Here’s a game plan, Biden replaces Harris with Newsom and then resigns

Douglas Mackinnon, Opinion Contributor, The Hill

What Tuesday’s voting demonstrated is that our country is still equally divided and deeply polarized, with no political healing on the horizon.

That reality speaks to the need for a proven vote-getter with lots of money and a logistical machine behind him. In Politics 101, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) meets — maybe even exceeds — those qualifications.

Newsom won reelection easily and now has the luxury of turning his ambitious eyes completely toward the White House. The question then becomes, will his party turn its eyes toward him as the person who might save it from the Biden-Harris dilemma it is surely about to face?

If the answer is “yes,” the “solution” is really not complicated at all. In one scenario, Biden could ask Harris to resign and replace her with Newsom, who then becomes the heir apparent for 2024. Or Biden could replace Harris with Newsom and then resign himself, making Newsom the president before 2024 and arming him with the full force of the Oval Office.

Republicans can write off Newsom all they want as the politician who “ruined” California. The fact is, he is a proven vote-getter and has a formidable Democratic machine behind him. More than that, he has demonstrated that he is no political wallflower and seemingly has no intention of “waiting his turn.”

Might the Democrats leapfrog him into the Oval Office before 2024? It would be political malpractice for them not to consider the option.

This plan makes sense with President Biden and Vice President Harris being unpopular with a large segment of the electorate, including some Democratic pundits and voters. ​