(ThyBlackMan.com) In an article in January 2020, I wrote that former Vice President Joe Biden would win the Democratic nomination for president. That he would select then US Senator Kamala Harris as his Vice President running mate and that the ticket would beat the soon to be departing occupant of the White House like a drum. All of this has happened.
However, what made all of that so remarkable was that when it was written most political pundits and talking heads had written Joe Biden’s political obituary. Senator Harris had been laid to rest having dropped out of the nominating process before the first primary.
In the article it was predicted that the US and other nations would experience a severe economic downturn. Such did occur not from hostilities but the pandemic. Like the overwhelming majority of people on the planet when the article was written we knew nothing of the coming coronavirus pandemic.
A pandemic which would inflict countless pain and suffering across the US and the world. There were people, some at the highest level of the US government, who were aware of the coronavirus and decided to do nothing. Their actions were unconscionable and criminal.
On the sports scene, It was accurately predicted that Duke, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Kansas, Oregon, Georgetown, and Villanova would not be any of the final four elite teams in the NCAA Final Four. None of those teams made it to the Final Four (ok, there was no Final Four that year again due to the pandemic).
Recently, I was asked my thoughts about Vice President Kamala Harris. If I believed that she was presidential material. In 2020, I voted for Kamala Harris. Do I believe she is presidential material? Yes. Do I believe she will be elected president? No.
The qualifications to be President of the US are spelled out in the US Constitution. They are that a person has to have been a natural born citizen of the US; 35 years of age or older and must have been a resident of the US for 14 years. Vice President Harris meets all three of those qualifications. There are no other qualifications.
There are millions of others in the US who also meet the basic qualifications to be president. As many clearly saw from 2016 to 2020, beyond the basic US Constitution requirements any fool who was breathing could be president.
Prior to 2016 in addition to the Constitutional requirements a person who served as president was expected to act presidential. Not everyone prior to 2016 who held the title has always acted presidential. However, none played the role of village idiot or court fool.
There is a widely held misconception that a president, a governor of a state or a mayor of a city must be a great leader with almost if not superhero leadership powers and skills. That with their superhero powers and outstanding leadership skills they are able to do things that others in their positions are unable to do. If only that was true.
Former President Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, was probably one of the most focussed individuals to run the White House and the nation. He was extremely detailed and a very hands on manager.
Unfortunately, because a president does not have superpowers and is unable to wave a magic wand, his presidency due to circumstances clearly beyond his control resulted in him serving only one term. His presidency is viewed unfavorably and as a failure.
Hopefully, future historians will present him and his presidency in a more favorable light if for no other reason than he was a truly decent man. He had morals, values, principles, and integrity. He had the wellbeing of the American at heart. That can no longer be said of everyone who has occupied the Oval Office.
There are those who believe that a president has total control over the sun, moon and national economy. If it snows and the snow is not plowed in front of their home the first thing, they will do is blame the president. If the local manufacturing plant shuts down, let’s blame the president despite the fact the company sought green pleasure in the neighboring state or another country.
A president inherits an economy and despite his or her wishes they have about as much power as your next-door neighbor does if there is going to be a booming economy or a dud. However, if you believe differently, I have four bridges in very good condition to sell.
The president also inherits the federal bureaucracy. Despite what people might want to believe the reality is that the federal bureaucracy runs itself regardless of who is sitting in the White House.
That bureaucracy like those found at the state level and local governments level are made up of individuals who view themselves as neither Democrats nor Republicans. They have a job and most of them take their job seriously.
The president, the cabinet, the governor and his or her commissioners, the mayor and his or her department heads could all go missing. The functions of the federal, state and local government would not miss a single beat.
In that same vein, the view held by many that a president has the power to single handedly impact the US economy which is tied to the world economy is naïve and a total misunderstanding of government and economics in the world economy in 2023.
The reality is that in many ways a president, governor, mayor, even a corporate CEO are oftentimes the last to know. They are shielded from truth, justice, and the American way by overzealous and protective aides, supplants and sycophants. At the same time, there have been some presidents and governors more than willing to let others handle the “dirty works” while they enjoyed themselves on the golf course or bedrooms of the White House and governor’s mansion.
That is not to suggest a president, governor and mayor are powerless in their positions. They have power. They have the power to appoint their most immediate aides, cabinet, and department heads. Those individuals get to guide the various departments of the government.
At the same time, presidents and governors oftentimes are not on a first names basis with everyone they appoint to various positions. Many of the individuals considered for appointment come from recommendations of other elected and party officials. Some are donors or have been recommended by donors. Others come from the business community and still others come from trade associations, other organizations, and nonprofits. Nonetheless, they become the public face of his or her administration.
Although as pointed out earlier it is the bureaucrats, many with ten, 20 or 30 plus years of public service, who actually run the government. Right wing commentators, pundits and other talking heads refer to these individuals as being part of the “deep state.” A mystical, clandestine, very powerful political cartel with a satanic, leftist agenda.
But that is the furthest thing from the truth. It exists like so many other conspiracy theories only in their perverted minds. The men and women who serve in the federal, state, and local bureaucracies are career public servants who are dedicated to doing the very best they can for their clients, which is the public.
Which brings us to Vice President Kamala Harris. Due to her many years in government as the California State Attorney General in California, US Senator and now as the current Vice President, I am quite certain that she should not have any problem filling her immediate staff, cabinet and other departmental higher ups with quality people. If nothing else she could fill many of the positions in her administration with people who served in President Biden’s administration or the earlier administration of President Obama. It would be no different than presidents before her.
Unfortunately for Vice President Kamala Harris, if the current divisive, toxic and polarized political climate remains as it is, when she runs for president, she will not win. From the outset as soon as it became apparent that Joe Biden would win the White House and then US Senator Kamala Harris would be the first Black and woman Vice President, right wing media and propaganda outlets as well as Chuck, Jethro, Billy Boy and other numbnuts went into overdrive trying to pick fault and discredit her. If she walked on water, they would be on megaphones and social media sites proclaiming that she could not swim. From recent polling data, it seems they may have been successful in having some Independents and Democrats viewing her unfavorably.
There is another more fundamental reason why Vice President Harris will not be president. It is because despite how the country tries to promote how advanced and progressive it is, the US is not ready for a woman president, especially a woman of color.
As Hillary Clinton learned and Nikki Halley, probably by far the most qualified and knowledgeable of the Republicans running for her party’s nomination, will learn if she has not already, the US is more like Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran then Liberia, India, Israel, Great Britain, Iceland, Canada, Germany and countless other countries which at some time have had a female head of state.
When Clinton ran for president in 2016, there were a significant number of Independent and Democratic male voters who did not vote for her. But the real story which is seldom mentioned is the large number of Independent and most important Democratic women who refused to vote for Clinton. They did not vote for her opponent. Nor did they vote for her. Vice President Kamala Harris can expect the same.
Vice President Harris can also expect a sizable number of Black Democratic voters not to vote for her. The reasons will be numerous, petty, idiotic, and asinine.
Similar to when then Senator Barack Obama ran for president in 2008, some Blacks will declare that she is not Black enough, not African American enough and other nonsensical and nonconsequential reasons to support her. Some of these nonsensical and nonconsequential reasons will be courtesy of Ivan, Anya, Igor and other Russian trolls as well as Republican party operatives pretending to be Black posting misinformation and disinformation on Black websites. They were successful in 2016. They will be back again in 2024.
Vice President Harris can also expect a large number of House Negroes jumping on the hay wagons of the non-Black candidates similar to how so many “Black” elected officials and leaders did when they jumped on Massa Clinton’s hay wagon when then Senator Obama was running in 2008.
So yes, Vice President Kamala Harris is more than qualified to be president. But no she will not be president.
In 2020, when I wrote the predictions article, I also predicted that the Los Angeles Dodgers would win the World Series that year. The Dodgers did go on to win the World Series. They will once again win the World Series in 2023.
Staff Writer; Al Alatunji
Question? Comment? Regarding the above article. Feel free to send a message to this address: Alatunji@ThyBlackMan.com.