President Joe Biden made the rounds this week, speaking to labor unions and angry sanctuary city citizens as he preps and preens for good political optics heading into presidential primary season. His number two, however, is slinking around to non-events focusing on a message of work apprenticeship programs and dodging pro-Palestinian protesters in Boston.
The Border Czar, also known as Vice President Kamala Harris, has evidently long forgotten the job of securing the southern boundary. In the current climate of disapproval across the board, the administration seems to be keeping Harris as quiet as possible. At the same time, the "big guy" gets down with the dirty work of re-election and campaign fundraising.
Who Lost More – Biden or Harris?
The president didn't have an easy time of it in Chicago. He was careening towards an incensed political climate over the city's sanctuary status. Mobs of angry Chicagoans stormed a Rules Committee Meeting at City Hall, demanding to end the re-homing of illegals in their city. The majority of those protesting were black voters – and that’s not a good look for the party in charge.
Joe Biden (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
"In all my years, I haven't seen anything like this," said 15th Ward Alderman Raymond Lopez. "But I've also never seen such a concerted effort to ignore the will of the people."
Not only is the Windy City peeved at the president for his lackluster attention to the law of immigration, but also for the casualties on the Gaza Strip. One local news affiliate reported that the crowd was less than welcoming to the president. Protesters shouted down Biden’s motorcade as it pulled up in front of a fundraising event in West Town. One demonstrator, Eddy Savage, shared his thoughts: "Nobody with a right mind should stand aside and do nothing. We're disappointed in Joe Biden. He's spoken out before for Palestine."
The president – or whoever actually posts on X – stayed on script: "They are a step in the right direction. You have my word: I will continue to advocate for civilian safety and focus on increasing aid to alleviate the suffering of the people of Gaza."
Harris, who was left to fundraise in Boston, was well received at the highly structured event at Pipefitters Hall in Dorchester. She pitched the campaign speech well, praising the union's apprenticeship program, and linking it to the administration's goals and objectives. In one extremely long-winded and repetitive sentence, Kamala inserted charm to her message of “please still vote for us”:
"Part of what the president and I have done, and our administration has done intentionally with all of the labor leaders who are here, I mean Boston, a good old labor town, is to write into and to build into our policies that apprenticeship programs will very much be the way to go to build up the workforce to then do the work that we have funded."
Unwieldy in the written form, her oration was much better. But it didn't save her from the hundreds of disappointed demonstrators who awaited in front of the Ritz-Carlton in Boston for her arrival at a fundraising event with the deep pockets crowd.
"She's not hearing us – she's not in Washington doing the work that we want her to do, which is end all US aid to Israel," said Ximena Hasbach, a pro-Palestine protest organizer. "Instead, she's here meeting these wealthy donors and ignoring our calls for a ceasefire."
Another angry citizen concurred. "We're here to protest our tax funding being used in the genocide of Palestinians," said Maddie Dery, a member of the Boston chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. And that speaks volumes.
The Winning Ticket?
The latest approval ratings for the Biden/Harris ticket are rather dismal. Rasmussen has Biden's disapproval rating at 53%, and his sidekick's is steady at 61%. This ticket seems destined to either make Jews or Muslims – or both – mad enough to vote against the incumbents or stay home on election day. Best case scenario, Biden can only make one faction happy. Perhaps staying off the campaign trail for the next 11 months might be a wise course of action. Hey, C'mon, man, presidents do have to make the tough choices, right?
