Democrats
Leading Democrats wanted President Joe Biden replaced as the party’s 2024 presidential candidate, believing his vulnerability is age-related. The situation is similar to the Democrats’ 1920 convention when President Woodrow Wilson wanted the nomination discounting his stroke-related impairments and low popularity. Instead, the convention selected then-Ohio Gov. James M. Cox who lost the election by a major landslide to Republican Sen. Warren G. Harding. Harding died roughly two years into his term.
Certain state governors have been identified as Biden replacements. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s California record is dismal and forbids a national disaster swamping the debris of Biden’s far-left-wing progressive policies. Pennsylvania and Michigan governors are mentioned but neither have national recognition. Either would stumble to former President Donald Trump’s MAGA-themed campaign as happened during the 1920 election when Cox stumbled to Harding’s “America first”-themed campaign. Vice President Kamala Harris is another possibility. However, her executive skills and accomplishments fall far short of Oval Office requirements.
History has a strange way of repeating itself. The 1920 experienced should alert Democrats not to wait until their convention to identify a candidate.
Herb Kline, Virginia Beach
Greatness?
Given MAGA, when was the last time America was “great”?
With slavery being legal from 1619 to 1865, only a fanatical lost causer would put “when” in that period. Because women did not get the vote until 1920, you’d have to be a patriarchal fundamentalist Christian or Muslim to look for “when” before 1920. Only dedicated party poopers should snoop for “great” during prohibition — 1920 to 1933. Apparently, “the last time” could not have been from 1619 to 1933.
Obviously, America could not have been great under a Democratic president. That knocks out 1933-53, 1961-69, 1977-81, 1993-2001, 2009-17 and 2021 to today. That leaves 35 years out of our entire history to cram “great” into.
Congress also has to contribute to “great.” “Good” might come from holding either the House or Senate, but for “great,” the Republicans should control both. Since 1933, that’s 1947-49, 1953-55, 1995-2001, 2003-07 and 2015-19. That’s 23 years, and out of those the only overlap with a Republican president was 1953-55, 2003-07 and 2017-19.
So, it looks like “when” was 1953-55, 2003-07 and 2017-2019. That should make teaching American history a breeze. Our “great,” all-Republican America only lasted less than a dozen years.
Kevin L. La Croix, Virginia Beach
Trump
Re “The left’s outrage shows Project 2025 hits the mark” (Other Views, July 12): The column is an attempt to disguise the radical and dangerous program Project 2025 as good old conservative Republicanism. It is not. It is an effort by the reactionary Heritage Foundation through the election of former President Donald Trump to institute the following.
- Elimination of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration because it is “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm.”
- Downsizing the Environmental Protection Agency and repealing regulations that curb emissions.
- Withdraw from the Paris Accord.
- The enforcement of the Comstock Act (1873), which prohibits any abortion pill or device from being mailed. Enforcement involves criminal penalties.
- Defunding public radio because it is “good policy and good politics.”
- The Justice Department will become an arm of the executive branch losing its independence and then can be used for revenge.
- Instill precepts of Christian nationalism, which recognizes America as a Christian nation.
- Abolish the Department of Education and encourage vouchers for private and religious schools, which would destroy the public school system.
- Eliminate many civil servants and replace them with political appointees who are loyal to the president.
This is a sample of what is contained in Project 2025. I urge everyone to get more information before considering voting for former President Donald Trump.
Stuart Gordon, Virginia Beach
