So, this afternoon, after weeks of speculation and agitation from the chattering pundit class, Joe Biden has given up his bid for re-election and endorsed Vice President Harris. It’s surprising, but given the last couple of weeks’ activity in the op-ed pages and commentary spaces, it’s not a surprise. The party elite, for what it’s worth, decided that a change was in order, and it kind of feels like Joe was done a little dirty. Sure, in the end, it was his decision to make, but over the last couple of weeks since the debate (which, honestly, wasn’t good), he was kind of backed in to making it. I’m not saying it was the wrong choice, but the circumstances leading up to it could have much better optics.

Biden’s Presidency has been one of the most significant, transformational, effective, and progressive of my lifetime, and history will look back on it kindly. He and his team achieved a hell of a lot, against significant pressures and severely divided government. Tons and tons of stuff, more than I can probably list at the moment, though this graphic does a pretty good job of listing things, and it’s not exactly exhaustive (click to make it bigger):

The fact that such an effective holder of the office and lifelong public servant has been consistently (though narrowly) trailing against a self-centered, arrogant, twice-impeached, thirty-four times convicted felon is inconceivable to me. The fact that someone with TFG’s record is considered a viable candidate for election at all says a lot about this country, none of it good.

So, what comes next? Who knows, though if the party is smart, they’ll line up behind VP Harris immediately (which looks like it’s starting to happen), and kick off the abbreviated campaign in earnest by having her both thank President Biden, claim credit for the tremendous accomplishments of their time in office, and come out low-key swinging, making full use of her skills as a prosecutor, attorney general, and regular slayer of senate committee witnesses. Do this right, and it’ll be awesome. For an example of how such a campaign might look, Jonathan V. Last over at The Bulwark posted this piece earlier this week describing an excellent way forward.

My primary vote in 2020 went to Senator Warren, though honestly, Harris was my number two pick. I was, and remain a fan. And not just because of the historical nature of her candidacy, which I only semi-sarcastically refer to her very good chance of being the first…Gen X* president ;-).

So, thank you President Biden, for being way more effective than you had any right being; as I said, you’ll go down as one of the greats. And, going forward, I’m going to go all in for Kamala.

As Deadpool and Wolverine have been saying since the spring, Let’s F**king Go!

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* – Yeah, I said it. I’m not going to sweat a year of this Generation Jones quasi-boomer crap. She’s got the proper Gen X attitude.