I’ve noticed how some folks are already opining that Liz Cheney, should she decide to run for President in 2024, would only help Trump (assuming he does actually run). What I’m noticing is almost all these voices are automatically assuming that Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee in 2024. Below is a letter than I emailed to the White House at the end of June. (And no, I did not get a reply; nor did I get an acknowledgement.) Some of the particulars have changed due to recent events, but my thoughts are almost the same now as they were in June.
Mr. President, can we talk?
Things are seriously messed up right now; so much so that perhaps it’s time to consider drastic measures to deal with drastic circumstances. So… here’s an idea that I don’t think is anywhere near as crazy as it might at first sound.
Let’s face it sir; your numbers are underwater. Granted, every President’s approval tends to go down before a mid-term election… but sir yours are lower than Trumps! That’s saying something, and every one of us who voted for you are painfully aware of the morass that DC has become. We really DID expect more progress on those things you promised. Many of them were the primary reasons you got our votes. To watch two rogue senators almost single-handedly derail both infrastructure and anything that addresses the filibuster (and everything being held hostage because of the way it’s been weaponized) has been more than painful. And despite the fact that the economy and gas prices aren’t your fault, we are dejected and discouraged every time we pump as much gas as we can afford into our automobiles. We’re willing to do our part to help Ukraine stand up for their freedom and sovereignty, and as painful as it is, we’re willing to deal with never before seen prices at the gas pump to help that happen. But to do that while, at the same time, we read how Exxon / Mobil and other oil companies are cashing in and making more profit than ever before? May I be honest sir? It feels like we’ve been had. My granddad would have said that we’ve been sold “a pig in a poke.”
Add to that all the polls that tell us how the republicans may well gain back both the House and the Senate this fall? Sir… we all know this means we’re dead in the water – or worse. Business as usual isn’t going to work. Incremental, gradual programs and policies aren’t going to help. We have a crisis, Mr. President and something BIG needs to happen; and it needs to happen right now. We don’t have a moment to waste. So, here’s an idea that might well be a way to “go big or go home.”
Sir… we need you to resign. Yes, you read that correctly. We need you to resign and make Vice President Harris the person who sits in the hot seat that is currently your chair. And Mr. President? You really do need to do it RIGHT NOW. Let’s face the fact that, even if you do run again, your age will mitigate against another term. And that assumes that all the other variables stay steady in your favor; which we all know may well stand a worse chance than a snowball in hell, sir. But if you resign now, and Ms. Harris steps up, moves fast, leads clearly and well? Maybe the coming disaster this November looks like can be averted.
Yes, we know Vice President Harris has baggage. She wasn’t the first choice for many of us. We knew you were in a bind, and the pool of available candidates was pretty shallow, given the corner you’d painted yourself into (which many of us absolutely applauded and supported), but some of the leftover baggage from San Francisco and all of California may well lead to the conclusion that she’s not the long term answer. But she’s there, in the office, and since last Friday’s debacle at the Supreme Court, she’s been vocal, visible, and she’s been saying all the right things. Perhaps she can hit the ground running, mobilize your Democratic base, and re-energize we independents that you need in such a huge way so that we don’t mourn the death of our republic this coming November 8th. If she manages that, then she’ll have two years to prove you were right to pick her as your running mate. If she leads – really leads and not just with words alone? We will follow. Just as we have been following you.
I am well aware that this might seem outrageous, naïve, perhaps even insulting. But sir? We are not in normal times; and nothing that is even remotely politics as normal will work. Perhaps such an idea isn’t as crazy as it first appears. And one final thing should be said as well; Do this, Mr. President? Do the right thing, the BIG game changer, lead by example that sets the bar astronomically higher than it’s been since 2016? Your name will go down in history as one of our greatest – Joe Biden, the President who put ambition and ego aside and did the right thing for our nation in one of our greatest times of need.
We’re behind you sir. But we’re tired and discouraged, and we need something to give us hope that our nation isn’t regressing back to something we thought we’d never see again. And we need you to lead us, give us hope, and maybe – just maybe – do something so large and striking it will never be forgotten.
Maybe it’s something to ponder. Thanks for not automatically assuming I’m crazy.
Rodger Sellers
(Long time liberal who has voted for both Democrats and Republicans, but has almost reached the point of asking why bother.)