“On the Holmes Front,” with Frank Holmes
It seems Kamala Harris would do anything — and we mean anything — to be president. But it looks like her lifelong ambitions will soon be dashed by an 80-year-old white socialist.
Democrats may just feel the Bern again in 2024.
Insiders have let it leak that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is keeping his options open for a third run for president, two years from now.
The revelation comes from a secret memo that Sanders’ campaign sent to candidates he’s endorsing in the midterms, telling them how to deal with the controversy of being associated with the Brooklyn-born left-winger.
“In the event of an open 2024 Democratic presidential primary, Sen. Sanders has not ruled out another run for president, so we advise that you answer any questions about 2024 with that in mind,” says the memo.
In other words, don’t say he’s not running…because he just might hit the campaign trail again next year.
The memo isn’t political guesswork: It was written by Sanders’ 2020 campaign manager and current advisor, a political operative named Faiz Shakir.
This comes as news, because in 2020 Sanders has said he thought the odds looked “very, very slim” that he’d ever run for president again. “I think next time around you’re going to see another candidate carrying the progressive banner,” he added. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez auditioned for that role during the 2020 primaries, spending as much time in her stump speeches talking about herself as she did about Sanders.
But it looks like Sanders looked at his likely Democratic primary challengers and reconsidered his retirement.
Sanders’ campaign said all this depends on Joe Biden, who recently told Barack Obama that he plans to run for re-election in 2024…but a lot could happen to an aging, unpopular president between now and then.
If Biden drops out, LBJ-style, Vice President Kamala Harris would bolt into the front-runner position by default… but it would be hard for her to stay there. The Biden administration polls poorly — and Harris is less popular than the president.
Voters hate almost everything the president has done over the last two years… and her fingerprints are all over it. She insisted the presidency be called the “Biden-Harris administration.” She’s the point person for the border crisis and a bunch of other fronts where nothing is going right.
She’s seen a dozen employees quit, with Harris’ chief of staff, Tiny Flournoy, announcing this week that she’s quitting, too. Former employees have said Harris is a “bully” whose management style is “soul-destroying.”
And every time Harris speaks, her polls slip further.
Meanwhile, Sanders remains incredibly popular with Democrats. He came in second in the 2016 primaries and almost certainly would have won the 2020 race against Biden, if party brass hadn’t orchestrated every other candidate dropping out and endorsing Biden.
“Senator Sanders is the most popular officeholder in the country,” said Sanders’ spokesman, Mike Casca. He might be exaggerating a little, but Democrats love the democratic socialist. “Sen. Sanders is putting forward an extremely popular vision for the Democratic Party that will win back critical support that we have lost. In fact, Bernie wants to build power for the working class and take on the corporate socialism that our political system currently favors,” the memo says.
Right now, Sanders doesn’t seem to have taken any concrete steps to run for the highest office in the country. And there are problems. Sanders is actually a year older than Biden: He’d be 83 years old in November 2024.
Biden may decide to follow through and run for a second term… where he’ll keep pushing Bernie’s agenda, and vice-versa.
“Sen. Sanders is focused on helping Joe Biden have a successful presidency,” the memo insists.
“As Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, no one fought harder for the president’s policy agenda than Bernie,” Shakir points out. “He traveled to Republican Congressional Districts last summer to promote Build Back Better.”
But Sanders isn’t happy with Biden; neither are his followers—and they are itching for a chance to take down Kamala Harris.
“If Biden does retire, and Sanders throws his hat in the ring to challenge Kamala, expect the admitted socialist to be loaded for bear because he’s got a lot of grievances to air with his party,” according to the conservative blog RedState.com. “Also, his supporters are some of the most rabidly faithful and vindictive people you will ever come across, so they will support him every step of the way.”
“Kamala likely would try and paint herself as the “sane” alternative to Sanders,” just like Biden did in 2020…but she’s got a track record of promoting trillion-dollar spending, open borders, and every radical bill that comes along.
“Assuming Harris could make it past Sanders and the other potential contenders after all the infighting, that will leave her politically bruised,” the website adds, “with the hurt feelings on the Sanders side potentially further complicating her already uphill battle to ascend to the Oval Office throne.”
But could she even win in the first place? We may find out next winter.
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.”