In The Shadow Of Mt Hollywood

Over the weekend there was an uptick in calls from various quarters for Joe Biden to step down from his intent to run for reelection next year, but I think the attempts by B-listers like Steven Hayward to see reason for optimism are just wishful thinking. I still say Biden won’t be the Democratic nominee next year. And I think there’s a 50/50 chance that if Biden doesn’t drop out of his own volition, Gavin Newsom will decide some time this fall to jump in the race, with a “more in sorrow than anger” announcement that praises Biden for his good deeds, but that it’s time for a generational shift. Don’t think Newsom and his advisers aren’t weighing this possibility. The big factor that Hayward and the others who think this way are leaving out is that Biden is basically the last Democrat who can remotely claim to lead a fusion party that unites what's left of the New Deal coalition -- which, recall, once comprised labor, Catholics, immigrants, Jews and other ethnics, Souther...