Cooper made the best choice for him and North Carolina
He has a lot of options that could be far more consequential than VP.
If you don’t do anything else today, take time to watch Joe Biden with family members of the political prisoners released yesterday. It’s a remarkably poignant moment. Both his leadership and his humanity are on display. We are so fortunate to have him as our president.
Without Biden as a candidate, we can view the prisoner swap without political lenses fogging up the event. He did the job of president using his understanding of the world to accomplish something powerful. He brought our allies to the table to help secure the freedom of American citizens and when he achieved his goal, he made the families central to the story.
And while his success is not overtly political, it reminds us of the contrast between him and his predecessor. Had Trump gotten the prisoners freed, we would not be focusing on the families. We would be listening to another self-aggrandizing speech about how nobody else could have achieved the prisoner swap. I don’t think most Americans want to go back there.
God bless Joe Biden and God bless the United States of America.
On another subject, Roy Cooper is no longer under consideration for vice president. I never really understood why he would want that job in the first place. In fact, I really didn’t want him to be chosen. There’s so much more that he can do if he wants to continue his public service.
The vice presidency is really nothing more than a waiting game. Other than ceremonially presiding over the Senate, the job has few official duties, though the president can assign some. The position’s primary job is to be ready to step into the role of the presidency if something should happen to the president. Unofficially, most vice presidents have been waiting to run for president when the boss’s term ends.
In the case of Cooper, he would be 75 in eight years when he would have a chance to run for president. After what we’ve just been through, I don’t see Democrats nominating a candidate that age anytime soon. I guess he might be in a better position to run in four years if Harris loses, but if this process has shown us anything, it’s that Democrats have a deep and talented bench. I’m not sure serving on a losing presidential ticket would give him much of a leg up on another successful governor or popular U.S. Senator.
Cooper might not get too many important roles, or at least high-profile ones, in a Harris administration as vice president. He doesn’t have foreign policy experience and he doesn’t have deep ties on Capitol Hill. He would have a steep learning curve in a tough city. That’s a lot of work with little reward for a position that would likely end in retirement.
No, the vice presidency would be a waste Cooper’s of talent. He doesn’t seem to be finished yet and he has much better options than vice president. He would almost certainly be on the short list for attorney general in a Harris administration, a much more consequential position than VP. He could also handle a number of other cabinet level positions or serve as an ambassador. He’s got a lot of options if Harris wins in November.
If he wants to continue in elected office, I believe Roy Cooper could beat Thom Tillis handily in 2026. Tillis is a mediocre politician who fundamentally lacks any core values and will say whatever is politically expedient. He has a long history of publicly making definitive statements that sound principled only to disavow them later, sometimes within hours. Of course, the right-flank sees through the empty suit, too, and Tillis might not survive a primary. Then, Cooper would likely face a Republican nominee too far right for North Carolina.
Cooper has led Democrats for eight years in opposing Republicans. While the fight has been difficult in a state as gerrymandered as this one, he’s still gotten Medicaid expansion and kept North Carolina one of the top states for business in the nation. And unlike Thom Tillis, his party’s base loves him. He could give North Carolina its first U.S. Senate seat in more than a decade.
Cooper seems to enjoy beating Republicans, so I hope he continues in that role. He’s not even running, but he is on the campaign trail, supporting Democrats up-and-down the ballot. I hope some super PAC will have him attacking the Republican brand. The party has nominated a bunch of frauds and extremists to govern our state. He’s the perfect spokesperson to point out that the whole party, not just a few candidates, want to take North Carolina in a dangerous direction. Attacking the GOP brand, instead of just the individual candidates, could help Democrats win down-ballot races like judges and more obscure council of state seats.
Roy Cooper has a lot of opportunities that can be far more consequential than hanging around the Naval Observatory. He’s popular, a talented leader, and a good politician. I’m here to support him.
Thank you, Thomas, for this column on Roy Cooper and President Biden. You framed my thoughts exactly regarding Governor Cooper. I want to say something about President Biden:
Joe Biden is a sterling human being. He feels for people. He hurts for people. He has empathy and decency. He is the type of president John Adams, our second president, admired when he wished that only good and decent men serve in the office.
Against this backdrop, however, the hyper-partisan Republicans cannot find it in themselves to thank Mr. Biden for his service. He deserves gratitude. He always has reached across the aisle, even when his hand of friendship was pushed away by the fools on the other side.
I am so disappointed that Virginia Del. Tommy Wright, R-Victoria, wrote that President Biden should resign. “If (Biden) is not fit to run for president, he’s not fit to be president,” the dele- gate wrote.
Delegate Wright is our friend. We don’t agree with him on policy. But he is a decent human being. For him to down rather than thank President Biden is so ungraceful that it is breathtaking.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, also called for the president’s resignation. The speaker, a figure in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, should be the one who resigns.
Other Republicans made similar nonsensical remarks regarding President Biden. MAGA Republicans continue to trash the president even though he is now in the last months of his administration.
They are a disgrace to the offices they hold. Not one of these partisans has called on Mr. Trump to step aside. Two impeachments. Thirty-four felony convictions. Pending charges in three other jurisdictions. The list is heartbreaking, but Delegate Wright, Speaker Johnson and their cohort turn a blind eye to the criminality and venality of Donald J. Trump and instead trash one of the three most decent men to serve as president in our lifetime, the others being Democrat Jimmy Carter and Republican Gerald Ford.
As a newspaperman, we try to praise those with whom we disagree on policy. We praised Mike Pence for refusing to trash the Electoral College vote. We have praised Speaker Johnson on occasion.
It is called comity, meaning civility, and it is a lost word and practice among those who may sing God’s praises on Sunday but act like idolaters the rest of the week.
The country got rid of comity about the same time it trashed civics instruction in the schools and good manners everywhere else.
You would never hear any of these MAGA partisans say of their power what President Biden said in his eloquent and masterful address to the nation regarding his decision to step aside:
Thank you, PoliticsNC, for this post. And for taking time to address our current governor for whom I have much respect. And for not gaming about who Harris will select as her running mate. As too many have been caught up nattering on about who she may or may not, or should or should not choose. When others do that, it appears they do not have fresh ideas about which to write or speak, so they prattle. Clearly PoliticsNC keeps ideas in the hopper and does not need to do that.