In a Fox News opinion column from Monday, former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) outlined five reasons why President Joe Biden is not running again, and he's certainly not the first one to bring up the idea. He began his piece by using the president's own words. "I hibernated in a while – all, you know, in Iowa for a while," Biden bizarrely said while at the Grand Canyon earlier this month. "It’s not clear what he meant by that, but hibernating is an apt descriptor of the Biden 2024 re-election campaign," Chaffetz offered. But, as he makes clear in the third reason, it's not Vice President Kamala Harris who is going to succeed him.
As Chaffetz writes:
Where Is Kamala? – Though she has visited Florida and picked fights with GOP presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis, Kamala Harris has been largely invisible through the first three years of the Biden presidency. Unless she makes a gaffe, she seldom makes news. There is talk of deploying her to help with very specific demographic groups during the campaign, but as of now, we haven’t seen much of her on the trail.
Her portfolio is minimal. She is nowhere for solving the immigration and human trafficking crisis. She is also supposedly tackling AI. We are not yet sure she can spell "AI" or lead the critical thinking to put necessary guard rails on this emerging technology.
There is much to say about this vice president. Chaffetz lays out some of it, including how she's prone to gaffes. This is especially but not limited to that cackle of hers. Further, she's the least popular vice president since NBC News began polling on vice presidents, though she delusionally claims there are supposedly polls indicating otherwise.
The same day that Chaffetz's column was published, the Biden campaign emailed out a press release looking to promote Harris via a profile from POLITICO. Both pieces were featured in the RealClearPolitics (RCP) morning edition.
On Mon., the Biden campaign sent out a press release trying to promote VP Harris via a profile in POLITICO. The same day, @jasoninthehouse’s op-ed pointing to reasons neither Biden nor Harris are running was published by. Both were in @RealClearNews’ AM edition that day. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/aKOXscFPJN
— Rebecca Downs (@RebeccaRoseGold) August 23, 2023
The press release includes most, but not all, of the POLITICO profile. That's likely because the piece, "‘I can’t get into people’s heads': Kamala Harris tries to reshape her public image ahead of 2024," is about how her image is a negative one. "In a POLITICO interview, the vice president addressed how she views the growing scrutiny she’s under as Republicans use her as a 'bogeyman' in 2024," reads the subheadline.
Here's a key early portion that's left out of the press release:
All eyes are on her. But that’s been true of Harris for a while now. And the view has not often been kind.
Her tenure as Joe Biden’s No. 2 has not been known for relaxed and warm moments like those in Chicago. Instead, Harris’ term has largely been marked by stilted performances at public events, at odds with the uninhibited interrogator she was known as in the Senate. They’ve fueled whispers about whether she’ll be a drag on the reelection ticket as the 2024 race heats up.
Now her political future, and quite possibly the success of the Democratic ticket in 2024, hinges on a simple question: Is it possible for Kamala Harris to make a second impression?
The press release still contains the very next paragraph, which means for readers who to just look to the Biden campaign's version of the piece, they wouldn't know what that question is:
For Harris, it’s a question that fundamentally misunderstands the point. In her mind, she’s the same person she was when the prevailing narrative of her was that of a star prosecutor, ascendant political talent and even the future of the Democratic Party.
There's more key parts that are left out, which make it sound like a different piece than the one the Biden campaign wants you to think it is:
But privately, former and current aides acknowledge that her focus at the beginning was on making sure it was clear she was on Team Biden. She spoke in legalese, often seemed cautious and struggled to find issues that highlighted her talents, allies say. They privately, and sometimes publicly, admit the first year and a half was rocky.
Now, there’s a hope the rockiness may finally be behind them. And there is a concerted effort underway to ensure that she not only has the support she needs from the White House but that the broader public can see the side of her that — they believe — has been overshadowed by the toxic elements of D.C. To that end, her aides are trying to remind the public of that person, in part by inviting reporters to witness her behind the scenes.
...
And now, Harris world feels like there’s a chance to continue resetting her public image heading into 2024.
...
An image reset is far from certain. Harris’ poll numbers are still underwater, hovering just under Biden’s own low figures. Some Democratic insiders continue to question her place on the ticket, too — always anonymously. And Republicans are not hiding how they plan to elevate her as the campaign gears up. Nikki Haley even crossed out the words “Beat Biden” in the RNC’s loyalty pledge recently, writing in “President Kamala Harris” as the real opponent.
"I’m not going to be distracted from my priority around maternal health. I’m not going to be distracted [from] my long-standing commitment to support small businesses knowing that so many, especially minorities and women, don’t have access to capital," Harris is quoted as saying in the piece, which is included in the press release.
These are the issues that Harris wants to focus on. Notice how there's no mention there of how she was tasked with handling the crisis at the southern border, way back in March 2021. Perhaps it's because, as Chaffetz aptly mentions, Harris "is nowhere for solving the immigration and human trafficking crisis." That's definitely hurting the administration, though it's just one of many reasons why this administration is in trouble. RCP has Biden's approval rating on immigration at just 34.6 percent, while 59 percent disapprove.
But the lack of visibility of his supposed running mate is just one reason Biden isn't running, according to Chaffetz.
The other reasons Chaffetz mention have to do with a "skeleton crew," referring to a lack of staffers; "strategic travel" as the president vacations in his home state of Delaware and bright red Utah, rather than visiting battleground states; "Fiddling While Maui Burns;" and "Hibernating over Hunter."
When it comes to who else might be the nominee, Chaffetz doesn't speculate. But, there's just as much chatter about the possibility of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) running in 2024, even as he swears that's not his intention. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) is meanwhile calling for the president to face a primary challenger, perhaps a Midwestern governor. He may even jump into the race himself. Time will tell.
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