FRANKEN AND HARRIS

In a previous entry, I suggested Kamala Harris for president in 2020. I would also like to suggest Al Franken, one of them for president and the other for vice-president. Maybe Franken should be the one for president in 2020 because he is older and then Harris in 2028, but the reverse would be OK. I think they would make a great team.

There are 2 considerations. Who would be the best at doing the job of being president and who would have the best chance of getting elected? Hillary Clinton would have done an infinitely better job of being president than Donald Trump, but she did not win the election. Had she been a better campaigner she might have overcome the effects of the Putin hacking and the gerrymandered electoral college. Competence and winning the popular vote did not make her president.

As for doing the job, both Franken and Harris seem to be pragmatic liberals. Ideals are necessary, but one has to get them done. Some examples of necessary ideals are universal affordable health care, protection and encouragement of immigrants, gun control, a balanced well run long term economy (as opposed to a Far Right free for all economy that favors quick buck artists and predators at the expense of everyone else). Those are a few examples, but the list goes on. I believe both of them are left of center moderates who are willing to work with corporate America if those corporations are willing to share a fair part of their success with the rest of us whose labor fuels that success. Both are senators who know and can work with Congress.

As for getting elected, both of them are interesting people. Harris is a former state attorney general, a woman, and of a racially diverse ancestry. Franken is a former comedian who has shown an ability to seriously conduct the work of a senator. His satirical ability and sense of humor would serve him well in the White House as well as on the campaign trail. Also together they represent both the coasts and the center of America, Harris from Coastal California and Franken from Midwestern Minnesota (and for you East Coasters Franken spent time in New York when he worked at Saturday Night Live.

After the chaotic, stifling, and destructive team of Trump and Pence, Franken and Harris would be the breath of fresh air needed to clean up the mess that will be left behind by the present team.