You may have got the impression that the Democratic nomination is in the bag for Kamala Harris: what with all the celebrity endorsements and the flood of donations into the Biden war chest she inherited. But no. Hold fire.
There is a dissident view. I give you the Asparagus Psychic, otherwise known as Jemima Packington, or Mystic Veg, from Bath, who foretells world events by tossing asparagus onto the floor to see what shapes they make. And, as the Daily Star joyfully reports today, she has declared that the next US president will be... Michelle Obama. “It’s a ballsy call,” observes the paper, “since she’s not even standing”. Yet the spears say M.
Well, I salute the Asparagus Psychic, because she has a more astute grasp of US politics than most pundits. The truth is that there is only one candidate who can plausibly beat Donald Trump and she is Michelle O. Interestingly, the Obamas have been among the few Democratic grandees not to join the stampede to endorse Kamala. It may be that Barack does not want to influence the outcome of the contest; but just possibly it may be to leave open the possibility that Mrs O might stand.
Michelle Obama has that curious quality of being somehow above politics while being terrifically political
The polls are unanimous in backing a hypothetical Michelle Obama candidacy; before Joe Biden stepped down, Ipsos found she would be the one candidate who could defeat Trump. Ben Page, the chief executive of Ipsos Mori declared: “on the data we have, she would be the slam-dunk candidate.”
She has that curious quality of being somehow above politics while being terrifically political. She has the ineffable gift of platitude — see her unreadable books — which to lots of people seems like wisdom. She could plausibly attract Republicans as well as Democrats because she doesn’t look partisan.
She lacks a track record in politics, but she is associated with the record of her husband; no one thinks she wasn’t involved. She has two attractive girls. She doesn’t have any political foul-ups to her discredit: I give you Kamala’s quite astonishing failure to appear anywhere close to the Mexican border though her job was securing borders.
In short, she has everything going for her except a willingness to stand. Earlier this year her office confirmed she would not be running. But if she felt she was the only woman who’d see off Trump? The spears are clear: Go, Michelle!
