On Friday, I said today’s link would be commentary on Donald Trump’s RNC speech, “provided some other seismic event doesn’t occur.” Well, it occurred. Joe Biden released a statement yesterday afternoon announcing he was dropping out of the presidential race. About thirty minutes later, he endorsed Kamala Harris.
It was hard to decide whether today’s day’s link should focus on Biden’s choice to leave or his choice of endorsement. It feels as if we can come back to Biden’s choice to withdraw later, though, while the Harris train is moving fast. For example, just yesterday — not even twenty-four hours ago — Biden’s endorsement and Harris’ subsequent statement announcing her candidacy immediately rallied many high-profile Democrats to her side; names of potential running mates were bandied about just as quickly; and the Trump campaign released an online ad attacking the vice president. All this and, until an hour ago, Harris hadn’t even spoken publicly.
So the race has changed. How much it’s changed does remain to be seen. All opinions at this point are speculation — there’s no way around it — but there’s informed speculation and then there’s wishful thinking. Today’s piece is very much the former. I hope you enjoy it.