He new The 2024 race has begun.
And time is of the essence.
Democrats have less than two months to address the catastrophic fallout from President Joe Biden’s astonishingly poor debate performance before the party officially names its nominee at its summer convention.
The consensus among political pundits appears to be that Democrats must choose between two courses of corrective action.
Option one: Keep Biden on the ticket and, at a minimum, replace Vice President Kamala Harris as his running mate.
Biden’s disastrous appearance last week raised dramatic concerns, especially among undecided independent voters, that if re-elected, he might not be able to serve another four years in office. And a large majority of Americans are uncomfortable with Harris being one step away from the Resolute table.
She routinely appears in polls as the most unpopular vice president in history.
If Biden remains the nominee and Democrats hope to have a chance, Harris cannot remain on the ticket.
Democrats have less than two months to address the catastrophic consequences of President Joe Biden’s astonishingly weak debate performance.
Biden’s disastrous showing last week raised dramatic concerns, most notably among undecided independent voters, that if re-elected, he might not be able to serve another four years in office.
Option two, of course: replace Joe.
But this scenario raises the question: with whom?
Here I must present what I believe to be the consensus opinion of the investment community.
It would be a complete disaster for the party to launch California Governor Gavin Newsom as the Democratic standard-bearer.
His far-left fantasies have turned the Golden State into a Venezuela-style garbage dump.
Under Newsom, San Francisco has become a war zone and Los Angeles a wasteland.
Rampant crime, violence and uncontrolled drug use on the streets have driven out residents and business owners en masse.
California has the highest per capita homeless population in the country.
It also has one of the highest unemployment rates and has been losing tech jobs that were once a key source of growth.
Newsom’s disastrous $20-an-hour minimum wage law for fast-food restaurants (passed earlier this year) caused decades-old businesses to become unprofitable overnight.
It is reported that 10,000 people in California’s fast food industry have lost their jobs in just a few months.
If Biden remains the nominee and Democrats hope to have a chance, Kamala Harris will not be able to remain on the ticket. In polls, she routinely ranks as the most unpopular vice president in history.
It would be a complete disaster for the party to launch California Governor Gavin Newsom as the Democratic standard-bearer.
The Governor has also done very little to address housing unaffordability in his state, where the median home sales price has surpassed the staggering $900,000 benchmark for the first time.
No wonder Newsom’s $24 billion plan to address the homelessness crisis has failed miserably, with even workers forced to flee because they simply can’t pay rent.
It’s bad enough that Biden has ridiculously advocated raising corporate and individual tax rates to “solve” the problem of America’s ballooning $34 trillion national debt. (As I’ve explained before, taxing growth will only scare away much-needed investment.)
But imagine if Newsom was in charge.
California’s budget deficit is now $45 billion, but the state has some of the highest taxes in the country.
Want to know what happens when politicians convince themselves that they can pay their way through taxes?
Look no further than Canada.
Last week, the government of progressive Prime Minister Justin Trudeau imposed a suicidal increase in the capital gains tax: a levy on profits made from the sale of investments such as stocks.
As a result, investors (myself included) took their money and ran.
Capital has no ideology, no cause, no nationality. It goes where it is most welcome. And it leaves Canada.
These tax increases hurt all Canadians, because less investment means fewer jobs, less innovation and a smaller overall tax base.
The government of progressive Prime Minister Justin Trudeau imposed a suicidal increase in the capital gains tax last week.
This damage will be felt for decades.
This could happen here in the United States if an ideologue and proven failure like Gavin Newsom ends up in the White House.
Ours is an entrepreneurial economy. We reward those who take risks to build successful businesses and create hundreds, thousands, or even millions of jobs.
We cannot allow America to become a place that punishes entrepreneurs for their successes.
If Democrats really want to win a national election, they need to listen.
Business leaders are among the most open voters. My friends and colleagues are Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike.
Job creation and a strong, stable economy is a bipartisan goal.
If Democrats lose sight of that, it doesn’t matter who they choose as their candidate: They will lose the business community.