It is said that many aspirants for a Democrat presidential nomination have other things on their mind.
The most ambitious have the vice-presidential nomination as their ultimate objective. In this race, Cory Booker and Tim Ryan are competing for that title.
For others, a potential Senate seat or governorship. The self-
styled cute little Beta O’Rourke is knocking on this door.
Others still see themselves as would be Secretaries of Commerce or Interior, the type of place with lots of acclaim though little heavy lifting. Most of the one and two percenters lay claim to these prizes.
In many cases it is the lure of campaign cash and the loose rules that govern its use. Bernie Sanders takes this crown. While he lost in his last effort, he won in the money department, building a luxurious mansion in the process.
In this Democrat primary silly season one thing is certain: the field of, what is it, 20 or is it 30, oh well, whatever it is, will be whittled down to a handful.
The first sign of the atrophy process will begin when the money starts drying up for those who cannot break out of the low single digits.
Right now, old Joe has his approximate one-third rump, built as it is from near 50 years of his holding open every door and carrying every jacket of more prominent party members. Joe sees it as his time after 31 years of trying. Name recognition being what it is, one in three Democrats think it might be and they want to go along for the ride. That’s about as deep, however, as their loyalty to old Joe will ever be.
Next in the current line-up is Bernie Sanders.
Bernie near had it last time and would have but for the crooked machinations of the Clinton machine. He is seething and cannot hide his contempt for the apparatus of a party he again seeks to champion.
Yet, everyone, including Bernie, knows that his goose is cooked. He has no chance whatsoever of being the Democrat nominee, despite the fact his socialist credentials make him a favorite of that vast Sandinista segment of the party.
Bernie hold about 20 % support, all of it parking with him for the time being.
What they are waiting for is a sign of who will break out from the remainder of the pack. Once that is established, off they will go.
The current odds are saying it will be either Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren.
Both can appeal to the activist left -wing of the party in a way that the technocrat Mayor Pete Buttigieg cannot.
Beta O’Rourke, practicing his best Booby Kennedy impersonations and Cory Booker, the New Jersey henchman of Democrat politics, have no real chance.
So, soon Bernie’s number shall start tumbling and all eyes will be placed on where they will be going.
My money says Harris. She …and the she part is important, as is the next Democrat identity marker,” a person of color, “she satisfying this criterion as well, is two for two in what Democrats see as the prime qualifications in a President.
Cory Booker recently announced that the Democrat ticket must be gender and color balanced. Never underestimate the degree to which Democrats will go in maintaining group identity politics as the principal focus of American life.
The Obama crowd, once quietly giving their nod to Beta, are now slithering toward Harris. They know Biden as the tiresome old windbag he is and further, they know that this guy is simply not qualified to be President. He is on the verge of senility, with his mental capacity already being demonstrated as slipping precipitously.
For old Joe to become Democrat nominee, he must score a knock-out in the first three contests: Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. His failure to do so will open the door to his chief rival, likely Harris.
Last time a long battle saw the activists, the modern-day Sandinista Democrats, loose to the party insider, Hillary Clinton. Unless old Joe wraps this up early, and he won’t, they will not see this happen again.
The fall bumper stickers will most likely say Harris-Ryan. Keep them with your collection of Mondale-Ferraro and Dukakis-Bentsen as soon to be obscure political collectibles worth little.
