How quickly have we forgotten the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries?

Let me preface this diary entry by saying that I am not a troll. I have been an avid reader of Daily Kos since 2003. I discovered the Daily Kos “blog” in 2003 thanks to Howard Dean. Dean’s campaign was the first political campaign I ever worked for and I helped organize our local Dean MeetUp group in Flagstaff, Arizona. We invited Governor Dean to Flagstaff in July of 2003 and he spoke to a fairly large crowd at Fort Tuthill in Flagstaff. I wrote many, many letters to voters in Iowa while drinking many, many bottles of wine prior to the Iowa Caucus in 2004. I created a Daily Kos account years ago but have never posted or commented. I created a new account yesterday. I have always enjoyed reading all the intelligent information posted here. The Daily Kos has been my #1 news source for over 20 years. I also listen to NPR, watch MSNBC, and subscribe to Atlantic Monthly, Mother Jones, and the Washington Post.

Now that that’s out of the way, let me take you back in my time machine to the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. Who won the Iowa caucuses? Well, it was kind of a tie. Senator Sanders (Bernie) had the highest percentage of the vote, but Pete Buttigieg won the most delegates. Former Vice President Biden was a distant fourth. Who won the New Hampshire caucuses? Bernie. Biden came in a distant fifth in New Hampshire. Who won the Nevada caucuses? Bernie. Who was clearly on track to be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2020? Bernie! In fact, Bernie was ahead in a large percentage of the Super Tuesday primaries that would soon follow. But what happened? The Democratic political establishment stepped in (and the big donors?) and decided that Biden was going to be our nominee. I didn’t want Biden to be the nominee in 2020, and many other Democratic voters didn’t want him to be either. Elizabeth Warren was my #1 pick, followed by Kamala Harris. So what happened? Congressman Clyburn stepped forward to endorse Biden before the South Carolina primary, and the machine was working in the background to convince Buttigieg and Klobuchar to resign after the South Carolina primary to endorse Biden and consolidate the “moderate” vote. But wait! Buttigieg “won” Iowa, came in second in New Hampshire, and third in Nevada. Why would he resign? Could there have been promises of future political appointments?

You may be asking yourself, what is the point of this diary? Well, the amount of pro-Biden diaries on this site over the past few weeks is starting to make me sick to my stomach. I love Daily Kos. I start my day by reading multiple stories/diaries over my first cup of coffee every morning. All of these pro-Biden diaries finally convinced me to create an account. Most of these diaries state something like: The Democratic Party elites and billionaire donors should not get to determine our nominee. Please wake up. THEY decided Biden would be our nominee in 2020. THEY decided Hillary Clinton would be our nominee in 2016. THEY didn’t want Obama to be our nominee in 2008, but… THEY decided Kerry would be our nominee in 2004.

Biden is a deeply flawed candidate (and always has been, even when he ran in 2020, 2008, and 1988) who will most likely lose to Trump in November. I think many of our Democratic primary candidates in 2020 would have beaten Trump, including Sanders, Warren, Harris, and Buttigieg, but the establishment chose Biden. If he steps up now (stands down) and endorses Kamala Harris, we will win. The positive press that follows that announcement, followed by her choice for VP (I hope it’s Beshear), followed by an energetic convention, will tip the scales toward a landslide victory in November. Am I overreacting or fantasizing? I don’t think so. Yes, many here are pointing out that Harris may not be the elite’s choice. But Biden has a major say in who his successor is. He needs to stand firm, promote Harris, step down, and he will walk away a true hero. Besides, he should have resigned a year ago and promoted Harris for the nomination. If he had, we wouldn’t be wasting all that energy now.

I want to close by saying that Biden has been a great president. He has passed so much important legislation while playing on narrow margins in Congress in his first two years in office. Yes, one of my senators is Sinema. Without her (and Manchin), so much more could have been accomplished. Biden has been a strong leader in the face of a global pandemic, and he has invested in our economy and infrastructure so that we now have the strongest economy in the world, post-pandemic. But — it is time for a fresh start.

Harris/Beshear 2024.

Please be nice. We all want to defeat Trump.

Remember, Biden won the 2020 popular vote by about 4.5%, and it was still an electoral nail-biter in the swing states. If we say the polls are almost tied, that probably means we are 5+% off the mark to win electorally in November.