By Mark W. Fowler

“Houston, we have had a problem,” originally first uttered by Jack Swigert following an explosion on Apollo 13, has been popularized to denote an event with significant difficulty. So it is with the Democrat Party, although “Hoist by their own petard” (Shakespeare in Hamlet) might be more apropos.

For months, allies of President Joe Biden, including VP Kamala Harris, have concealed from the world what many suspected, which is that Biden is physically and mentally compromised. His debate performance was not a one-off; it was a display of a man who is a spent force, as Brit Hume of Fox News observed.

Politicians seeing their own positions imperiled have abandoned this sinking ship, taking Biden with them. His withdrawal from the race and the ensuing chaos are entirely self-inflicted.

If Democrats choose anyone other than Harris (or Michelle Obama, who is unwilling) in this uncharted process to replace Biden on the top of the ticket, millions of black women will be alienated and may stay home. That means electoral defeat. Harris is not a fail-safe candidate. She polls better than Biden against Trump, but not by enough to win.

Harris carries lots of baggage: her failure as the border czar, leading to open borders; her anti-crime stance; raising money to bail out George Floyd rioters; and the Biden administration record on inflation. Harris is a San Francisco liberal progressive, and San Francisco’s problems are emblematic of failed progressive policies.

A serious question remains over why the 25th Amendment has not been invoked to remove Biden. A plausible explanation is that the cabinet has not met as a body in months, combined with the realization that Harris is not competent to serve and not electable. Recall that Harris never polled as high as 20% in her 2020 campaign for president and never rose above sixth place even in her home state of California; she dropped out for lack of support before the first primary vote was cast. An equally compelling explanation is that Biden allies kept their finger crossed that Trump would be knocked out by the sexual harassment case of E. Jean Carroll or by convictions in New York, Florida, or Georgia. All of those cases have stalled or are likely to be reversed on appeal. And finally, if Biden were interested in her success, he would resign, allowing her to campaign from a stronger position. That he has not done so speak volumes.

The votes at issue are those independents who were leaning toward Biden and are undecided. Dedicated Biden voters may not go to the polls if Harris does no better in the three months between now and November than she did in 2020. Her candidacy is weak at best, and she has only days to set up a national organization. Biden’s untimely withdrawal deprives her of control over donations for Biden.

And there is one more thing. Harris’s time in office has been marked by her propensity to express herself in word salads. Millions of Americans see her as a “giggling idiot,” as journalist Brit Hume said. One poor performance, one episode of nervous cackling in front of an audience will be the end of her candidacy. The odds are particularly good she will do just that, conclusively demonstrating her lack of qualifications to be commander-in-chief.

One would be excused for experiencing schadenfreude watching the Democrats squirming in the light of their own foolishness.

Mark Fowler is a board-certified physician and former attorney. He can be reached at [email protected].