After the Thursday night, June 27 debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the Rhino Times ran an editorial with the headline, “Opinion: Trump Loses First Presidential Debate In A Big Way.” Trump supporters who read the headline but not the article thought the headline was nuts because, well – as was clear to everyone watching that night – Biden was obliterated in the debate.

Those who went on to actually read the piece found this reasoning behind the headline: Biden looked sooooo bad in the debate that he would be forced off the ticket, and, while Trump would no doubt beat Biden in the election with ease, Trump would then end up facing a candidate much younger and energetic than Biden – and one who’ll enter the race without the same baggage that has been saddled on Biden. Very heavy bags had been put on Biden by Republicans as well as by high-ranking members of Biden’s own party who in many cases absolutely love the man.

And, after the debate, and the New York Times’ piece by actor George Clooney calling for Biden to cease his run for another term – and after dwindling support from his own party and a bout with COVID – Biden did indeed, on Sunday, July 21, announce that he was pulling his hat out of the ring in order to open up the slot for someone else, with his choice being Vice President Kamala Harris, now Biden’s almost certain replacement.

Now, what was a boring presidential race between the same old two candidates as four years ago, a race that Trump was destined to win, has turned on a dime into a fascinating and very interesting race with a thousand unknowns – and coming twists and turns that are entirely unpredictable.

Just hours after Biden dropped out, money from Democratic donors started pouring in and commentators from CNN to Fox News were saying that this is an entirely new race.

Before Biden ended his campaign, many Democrats were worried about the risk of having to completely overhaul the campaign in the limited time between now and November; however, one Democratic television commentator offered the following analogy, which is a pretty good one: If you’ve lost control of a speeding car with no brakes that’s heading over the edge of a cliff on a high mountain road, and there’s nothing you can do to stop the car, then, yes, there’s a lot of risk in jumping out of the moving vehicle, but it’s riskier to stay in the car and face certain death.

So, Trump was wise to try and win the debate, but it was unfortunate for Trump that Biden fell totally apart in front of a national and worldwide audience of millions. In truth, if Trump had tried to help Biden in the debate, so Biden could stay in the race, there’s not much the former president could have done to help, even if he’d wanted to do so.

Another very interesting thing about this new presidential race is that now there’s a solid North Carolina element in the mix. Even before Biden dropped out, there was a mountain of speculation that, if he did, NC Governor Roy Cooper or Arizona U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly would be very likely vice-presidential picks.

WRAL ran an interesting piece this weekend summarizing why Cooper is a great possibility. Cooper has shown an ability to win in a right-leaning battleground state; North Carolina is considered a top priority for Democrats in the presidential race this year; also, Cooper is  a “safe party pick who has “carried the Democratic Party’s torch in North Carolina while avoiding major personal or political scandals.”

In addition, Harris knows Cooper. When Harris spoke in Greensboro recently and Cooper was in the room at Dudley High School, she pointed out that they knew each other well; she noted that she was the attorney general for California at the same time Cooper was the attorney general for North Carolina and the two worked on cases together.

One more thing – Cooper is available for the job since he’s currently wrapping up the maximum two terms as governor of North Carolina.

Some also say that Trump helped open the door for Democrats at the Republican National Convention when, before his nomination speech, he announced that he would have a message of national unity after the assassination attempt. While Trump did say something to that effect in the first fifteen minutes, much of the remainder of the hour and a half-plus speech was Trump conveying the exact same message he has for years.  That message resonates very well with his base, but it’s unlikely to do much to attract new undecided voters to his side.

Regardless, a race that was three days ago a boring-as-the-hills battle between well-known entities, on Sunday afternoon, July 21, became a wide open highly entertaining free-for-all in what most everyone on both sides agrees, is one of, if not the, most important elections in the country.

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