This may sound odd, but I don’t think that Biden’s advisors (or Biden, but that probably goes without saying) were aware of what an awful politician Harris would be. She had only run for office in California, where her only competition was other leftists, and her identity (black woman) would help her. She had never really been tested in the broader arena until the debates, where she did poorly, but I think that really didn’t sink in to those making the VP choice. For a while, actually, it had been thought by the MSM and others that she would end up being the 2020 nominee and was a rising star. I think that idea hadn’t yet faded when she was chosen.

Does anyone recall why Biden picked Harris over any number of other more competent Democrat women of color? Even Donna Brazile or the alternative SCOTUS nominee to Ketanji Brown Jackson, Leondra Reid Kruger, would have been much better choices. Or was his selection based on having additional protection against the possibility of being assassinated (as we might suppose was part of Obama’s logic in selecting Joe)?

I stand by what I said two weeks ago. Sometime in mid to late fall, Biden will bow out, likely in a heavily scripted oval office address. Newsom will announce within 48 hours. Most heavy hitters in the party will fall in line behind him within a week. This will include the Clintons and the Obamas. We will then be subjected to a deluge of nauseating encomiums to Slo Joe; his restraint, his modesty, his magnanimity in declining a second term…contrasted with the evil, maniacal, power mad Orange Man. Slo Joe’s approval rating will rise into the low 50s, at least for a time. And within a month, there will be enough MSM gaslighting that many Democrats will insist Slo Joe never really planned to run again.

I’m not sure what will happen to Harris, but it’s pretty clear she doesn’t have much of a base of support, so I don’t think her future is terribly important. However, I do think Newsom will have to pledge to take woman of color as his running mate from the outset

Of course, Biden’s corruption isn’t just Biden and his family and associates. It includes the deep state, media, and tech companies. He’s the symptom of a much larger problem, one existential to the United States. And he telegraphs that in his hate towards “MAGA” etc. Because rule of law is a threat to the criminal class of elites.

If Biden runs against another Republican, Joe’s opponent will be made out to be Hitler anyway, so will Joe’s corruption matter with the votes he needs? It could lower turnout which would hurt Biden. Joe’s mental decline will be even more of an issue. Without voting by mail, the vote totals (real or fraudulent) will go down in any case, but some real voters may feel like it’s not worth it to go to the polls for Biden again.

How is Trump the best GOP candidate on COVID messaging? DeSantis did much better than Trump navigating COVID, as did several other governors and Rand Paul, for example. Trump is now lionizing Cuomo over DeSantis regarding COVID management. Trump’s COVID messaging in the campaign is awful, in my humble opinion.

I guarantee you people living in Florida were much happier DeSantis was calling the shots during the pandemic than people working in the Federal government under Trump’s stewardship.

The corruption, criminality, censorship, and rampant abuses of the Democrats will matter if the GOP does a minimally competent job of hammering them in ads, speeches and generally messaging.

The Covid abuses of the entire D party should be especially emphasized. The GOP (and Trump is very clearly the best horse to ride with this message) has a golden opportunity to attract huge numbers of new working class voters.

I don’t think it’s the scandals, I think it’s the economy and how weak Biden appears in public. Also crime. People who don’t pay attention to politics and the news (A LOT of people) still see him mumbling, falling, shuffling, confused… Memes and clips are shared for their humor. I know some young voters very upset by his false promise of student loan forgiveness and the new IRS regulations involving tip reporting.

Folks in the military or with loved ones in the military are still furious about the Afghanistan withdrawal disaster.

It’s no surprise a lot of Democrats are unhappy with Biden but that does not mean they would vote for Trump, or any other Republican.

I like the Gaetz scheme you explained. Trump certainly likes to go on offense and would almost certainly go along with the process.

It seems that if the Dems truly are dirtier than the Repubs, going on offense on every front possible (as the Dems do) would have to result in victory; whatever victory looks like in this instance.

It’s unfortunate, but if the Dems are determined to turn the Federal government into a banana republic tyranny the Repubs will need to fight fire with fire. Kurt Schlichter has been advocating this approach for years.