Quite a while president Biden kept the country in general, and the Democratic party
in particular, in uncertainty. Would the current leader of America run for a second period as
president ?
His bungling in several interviews fueled the doubt. Trump was ahead in the polls.
Would an 81-year old man still be the right man for the job of most powerful man of the world ?
Joe Biden is known as a stubborn person, only listening to his intimi.
Rumour had it that only the first lady could influence him.
Criticism kept on. More and more voices expressed their doubts.
In the run-up to the definitive decision, the name of Adam Schiff passed me by.
An influential senator whose opinion counts.
Fragment of the dutch radio programma ‘Met het oog op Morgen’. Late night from 23:-24:00 hours. 20 July.
The day after hearing this programme I looked, curiously, on internet. Headword ‘Schiff’.
I saw three main hits, next to some specific American agencies, on newssites:
- Al Jazeera;
- CNN;
- Politico.
“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch”.
Thus Schiff in a statement, 17 July. Source Politico.
Adding: “A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November”.
It surprised me. That this expectation was fulfilled.
The dutch newspapers came in, half a day of a day later, and copied the message.
Adam Schiff is an important politician.
He was a member of the House of Representatives from 2000 – now. In that function he presided the House Intelligence Committee from 2019-2023.
Moreover he was a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
He was the lead impeachment manager in the first impeachment procedure against Donald Trump.
In the elections Nov. 5-th he runs for a seat in the Senate.
The coming elections concern not only the president, but also Congress. Ic 1/3 of the Senate (34 seats) and the House of Representatives (all 435 seats).
The Senate has more influence than the House. In the Senate the Republicans hold 50 seats, the Democrats 48. 2 are independent senators. In practice that meant that when the votes are tied (50-50) the vote of vice-president Kamela Harris turned the scale
This implies that senator Schiff also has another motive for supporting Kamela Harris.
If the majority of the Senate (legislative power) ánd the President (executive power) are of the same political party, the decision-making process is much easier.
But when they do not correspond, stalemate lies ahead.
Follow-up
A few days later president Biden declared that “he is no longer a candidate for the presidential elections in November. He expressed support for vice-president Kamela Harris as new presidential candidate for the Democrats”.
In the polls Kamela Harris is doing well.
What wonders me is that dutch newspapers so lately expressed interest in this important development.
The only European newssite that was on top of the news is Politico.
The US is an important partner for us.
For our defence, we rely for a great part on the US. You should not imagine what would happen when Donald Trump would be re-elected, for our support for Ukrain.
Europe is, although we form one of the three greatest trading blocks in the world, still not able to defend itself on its own. This should change. We cannot longer depend solely on our
‘big brother’.
The US is our second largest trade partner (behind Germany). On cultural level we share the same values, and have a common history.
Attention for our ally and supporter
I would pledge to pay more attention to what happens at the other side of ‘the Great Sea’.
In this respect the resignation of the Dutch reporter at the national news NOS Journaal,
Rolf Schüttenhelm, grandson of the NOS founder Emile, is perhaps significant.
“He could no longer agree with one-sided reporting of the Journaal. According to Schüttenhelm the editor-in-chief has insufficient vision on the approach of reporting on big issues that threaten the democracy”. In particular he mentioned “the threat of Russian propaganda and a discussion if the present ambition to spend 2 % of GNP to defence is sufficient” [1]. 10 July, 2024.
Indicative or not, not a single newspaper reported this act. Only the website presented here-under.
Our country is getting more and more introverted. The present right-centrist government is the representation of this.
[1] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiwwPfh0vmIAxUp-gIHHfHiINkQFnoECBgQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bnnvara.nl%2Fjoop%2Fartikelen%2Fklimaatredacteur-nos-weg-uit-onvrede-over-koers-journalisten-moeten-beestje-bij-de-naam-noemen&usg=AOvVaw1pdAGb3TYbld5-n82Rds5d&opi=89978449.
EU - access 