by Frank Holmes, reporter
If Joe Biden doesn’t run for a second term as president, then the Democrats will have a pretty limited bench to choose from. In fact, they may have already made their selection—and they’re going to the most extreme wing of the party.
A recent poll asked registered voters, “If Joe Biden does NOT seek the Democratic nomination for President in 2024 and the presidential primaries were being held today, for whom would you vote?” It gave them 17 candidates to choose from—and the answers were eye-opening.
Vice President Kamala Harris came in first… followed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
Harris won first place by a mile: 29 percent of voters picked her, followed by 10 percent for AOC. Everybody else scored only single digits.
Finishing behind AOC was Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (nine percent), Georgia state lawmaker Stacey Abrams (eight percent), Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker (six percent each), and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (three percent).
This poll gives us a good idea of what a post-Biden Democratic Party might look like—and you’ll have to lean way to your left to read its platform.
Kamala Harris could be the logical choice for the nomination. She’s already in power… the White House is even calling it the “Biden-Harris administration.” She’s from a big state, with lots of deep-pocketed backers in Hollywood and Silicon Valley.
But who would be her vice president?
Well, presidential nominees in both parties have a long history of tapping someone who ran in the primaries as their running-mate. Biden chose Harris; Obama chose Biden. In 2004, John Kerry picked runner-up John Edwards. Even Ronald Reagan named the second-place Republican in the primaries, George Bush, as his veep.
This poll means the likely 2024 Democratic ticket could be Kamala Harris and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
That’s bad news for the Democrats. The same poll from Echelon Insights found that more voters had a negative view of Kamala Harris than a positive view.
They weren’t exactly sold on AOC, either. She actually came in third: “Unsure” came in second, with 20 percent support. That means twice as many people would prefer to nominate a candidate they can’t even name than support the NYC leftist.
All this speculation may be useless. President Biden has said repeatedly that he plans to serve eight years in office… but sometimes people believe they see hints that the president, who will be 82 in 2025, will reconsider a hard campaign and a grueling race… especially if his poll numbers stay this bad.
When an ABC reporter asked Biden if he planned to run for reelection in 2024, the president’s answer made a lot of Democrats listen twice. “Yes. But look, I’m a great respecter of fate,” Biden told ABC News. “If I’m in good health, then in fact I would run again.”
When a man in his late ‘70s says “yes, but…” it makes people anxious—or thrilled—about replacing him.
What about the Republican side? The shape of the GOP race looks clearer.
Attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference—or CPAC—last week chose their favorite contenders. The pro-Trump gathering overwhelmingly backed former President Donald Trump, with 58 percent. Their second choice is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 28 percent. No other Republican presidential hopeful cracked 1.5 percent. Trump can’t choose DeSantis as his vice president, because they both reside in Florida, but rumors persist that Trump will dump Mike Pence in favor of someone more agreeable with his agenda. All the signs indicate that Mike Pence is considering a 2024 presidential bid himself.
Biden has said he’s eager for a second election fight against Trump. When ABC News asked him about a possible “rematch” with his predecessor, Biden said, “You’re trying to tempt me now.”
“Sure, why would I not run against Donald Trump if he were the nominee?” he asked. “That’d increase the prospect of running.”
But if he changes his mind, we have a good idea who might take his place. And for those who love the flag, the Constitution, and the Bible, it’s more than a little terrifying.
Just take a look for yourself —
Kamala with AOC’s eyes, you’re welcome pic.twitter.com/DGUpQfeVe9
— Dr. Richard Harambe (@Richard_Harambe) March 2, 2022
Frank Holmes is a veteran journalist and an outspoken conservative that talks about the news that was in his weekly article, “On The Holmes Front.”