DEMOCRATS' WORST NIGHTMARE

[Published in Newsmax] 

Prior to President Joe Biden ending his 2024 re-election campaign, the Democrats worst nightmare was reliving their chaotic 1968 Chicago Convention.  Removing their perceived impediment for a November victory may force them to relive their chaotic 1924 New York Convention.

Biden’s departure unleashes countless questions.  Did he get bought off?  If so, by who and for how much?  Will there be a reckoning for all those in government and the media who lied about Biden’s condition?  If Biden is losing as a candidate, how cynical and anti-democratic is it to ignore the will of 14.4 million primary voters? If Biden is losing his mind, should he remain the President?

When the Democrats convene in New York on August 19, their 1968 Convention riots and chaos hangs over them. President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) dropped out of his re-election campaign after narrowly winning the New Hampshire primary against Minnesota Senate Eugene McCarthy (49%-42%).  Senator Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) announced his candidacy on March 16.  LBJ was being hammered by CBS News Anchor, Walter Cronkite, for mishandling the Vietnam War.  President Johnson understood the walls were closing in and only his departure would allow his wing of the Party to prevail.

On March 31, 1968, Johnson withdrew his candidacy.  Less than a month later, on April 27, his Vice President, Hubert Humphrey announced he was running.  After RFK’s assassination, the schism among the Democrats was irreconcilable. Tumult on the Convention floor was echoed in riots on the streets. Southern Democrats broke off to support Alabama Governor George Wallace’s Third-Party candidacy.  The internal strife among Democrats opened the door for Republican Richard Nixon to gain the Presidency.

The 1924 Democratic Convention was far worse than 1968.

When Democrats convened on June 24,1924 at Madison Square Garden in New York City they were in total disarray.

New York Governor, Al Smith, led among mainstream Democrats.  Some delegates were still loyal to failed 1920 candidate James Cox.  Unfortunately, the “progressive” and southern delegates were vehemently anti-Catholic and would do anything to stop Catholic Smith.  They rallied around former Wilson Treasury Secretary William McAdoo.  McAdoo was a true southerner, born in Georgia during the Civil War.  Rumors that McAdoo was a member of the Ku Klux Klan were bolstered by a huge Klan presence in New York.

Sensing opportunity in the three-way race, 28 other candidates entered the convention with pledged delegates.  The first ballot had McAdoo with a strong lead: 431.5 delegates to Smith’s 241.  Cox was a distant third with 59 delegates.  The other candidates were in single digits.

The Convention deadlocked.  Tempers flared.  The tumult on the Convention floor was echoed in the KKK’s mass demonstrations on behalf of McAdoo on the streets around the hall with what has become known as the “Klanbake”. 

More ballots followed with little movement.  It would take 103 ballots through July 9 before the exhausted delegates chose former West Virginia Congressman John W. Davis as their nominee.  It was the longest convention in American history. 

The Democrats couldn’t recover in time for the general election.  President Calvin Coolidge was elected with 382 electoral votes from 35 states.  Davis carried 12 states with 136 electoral votes.  Progressive Third-Party candidate, Senator Robert La Follette, carried his home state of Wisconsin with 13 electoral votes.

Democrats may be facing a similar fate if they cannot rally around Vice President Kamala Harris.

Democrats’ 2024 factions are as irreconcilable as those of 1968 and 1924.  They are only held together by their hatred of Trump. Radical leftists, under their “Progressive” banner, are already falling in line behind Harris.  Others within the Party point to horrendous polling on their policies and the terrible Biden-Harris record.  They also remember that Harris dropped out of the 2020 race in December 2019 because she polled less than one percent among Democrats.  Harris’s unprofessional image, word salads, and droves of staffers leaving her dysfunctional operation weigh against her viability.

Election variables are shifting every day, and even every hour.  What is certain is that Democrats are heading for a tumultuous time in New York City, unless they opt for anointing Harris. Democrats may pay the ultimate price in November in the way they stave-off chaos in August.