A recent article in the NY Times by famed author, columnist and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman, suggests that President Joe Biden should replace VP Kamala Harris with Republican Representative Liz Cheney as his running mate in 2024. Friedman’s logic centers around expanding the appeal of Joe Biden with white conservatives and dividing the republican vote between Trump and Cheney, which would favor Biden.
As rational as this logic may sound, it’s a really really bad idea. The notion that replacing Harris with Cheney will help Biden’s sinking popularity is naïve. Further, replacing a black female running mate with a white one is unlikely to be well received by black and brown voters, who represent a crucial and safe voting bloc for democrats.
However, the genesis behind Friedman’s thinking is sound. A 2024 Biden/Harris ticket is not a promising one for democrats. The aging and frail president and his unpopular VP have not dealt effectively with the COVID pandemic, inflation, rising crime, border security and foreign affairs. In fact, many political observers rightly believe that Biden only made it to the White House because most voters were alarmed with the prospect of a Trump reelection. Biden, who will be 82 in 2024, is unlikely to be reelected. Given his age, frailty and increasing unpopularity, it’s unlikely he has the ability to run and campaign again in the first place.
Manchin/Sinema
A better and more realistic alternative for democrats in 2024 is a political ticket of Senators Joe Manchin (74 yrs.) and Krysten Sinema (45 yrs.). Both firebrand senators would better appeal to traditional democrats, blue collar workers, independents and many conservatives. Their opposition to both Biden’s policies and Trump’s political aspirations would also appeal to a wide swath of disillusioned voters who feel they have to chose between the best of two evils. While Senator Joe Manchin is up their in age, he is younger, more vigorous and better spoken than both Biden and Trump. Senator Sinema could appeal to the younger voting crowd and white suburban mothers, a crucial swing vote.
While both senators are not very popular with progressive democrats because of their opposition to Biden’s Build Back Better Plan and the elimination of the senate filibuster to help pass a voting rights bill, it’s unlikely that progressives would punish this behavior by voting for republicans in 2024.
The combination of a frail president, an unpopular vice president and a questionable political bench among progressive democrats may open the door a Trump comeback in 2024. A Manchin/Sienma ticket could help thwart that prospect.