Mehdi Hasan’s suggestion (Kamala Harris may be our only hope. Biden should step aside and endorse her, 3 July) addresses the perceived weaknesses of both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Let the man take a back seat and advise the Harris presidency. One term as president is what Biden is said to have promised anyway. Harris is young and fierce.
Let’s remember the woman who made Brett Kavanaugh, Bill Barr and Amy Coney Barrett look like fools. We need her to fight the unabashedly partisan and anti-precedent supreme court. Let’s remember the Harris who called John Kelly to demand he stop the Muslim ban at our airports. Let’s bring back the Harris who championed the Daca immigration policy. Let this Harris return and bring back our democracy.
Brian Garcia
University of California, Los Angeles
Your article on the six alternatives to Joe Biden leaves out the most compelling candidate in my view – Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona (Who could replace Joe Biden as Democratic nominee? Here are six possibilities, 3 July). As a former astronaut with a sympathetic spouse in former representative Gabby Giffords, he could attract independent and democratic votes, and young people concerned about gun violence. He is also progressive enough to attract the progressive wing of the Democratic party without losing the never-Trumpers and the middle-of-the-road independents.
Heather Wishik
Woodstock, Vermont, US
In references to Joe Biden’s first presidential debate, your writers use terms such as “disastrous”, “catastrophic”, “dismal”, “stumbling”. If there were a prize for most pithy utterance of the year, I would award it to Biden’s response when asked about his performance: “It’s hard to debate a liar” (Report, 28 June). The six words packed the answers to two important questions: does Donald Trump have the moral character, and does Biden have the cognitive power, to be trusted as the head of government?
Guy Ottewell
Isleworth, London