Kamala Harris and the End of Democratic Debate

All right-minded people are now expected to 'read the room' and march in lockstep.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

It’s going to be a long few months. It’s been barely 48 hours since Joe Biden agreed, under duress, to step aside. For this, I was grateful. There had been vigorous and open debate around the future of the Democratic Party and Biden’s place in it. This was appropriate, and part of me felt pretty good about the fact that the most powerful man in the world could be pressured into doing something that a lot of people wanted him to do. It didn’t mean he was a hero. But it did mean that a groundswell of opposition could actually make a difference. And this wasn’t just a matter of Democratic elites stepping in and rigging the outcome. Two-thirds of rank-and-file Democrats wanted him to step aside, too.

It didn’t last.

The time for debate is apparently now over. Right-thinking people across the country are now expected to, once again, toe the party line, now that we know what it is. So much for an open convention — or even just a few days of discussing the best path forward. Presumably, that should have been the goal, right? To figure out who would be best equipped to beat Trump. Lest we forget, Kamala Harris is not that person. This should not be a controversial statement.