more dangerous than the liquor aisle!
Less well-known, but just as strict, we have Pritzer. The Illinois “bridge” to re-opening plan carried on well into 2021, with Pritzer re-instating mask orders in the latter half of the year. Not content simply to issue a vaccine mandate, he worked overtime to ensure that no one could take advantage of legal loopholes to not get the jab.
While Shapiro may not have been Pennsylvania’s governor during COVID, he served as Attorney General under then-Gov. Tom Wolf. Wolf famously pushed for drastic changes to the state’s election laws during COVID, helping to secure Biden’s narrow victory in the state in 2020.
In every case, these governors led the charge to keep lockdowns in place long after other states had shown re-opening was safe and manageable. They pushed for mask and vaccine mandates even as the benefits became less clear. They defended school closures and their teacher’s union cronies well after it was evident children are safer from the virus than adults. They ruined countless small businesses with capricious mandates. (RELATED: ‘Jail Fauci’: Grandma Goes Viral After Epic Troll)
And this is what makes them credible contenders for the top spot in Democratic politics.
The Democrats came to love the high of COVID authoritarianism — the power it gave them to arbitrarily control their opponents and the moral high ground it provided to look down and sneer. This is today’s Democratic Party, chasing an ever more reclusive high from whatever petty tyranny comes next. But it’s not just the party. The lockdown Karens and the forever-maskers enjoyed the same feeling taking out petty grudges against their friends, neighbors and family. Their deepest desire is to have a candidate who will continue to give them the power they crave.
Biden was the moderate option in 2020. Whoever comes after him will reflect the COVID personality even more — at least if the voters have anything to say about it.
