An opinion writer for the Washington Post is urging vice president Kamala Harris to resign for the sake of the country.
The wake-up call comes courtesy of Kathleen Parker, a right-leaning member of the otherwise liberal newspaper's editorial board.
The Democratic party's embrace of identity politics has left them unable to fire an incompetent vice president, leaving Democrats - and the country - in peril, Parker argued.
"This is why I propose with all due respect that Harris step away from the ticket,” Parker wrote. “Please, Madame Vice President, do it for your country.”
Harris' place at the bottom half of the ticket has long been a source of anxiety for Democrats, who fear that she lacks the competence and gravitas to replace her boss.
Parker noted Harris' tendency to embarrass Biden "with her sometimes inane, rambling remarks and a laugh that erupts from nowhere."
Harris, the first black and female vice president, has often dismissed criticism of her as rooted in bigotry.
Despite her widely demonstrated shortcomings, she can likely rely on identity politics to keep Democrats from getting rid of her, Parker observed.
“The Kamala conundrum comes down to this: She was picked because she was Black and female, a combo tantamount to job security,” Parker wrote. “Now that she has become a burden to the Democratic ticket, Biden can’t fire her. He can’t risk alienating his base. Full stop," she added.
Despite her historically low approval ratings, Harris often tops opinion polls among Democratic primary voters when asked who should replace Biden.
The president faces his own problems, with a public broadly skeptical of his fitness for office and his wild claims of economic prosperity.
Parker's argument that Democrats can't get rid of Harris has been borne out by the vice president's increasingly high-profile role. Her recent stop at an abortion clinic was described by the media as "historic," and she was given the responsibility of making a speech on the war in Gaza.
While Harris may lack merit, she abounds in ambition. As Parker noted, she won't get fired, but she's not going to step aside out of civic virtue, either.
It appears that Democrats realize they're stuck with Biden and Harris, and - unfortunately, for now at least, so is America.
