How the Obamas could easily win eight more years in the White House

Michelle Obama is currently even more popular in America than her husband, Barack.

How the Obamas could easily win eight more years in the White House
New York Post
By Michael A. Walsh

As the president of the United States shelters in place with the White House press corps, and Joe Biden gibbers senselessly into the GoPro camera in his Delaware basement, this fall’s national election has been thrown into a cocked tricorn by the coronavirus. Many of Donald Trump’s retail-politicking strengths — the huge rallies, his command of crowds — have been neutralized, and while he still has control of the narrative from his bully pulpit in the West Wing, the national media remains dead set against him, and puts the worst possible spin on every word he speaks.

Meanwhile, Biden and his wandering hands are safely confined to quarters instead of out on the campaign trail, which shields the Democrats from more possible fallout over not only his past behavior but his full-throated endorsement of Communist China throughout his career. The donkey party is thus free to market the cardboard-cutout version of its candidate, having finally accomplished their mission of running a generic Democrat against Orange Man Bad, without ever having to expose him to the general public.

No wonder there’s talk on the Left of canceling the conventions and running an all-mail election. The further away the country stays from reopening, the better their chances.

Still, as 2016 demonstrated, even when the fix is in, you never know. What the Democrats need in order to be sure of beating Trump is the perfect vice presidential candidate, one who will not only balance the ticket, push progressive causes, and check all the social-justice boxes but who will turn out the African American vote in droves without Biden’s having to say a word or lift a finger.

Biden’s already on record as saying he’ll choose a woman. But none of the defeated female candidates for the nomination, including Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, excited much interest from the Democratic base during the primaries, and while there’s a small Stacey Abrams boomlet currently going on, her record as the defeated candidate for Georgia governor doesn’t inspire much confidence — even if, in her own mind, she still thinks she won.

Adding Michelle Obama to Biden’s presidential bid would be an unstoppable ticket, and potentially give the Obamas eight more years in the White House.

So the choice is clear: Michelle Obama. Never mind that she has even less political experience than Hillary Clinton did when she ran for the White House, and has long said she disdains public office.

Currently, Michelle is in talks to possibly endorse Biden via a video and is said to be lending her name to a campaign fundraiser as early as next week, according to The Hill. "If she engages, God help Donald Trump, because she’s tough as nails and enormously popular," former Democratic Party chairman of South Carolina Dick Harpootlian told the outlet. With her husband finally having endorsed Biden last week, the stage is now set.

Here’s how it would work:

• In the next month or so, Biden would announce Michelle Obama as his running mate. With a little reverse engineering of the Obama-Biden bumper stickers of 2008 and 2012, they’re good to go.

• Michelle would immediately attract the undying worship of the national press corps. With the country still in lockdown, she can wave to Andrea Mitchell & Co. from the front door of her residences in Washington, DC ($8.1 million purchase price), Martha’s Vineyard ($11.75 million) or Chicago ($1.65 million).

• Barack Obama, who manfully supports his wife in all her endeavors, would joke about being the First Husband and cite his familiarity with the White House as a qualification.

• Nov. 3: With the black vote and the Bernie Sanders wing of the party solidly behind them, the Biden-Obama(s) team would defeat Trump in both the popular vote and the Electoral College, flipping Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and North Carolina and winning both houses of Congress.

• Jan. 20, 2021: Joe Biden is inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States.

• Jan. 21: On live television, Joe and Dr. Jill Biden tearfully announce that the 78-year-old president is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office," and that under the 25th Amendment, he’s resigning. Michelle Obama is now president of the United States and will not only fill out Biden’s term but will retain her eligibility to run again in her own right in 2024 when she will have turned 60.

• Jan. 22: President Obama announces her choice for vice president …

However unlikely, it’s the smart play. How could the Republicans ever counter it?

Michael Walsh is an author and screenwriter. His next book "Last Stands: Why Men Fight When All Is Lost" (St. Martins), is out later this year.