[Americana]: A USA poet on the presidential election

Debate Fate

[From The New York Times letters to the editor (JB - scroll down for the "poetry" item), 7/3/24 9:00 PM]

I’ve read a thousand essays

On Biden’s weak debate

And who would best replace him

Before it gets too late.

Some say that V.P. Harris

Should step in Biden’s shoes.

She’d conquer Trump in all debates … 

But in November lose.

Others point to Hillary

And say this time she’d win.

We’ve “been there, done that.” Pick again. 

The odds she’d win are thin.

And some want Gavin Newsom 

To be our new selection. 

Would “California coastal cool”

Cost him the election?

Pritzker’s rich and likely to

Attract substantial backing, 

His record’s good, his skills are strong. 

Charisma’s what he’s lacking.

Michigan’s a crucial state

That Biden could well lose.

Gretchen Whitmer’s on the ball. 

Is she the one to choose?

Michelle Obama, President!?

I think she could achieve it.

But now her life’s so glittering

That she won’t want to leave it.

America’s obsessed with fame, 

So Taylor Swift could run!

Her tours are almost like campaigns,

Her rallies would be fun! 

OK, when all is said and done,

Should Dems still stick with Joe?

Because he’s sometimes vague and muddled, 

Alas, the answer’s “no.”

***

Erika Fine Brookline, Mass.

Erika Fine

Cognoscenti contributor

Erika Fine is a freelance editor and writer with special interests in politics, art, architecture, cultural history and antiques. She is the author of "How It Happened: The 2016 Presidential Campaign in Jest and Verse."