Mario Tama | Credit: Getty Images

After not having internet access for 24 hours, I was bombarded with news articles and messages from friends about none other than our sitting president, Joe Biden, stepping down from his run for a second presidential term.

I can’t say I was surprised. This news didn’t just fall out of a coconut tree, it exists in the context of the world around us and what came before. Of course, the context I’m referring to is Biden’s dementia allegations, his dastardly debate against former President Donald Trump, his COVID-19 affliction and his accusations by numerous members of his own party calling for him to drop out of the race.

So now the elephant, or rather, the donkey in the room is who should replace Biden, and if that person can beat Trump. Kamala Harris polls slightly behind the current president, but she faces challenges that Biden didn’t. For one, she is a woman of color in a mostly white male-dominated sphere. Also, she cannot escape her thorny tough-on-crime record as a criminal prosecutor. These policies are unpopular with both the left and the right, leaving her between a rock and a hard place. Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman has even dubbed election day “the Prosecutor vs. the Felon” on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Amidst the uncertainty of the Democratic party — and inversely, the certainty of the Trump-Vance nomination as the Republican candidate — the Democrats are scrambling to get a foothold. But still, the question remains: Will coconut-pilled liberals or faux ear-bandage-toting conservatives show up and show out in the actual election? Only Nov. 5 will reveal the answer.

Acknowledgment: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual author.