Everything Else

Overall I thought the Democrats did a pretty good job of getting their act together on short notice. Now they'll have just a couple months to cope with the fact that Trump has been campaigning ever since he lost to Biden.

Of the last night's presentations the gun violence segment was moving and effective.

A lot of New Mexicans may be disappointed with a muddled opportunity for the country to hear about Interior Secretary Deb Haaland's time in the Biden administration.  As was the case with Governor Lujan Grisham, Haaland was given a cheerleader role to fulfill which seemed to make her uncomfortable. Perhaps she will have a place in a Harris administration, or maybe she'll just go back home and run for Governor of New Mexico.

A bigger disappointment was the treatment of the concerns of the Uncommitted. It was not unexpected in a way because Biden is still the President, and Harris is still a part of that Administration; she is not in a position to break with the Biden policy right now.  However, Harris as the Party's nominee is ultimately in charge of what happens in the Convention.  So, the conclusion is inescapable that she backed the decision to deny any kind of on-stage presence of a Palestinian-American to make a case for the people of Gaza.

Also, I'm curious about what others thought of the Gretchen Whitmer presentation. My immediate reaction was that it was a bit too slick, and without much substance for someone who is politically ambitious.  She has shown some courage and skill as Governor.  Probably not a good idea to judge her prospects by one speech.

 My expectation for the Democratic Party Convention is that there will be a lot of balloons and confetti.  Beyond that, I'll be surprised if there are any really new policy initiatives.  Harris will mostly be careful not to step on any toes, the foremost of those being the American Israel Public Affairs Committee(AIPAC) which has already deployed millions of dollars against progressive Democrats supporting Palestinians facing Israel's genocidal war in Gaza. At the same time Kamala will need to signal some willingness to push for a ceasefire as soon as possible. A lot will depend on the numbers of pro-Palestinian delegates and demonstrators who show up and how the protestors are handled by the Convention's security and Chicago police forces.

Joe Biden could have taken action to avoid Harris' dilemma over Gaza by demanding an immediate ceasefire.  He did not do that and it is unlikely that he will make that part of his convention message, or even that he will push effectivly on Israel for a movement toward peace during his remaining months in office.

The pro-Palestinian demonstrators, of course, have their own dilemma to confront as Trump's pro-Israeli record has been even more radical in some ways than Biden's decades-long unconditional support of Israel and the resultant disaster.

 Biden's second round of Covid suggests the possibility for an early, graceful exit from the Presidency.  Once the mid-terms are over he could just announce that his health adds too much uncertainty to his continuation in office.  That opens the way to an orderly Constitutional transition to the Vice-President's ascension to power. Kamala Harris would then have the chance to show what her real capabilities are to govern.  Even if she does pretty well over the following two years there would likely be some stiff competition in the primaries for 2024, but there seems no more danger in that for Democrats than if Joe were going for a second term.