To the editor: Republican operative Scott Jennings, echoing what appears to be the current GOP talking points, argues that the Democratic Party has abandoned its support of democracy and elections by supporting Vice President Kamala Harris to replace President Biden on the 2024 ticket. He claims that doing so took the choice out of the voters’ hands and put it into the political elite.
Now, while the GOP wants to convince voters that the Democrats are just as bad as the Jan. 6 mob, it’s both disingenuous and wrong.
I’m sure Jennings and the GOP would love for a wounded Biden to remain in the race or, barring that, have the Democratic convention collapse in a last-minute scrum for the nomination. But does he really want to argue that the people who voted for Biden in the primary didn’t know they were voting for the Biden-Harris ticket?
The president has decided he is unable to continue his candidacy; doesn’t it make sense for the vice president to take over?
Steven Mirkin, Los Angeles
..
To the editor: What grumbling by Jennings, who seems genuinely upset that he did not guess correctly when he predicted the president would stay in the race.
Before I would sit down to play “Dungeons & Dragons” with Jennings, I would make sure he understood that the rolls of the dice are part of the game. Even if 90 million people wrote in Biden’s name in November, he would not be compelled to accept the presidency.
He had a choice, and he has betrayed nobody. The factors bearing on that choice were played out in public. Regular voters like me played with our pocketbooks, and donations dried up.
Not being in a position to personally evaluate Biden, I just wanted the matter settled. Of course party leaders had input — that is part of their job, to advocate for the Democratic platform on behalf of the country, not the guy.
Ruth Silveira, Los Angeles
..
To the editor: I was one of the people angry over the knives being planted in Biden’s back. But, I realized he’d been mortally wounded as a candidate, so I hoped that Harris would take his place for all of the right reasons.
She’s not perfect, but she’s 1,000% better than her lying opponents, former President Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio).
The rest of the grass-roots Biden supporters had the same attitude I did. There was no elite “fix” involved in our decisions, and I’m glad support for her ignited like wildfire.
John Hale, La Cañada Flintridge
..
To the editor: Jennings got it all wrong. The voters didn’t get a choice at the primaries. It was the “D” Biden, or another guy, an “R.” There was no choice.
He knows well enough that our system simply doesn’t allow for someone of the same party to challenge a sitting president. He knows how the money flows.
This change is the most exciting thing to happen in U.S. politics since Barack Obama’s candidacy.
Wendy Winter, Altadena
