The coming Democrat civil war

The Democratic Party is united by their loathing of Donald Trump.  But beneath that shared loathing the various Democratic factions are at war.  Labor vs. radical environmentalists, pro-transgender vs. no transgenders, support for Israel vs. pro-Hamas, and center-left vs. hardcore socialists are starting to face off.

Perhaps the most visible battle may be between Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom for the party's nomination if Biden doesn't run next year.

Biden chose Harris as his VP because he promised to name a black female, for obvious reasons.  In many ways the pick made sense, because Harris offset biden's obvious weaknesses as an old white male.  Cynics claimed biden chose her for "impeachment insurance," but having a black female as VP checked important identity boxes for Dem voters, just as Obama did.  

But from the outset Harris has been a disaster. Something about her isn’t quite right.  Her speeches are mediocre, her cackle and bizarre ad-libs remind voters of Hillary Clinton--and not in a good way.  

After biden gave Harris the title of "immigration czar" two years ago--her sole real policy responsibility--she's done nothing at all with it.

But what must rankle Harris the most is that with polls showing biden trailing in key battleground states— despite Trump’s myriad problems--she surely thinks that as a double-minority VP she's the hands-down choice to replace biden as the Dem nominee.  Yet for some reason there's almost no support.

While biden is an abysmal 14 points negative on the RealClearPolitics approval rating, Harris is worse at minus 17.6 —even worse than Trump (negative 16.6).
In YouGov polling biden's approval is underwater by 10 points, but Harris is worse at negative 13 points.  The real shock is that while just 31% of independents say they approve biden, just 26% say they approve of Harris.

Enter Gavin Newsom.

Last year, as people began to see video of more of biden's mental lapses, several Democrats began cautiously testing the water for a possible run in case biden didn't.  And the Media adored Newsom--never said a harsh word about him.

Newsom's media appearances are constant.  A trip to China to meet Xi Jinping clearly seems to have been made to show his foreign policy prowess.  His Democrat-ruled legislature has passed one socialist policy initiative after another, all of which Newsom has enthusiastically signed.  At the end of this month he'll debate Ron DeSantis in an event designed to promote both.

All this has to leave Harris fuming, since while Newsom grandstands, she's stuck in Washington, unable to do anything without the approval of the White House.

Harris must be thinking "It's just not fair!  How can my party not pick me as their nominee?  I check so many identity boxes!"  Even more galling is that Newsom’s polling isn’t that great. The recent Fox News poll has Harris and Newsom performing about the same against Trump.

In an August YouGov benchmark, Newsom’s approval is negative 13 points while Harris is just negative 12 points. Harris was net positive with Hispanic voters while Newsom was net negative. Harris polled significantly better with Black voters.

Yet it appears that the Media and the party prefer a straight white male--the son of a prominent San Francisco family--who's been getting a free ride from the fawning Democrat-run media.  Given how loudly the Dems bragged about having a black female VP in 2020, rejecting her for the top spot next year seems a glaring reversal.

The big problem for the Dems is how to get Harris to voluntarily step aside instead of fighting for the nomination.  Obviously if Harris competes for the nomination and doesn't win it, that would be a humiliating rejection, particularly for the first woman and first minority VP--and particularly when either voters or the Party nominate a white male.

If the Democrat elites throw Harris under the bus, lots of female and black voters will be outraged.  Can the Democrat elites count on them swallowing the insult and still turning out to vote because they hate Trump, or will many be so angry they won't vote?

So the best strategy for the Dems is to somehow convince Harris to voluntarily not compete for the nomination, perhaps citing a better offer.  At least if she goes with the latter excuse, we know the Media won't press her for details.

Adapted from a piece by Keith Naughton.  Click here to read his original.

https://themessenger.com/opinion/kamala-harris-gavin-newsom-democratic-civil-war-california-ambition-president