Thoughts that Kamala Harris may pose a challenge to Donald Trump are not borne out by history.
There are striking parallels between the state of the Democratic Party in the 1968 and 2024 presidential elections. In both instances their presiding president dropped out of the race: Lyndon Johnson, because of his unpopular stance on the Vietnam War. Joe Biden because of his cognitive capacity, amongst other reasons.
In 1968, the Democrat establishment’s backing of Vice President Hubert Humphrey did not enjoy popular support because he was pledged to continue Johnson’s war policy. In 2024, support for Vice President Harris is wary because she is identified with Biden’s unpopular policies.
In 1968, Humphrey did not win any of the primaries he contested, yet the establishment nominated him as its presidential candidate. Harris did not even contest the primaries yet the Democrat elite are backing her. In both cases there was and is a disconnect between rank and file Democrats and party insiders.
As was the case in August 1968, Chicago is the venue for the Democrats’ 2024 convention starting on August 19. In 1968 sharp divisions and bitter exchanges marred the proceedings. There were delegates pledged to the late Robert Kennedy, others who identified with George McGovern and Eugene McCarthy. The Vietnam War was the dominant dividing issue between the hawks and the doves.
On the streets outside the convention the violence between anti-war demonstrators and 20,000 police, army and National Guard forces was televised into the homes of millions, thereby exacerbating the tensions wracking American society in the wake of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. Already the 2024 election campaign has seen an assassination attempt that came with millimetres of being fatal.
Although Hubert Humphrey clinched the nomination, there was little unity amongst the Democrats. Before the 2024 convention commences, Harris faces the reality that in Wisconsin, Nevada and Ohio amongst other states, Biden’s name will be on their ballots because deadlines to replace his name were missed.
Whereas Humphrey was only 200 delegates short of securing nomination, Harris has no such guarantee. Just as Humphrey was a weak contender against Richard Nixon, there is now concern amongst even Democrat insiders that Harris is a liability who will facilitate Trump’s return to the White House. Thus, an intemperate mood is likely to prevail at the Democrats’ Chicago conference.
While the Vietnam War weighed heavily on Americans in 1968, in 2024 the prospect of global conflict looms in the Far East, Middle East and Europe. A beefed up Russian naval presence in Cuba echoes the tensions of the 1962 Cuban Missile crisis. By its supine responses to the aggressions of China, North Korea, Iran and Russia, the Biden regime is not helping the cause of peace.
However, that is where the parallels with 1968 end. Both Nixon and Humphrey were unable to abandon the Vietnam War. In 2024 the difference is that Donald Trump is pledged to avoiding war and to securing prompt peace accords with belligerents.
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