President Biden is trailing former President Donald Trump in five swing states, all of which Biden won in 2020, according to a new set of polls.

While these polls are but a snapshot, they aren’t the only ones indicating Biden is struggling. They’re just the latest ones.

There was the Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll in April showing Biden trailing Trump in six of seven swing states.

And an Emerson College Polling/The Hill poll in April showing Trump was ahead in all seven swing states.

And a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll in April showing Trump ahead nationally by four points.

Naturally, this should be worrisome to Biden.

And yet…

“While the press doesn’t write about it, the momentum is clearly in our favor,” he told donors during a West Coast trip last week, “with the polls moving towards us and away from Trump.”

Seemingly undercutting that argument, and again slamming the media, he also told CNN’s Erin Burnett last week, “The polling data has been wrong all along. How many of you guys do a poll at CNN? How many folks do you have to call to get one response?”

As CNN’s data guru Harry Enten pointed out, “[Biden] loved the polls four years ago, when they showed him ahead. These are the same polls now.”

Blaming the media for underreporting his achievements, trashing the polls as wrong when they’re bad for him and lauding them when they’re good, and refusing to accept where he is in the race doesn’t bode well.

It may feel counterintuitive that Trump could be ahead. As Colin Jost of “Saturday Night Live” put it at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last month, “The Republican candidate for president owes half a billion in fines for bank fraud and is currently spending his days farting himself awake during a porn star hush money trial, and the race is tied? The race is tied! Nothing makes sense anymore.”

I agree that in a just world, Trump would be in prison and not on the ballot again. But all of this does actually make sense if you leave the Acela-corridor bubble and realize most voters don’t care about Trump’s trials. They care about themselves.

Unemployment, grocery prices, gas prices, home affordability, crime, the migrant crisis — all of this is directly impacting voters. However unseemly, Trump’s salacious rendez-vous with Stormy Daniels is not.

Biden doesn’t seem to realize that voters aren’t looking for more politics — they want better policies.

And his friends on the left — and, ironically, in the media — are trying to impress this upon him.

“As someone worried about the prospects of a second Trump term, I think it’s best to be honest about reality,” said CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. “He needs to do something bold and dramatic to seize the initiative on asylum policy, for example, and reverse these numbers.”

Former Clinton adviser Mark Penn wrote in the New York Times that Biden “appears all too focused on firming up his political base on the left with his new shift on Israel…and is failing to connect on the basic issues of inflation, immigration and energy.”

“Unfortunately,” he warns, “Mr. Biden is not reaching out to moderate voters with policy ideas or a strong campaign message.”

Another former Clinton adviser, James Carville also called for better policy arguments that embrace reality. “We’re not going to convince under-30, under-35 [voters], ‘Oh, we really built a great country for you.’ You’re looking at this job market…I don’t think you’re going to buy that. We need strong advocacy explaining to these youngsters what exactly they have at stake here,” and went on to name reproductive rights and environmental protections.

Swinging to the far left on Israel to appease pro-Palestinian young voters — who themselves only rank the issue 15th out of 16 in terms of top priorities — makes little sense. “Finding a solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians” also only ranked 14th in a Pew poll of top foreign policy priorities among all Americans. It may be an issue around which there’s a lot of passion, but it’s not a kitchen table issue driving most voters.

Likewise, simply hoping the seediness of the Trump trials will turn voters off isn’t effective either. Hope isn’t a strategy, and it’s no match for fear.

Americans are afraid, and those fears should be met with real policy solutions that honestly address crime, the economy, immigration and other top concerns.

The polls may not be a prediction, but they should be a prescription. And if Biden wants to turn these numbers around, he first needs to stop denying them.

secuppdailynews@gmail.com

When I first became commissioner, I listened to youth, parents, advocates, partners and colleagues to develop a set of priorities aimed at making the city a better, safer and more equitable place for families. Since then, we’ve been working hard to achieve this goal, sharing periodic updates, and today, I am pleased with much of the progress we have made and is publicly available.

Significant improvements have been made to ensure child protection teams — who have some of the most difficult jobs in the city — have the training and resources needed to identify children who are not safe and take steps to protect them. Because of our focus, New York City’s caseload average is nine — one of the lowest in the country.

For the past decade, we’ve been making monthly data like this public on our website. We’ve increased the number of former NYPD detectives working alongside child welfare workers, trained staff on how to help mothers struggling with maternal mental health disorders, and deepened our partnership with Child Advocacy Centers, which are staffed by pediatricians, nurses, social workers and others to examine our most at-risk children. Those are just a few examples of our recent enhancements.

As part of their work to keep children safe, ACS workers often connect families to services, like mental health counseling or alcohol misuse treatment — which can take place in the family’s home — and access to concrete supports, like food, clothing, diapers, etc. These services are free and available citywide. We’ve even expanded services for families facing domestic violence and are launching new school-based family support programs. Last year, 31,937 children were served through our services. 

We’ve also expanded our community-based supports. Our Family Enrichment Centers (FECs) are welcoming walk-in centers and, key to their success, is that community members play a central role in each center’s unique design to meet the wants and needs of local families. For instance, some centers offer Zumba classes and movie nights, while others offer financial literacy classes and job fairs. Each center is unique based on what the community requests. Since I have been commissioner, we increased from three FECs to 12 and will soon reach 30 citywide. 

More than ever before, we’re making sure families have access to affordable child care. There is nothing more important than knowing that your child is being safely cared for while you are out earning a living or studying towards a degree. Families may qualify for assistance if their income falls below 85% of the State Median Income and have an approved reason for seeking child care. Under this administration, ACS increased children enrolled with a low income voucher five times (7,000 to 35,000). And, we’ve made it easier to apply for child care assistance via the MyCity portal.

Finally, for those children who must be placed in foster care, we are working to make sure they have everything they need to succeed. We expanded Fair Futures, which connects youth in foster care and juvenile justice programs to a coach. Approximately 4,000 young people are receiving Fair Futures services. Our new College Choice Program supports young people who are in foster care to attend college and offers them academic support. More than 300 youth are enrolled — an increase of about 50%.

When it comes to the success of families and the safety of children, there is always more work to do. Every week, my team and I engage in our nationally renowned ChildStat system accountability process, where we take a deep dive into data trends and evaluate individual real-life cases to constantly improve. We also added a new dimension where staff identify systemic challenges they are facing that leadership then works to solve.

In all that we do, we have one unwavering focus: making ACS stronger for NYC’s children and families.

ACS remains dedicated to building a city where young people are safe and thriving and families are supported as their most important resources and protectors; and where our staff are supported as they carry out this critical work. The deep commitment and passion our teams have for making New York City a better place for children and families continues to inspire and move me.

I pledge that ACS will continue to listen, learn and evolve our work. We are never done in this vital mission.

Dannhauser has been commissioner of the Administration for Children’s Services since January 2022.

The former school executives — Laura Feijoo, Lois Herrera and Jaye Murray — alleged they were forced from high-level positions in favor of less-qualified persons of color, including one who lacked a high school diploma.

It was part of a purge overseen by de Blasio’s second chancellor, Richard Carranza, who five years ago told a gathering of Department of Education officials, “If you draw a paycheck from DOE…get on board my equity platform or leave.”

The suit filed by Feijoo, Herrera and Murray was cleared for trial early this year when a judge concluded they “offer evidence of race-based discrimination in Carranza’s DOE.”

The man who de Blasio tapped to succeed Carmen Fariña came with a spotty record in high-level assignments in the Houston and San Francisco systems. But he shared the then-mayor’s ideological leanings and was eager to be his point man in persuading state legislators to abolish the Specialized High School Admissions Test, which is used by three of the city’s elite high schools: Bronx High School of Science, Brooklyn Tech and Stuyvesant.

On average, just 10% of their attendees were Black or Latino, with Asians comprising more than 60% of the student body at all three. Soon after taking the job in the spring of 2018, Carranza parried a question about whether scrapping the exam would reduce merit in admissions by stating, “I just don’t buy into the narrative that any one ethnic group owns admission to these schools.”

His bluntness didn’t seem to bother de Blasio — whose son Dante had graduated from Brooklyn Tech midway through his first term. Nor did the mayor appear shocked about incendiary or insensitive statements made by consultants hired under Carranza that suggested they didn’t care who they offended in offering new guidelines for instructors.

One white teacher, asked what experiences she brought to the classroom that could help students of color, spoke of the empathy she gained as the daughter of Holocaust survivors, then was told that was irrelevant. When an Asian parent attending a training class asked why a chart used by the consultant that delineated a “racial-advantage hierarchy” did not list Asians as a group, the response was that they “benefitted from white supremacy” and “proximity to white privilege.”

De Blasio and Carranza seemed oblivious to the arrogance of such pronouncements being made on the city’s dime. But it stirred enough anger within the Asian community — which can still be seen in the rising support for Republicans in New York that played a role in House Democrats losing their majority in Congress two years ago — that bills to abolish the SHSAT floundered throughout the mayor’s second term.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, another Brooklyn Tech graduate, decried communities being “set one against another.” He said de Blasio had not spent enough on test prep to aid Black and Latino students with the SHSAT, and questioned why he hadn’t restored gifted-and-talented programs in middle schools that were eliminated under ex-Mayor Mike Bloomberg which previously offered a pathway to the specialized schools.

A leading Asian-American elected official, state Sen. John Liu — who in 2013 as city comptroller was among the candidates opposing de Blasio in the Democratic mayoral primary — accused him of making education decisions with an eye to his having far more political support in the Black and Latino communities than among Asians.

Liu also asserted that de Blasio and Carranza out of intellectual laziness devoted too much energy to lobbying against the SHSAT and too little to middle schools throughout the system, which for decades had been the weak link in city education. “He thought it would be a quick fix,” Liu said. He added, “Quick fixes by definition are not substantive.”

That assessment, given in February 2021 when Carranza announced he was quitting after less than three years in the job, echoed comments made by de Blasio’s highest-ranking Latina appointee, Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, once she quit midway through his first term. She stated that the mayor was too easily distracted by crises and “bright, shiny objects” to focus on solving long-term problems.

As shown by the recent settlement with the three educators cast out solely because they didn’t check the racial boxes he preferred, the city continues to pay for de Blasio’s short attention span.

Steier is the former editor of the civil-service newspaper The Chief.

The bill would give “representative organizations” like labor unions, whistleblowers and directly affected employees the power to bring civil wage theft suits against employers, bypassing the swamped state Department of Labor process that is now the only way to seek redress. The Daily News supported the state’s higher minimum wage, so we want to ensure the people making the minimum actually get it.

The groups that have lined up against the measure mainly represent large corporate interests. They don’t defend the indefensible of stealing from employees, but claim that a new avenue for justice for the wronged would be the focus of constant litigation, and argue that the bill would encourage “lawyers to seek out prospective clients and pursue lucrative class action-style litigation,” which is another way of saying that they fear workers standing up for their rights.

The reason this is such a common offense is that so many workers lack the knowledge to know they’re being taken advantage of; giving attorneys an incentive to lay out workers’ rights will help. Ideally, the government would police such infractions, but it’s unable to do the job.

There’s no doubt that, as things stand, the DOL cannot properly handle the volume of potentially meritorious claims it receives. The issue is only going to get worse now as employment in low-paid sectors like home care soars and NYC receives tens of thousands of migrants hungry for work and without much knowledge of labor laws and available remedies. Any frivolous case will be properly dismissed like thousands of other frivolous attempts at litigation that happen in the state every year.

Wage theft is a crime, robbing people for the money they have rightfully earned. It is theft, no different than if an employer wrote a worker a rubber check or picked their pocket. Even when done inadvertently, it’s the result of an inexcusable failure to put in place the systems that would prevent it.

For a business engaged in wage theft, that might mean a few extra dollars on the balance sheet, but for a worker, it can be life-altering. It can mean that bills go unpaid, that children are not properly clothed and fed, that savings aren’t built for a rainy day — not because that person isn’t finding work, but because the work that they did find is stealing from them.

The idea that passing this bill will unleash some sort of onslaught of claims against well-meaning employers is bunk. Our neighbor to the west, New Jersey, enacted a tough wage theft law that included a private right of action in 2019, and the sky has not fallen. Virginia and Illinois have their own versions. It makes sense; you have a private right of action to sue in circumstances where an employer harmed you or broke a contract, why not when one steals from you?

Despite the celebratory announcement yesterday on the waterfront, this is a lose-lose-lose proposition as the PA is let off the (Red) Hook.

Says who? Jerry Nadler, the dean of the congressional delegation and the recognized expert on integrated transportation. And says a former Portocrat, who bemoans the agency giving up on New York.

Remember, maritime isn’t incidental to the PA’s raison d’etre, as it is called the “Port” Authority. Not the Bus Station Authority or the Airport Authority or the Hudson Bridge and Tunnel Authority or the PATH Train Authority or the World Trade Center Authority. And the maritime focus can’t just be can’t just be Port Newark and Port Elizabeth. At this point, New York has only 15% of the port’s trade. Are they trying to knock it down to zero and give Jersey everything?

Under the swap, the PA will surrender the Red Hook piers to the city and will get in exchange the Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten Island. Yes, yes, we know that Staten Island is in New York, but it is on the west side of the harbor. Brooklyn is the deep water port on the east side of the harbor.

The city’s Economic Development Corp. would be in charge of Red Hook and would look to redevelop the area with perhaps mixed use and parks and housing. Those are all terrific things, but are meant for former industrial tracts that need redevelopment into something else. Red Hook is not formerly industrial. It is still industrial and should stay industrial. This is a working waterfront. It’s not about parks and housing. That the PA has failed to invest in Red Hook shouldn’t mean that it gets taken off their hands.

The PA complains that Red Hook’s transportation modalities are challenging. Well, if the PA had ever built the cross harbor rail freight tunnel it was created to build, Brooklyn would be tied into the national rail network. The tunnel, which Nadler champions, is much more important than the wasteful Gateway passenger tunnel that gets some pols so excited. But unlike commuters, freight doesn’t vote. Freight does however clog up the roads with trucks, a congesting, polluting problem that rail and sea avoid.

New York doesn’t get enough of its goods from its port. Now that will drop even more.

And it’s not even clear what the details are in the deal. Can someone please publish the memorandum of understanding before the boards of the Port and EDC vote on it, which could happen very soon?

Created by New York and its junior partner on the other side of the Hudson in 1921, the legal name of the bistate governmental entity remains the Port of New York Authority, d/b/a the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. After yesterday, why not just drop the “New York” part?

Manhattan: I just read about the elderly gentleman who was killed for trying to hold a parking spot (“Gentle soul shoved to his death,” May 13). This is a new trend in NYC.

I live on the Upper West Side, where bike lanes and restaurant sheds take up a great deal of what should have been available parking for businesses’ customers. Twice when I wanted to park my vehicle, someone told me they were holding the spot for someone else who was arriving shortly. Twice, I got out of my car and told the individuals they had a choice. I won’t say what that choice was, but I wasn’t smiling when I said it. I backed my car right into the spot and told the individuals each time that what they were doing was dangerous. And it was. This has to stop before more people get shot, stabbed or punched. No one has a right to stand in a parking spot and tell a driver that they can’t park because they’re holding it for someone else.

Another thing happening is apartment buildings placing cones in legitimate parking spots so that delivery people don’t have to look for a spot. This happened to me on 81st St. off Broadway. The doorman even came out to tell me that he would have my car towed if I removed the cones. I removed them anyway, parked my car and called 311 to report the building management for this illegal behavior. People are behaving in a manner that is dangerous and will cause bodily harm to themselves. Don’t do it. It’s not worth your life. Marilyn D. Rodriguez

Landowner rights

Huntington, L.I.: I had to laugh when reading Anita W. Laremont’s op-ed (“Albany is interfering with NYC’s co-op market,” May 14). She states that the proposed bill would be found unconstitutional under the Takings Clause of the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution because it limits a landowner’s ability to use their own property while simultaneously minimizing the return a landowner might receive. The same clause renders rent control and rent stabilization laws unconstitutional. The Takings Clause states: “Nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” The reason for my amusement is that I found it shocking to read a pro-landlord op-ed in the socialist Daily News. Tom Saracco

Shilling for drilling

Warsaw, N.Y.: I am a constituent of state Sen. George Borrello, who penned “Don’t raise the N.Y. HEAT Act: We have to be honest about energy costs” (op-ed, May 12). For those Daily News readers who don’t know this western New York Republican senator: Please ignore his misguided, fact-less rant against the NY HEAT Act. From opposing clean wind energy to rooting for polluting oil and fracked gas, we in his district are quite used to his shilling for the oil and gas industry that contributes handsomely to his campaign coffers. In his piece, he simply denies the cost savings for consumers from the act that have been established by multiple detailed studies and have been acknowledged by NYC utilities like Con Edison and National Grid. Instead, he claims with zero evidence that the costs of the gas infrastructure and the savings from reforming the public service law are inflated. Don’t believe a word of it. Lynn Saxton

Hung out to dry

Yonkers: New York’s governor is totally neglecting nursing home residents by underfunding these facilities. It is a disgrace that our elderly people are not able to be cared for because of government waste. Money should be used to fund facilities that care for the elderly and the veterans, not outsiders looking for a free meal ticket and housing. Gov. Hochul, take care of our own people first! Karl Reinecke

Euro vision

Allentown, Pa.: I’m a Navy vet, a former second-class bosun’s mate. I’m not usually into politics, but it’s like President Biden and the Democrats are trying to make the country more like Europe, where there is no middle class, only a small minority of the rich and everybody else is poor and dependent on them. That’s why a lot of people are lining up behind Donald Trump. Joseph Russo

Corrupted leadership

Jamaica: It’s truly sad that Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate can’t do the jobs that their constituents sent them to do because they are in New York giving the Orange Guy (Trump) support. The Orange Guy is a liar who assaults women, cheats people out of their money, got rid of Roe v. Wade, never keeps his promises (infrastructure) and does not like minorities nor gays, and this is who they care about. Republicans have lost all their morals and common sense. Just saying! Remember, vote for what you and your family need. Trump is only for himself and so are the Republicans. God bless America! Charlene Black

Internal rot

Blairstown, N.J.: Was it Nikita Khrushchev who once said, “We will take America without firing a shot”? Do you think we have enough pro-Putin members in our U.S. Capitol? The likes of Marjorie T. Greene, Paul Gosar, Lauren Boebert, Jim Jordan and more. And it’s amazing how many members of the American Legion and VFW support the orange fungus. If you were wounded, maimed or a POW, you are most assuredly called a loser by the Trumpkin. And for those killed in action, Trumpty will likely urinate on your grave. Ron Cristi

Single subject

West Vancouver, British Columbia: Re “Columbia grad rips diploma in protest” (May 14): The correct word is “her” diploma — she is one person. Anyone reading this is looking around for the second or third person involved. Proper grammar is important, and words have consequences. Please stop destroying the English language. Paul Silverstone

Familiar strategy

Bronx: To Voicer Bob Ory: The purpose of the campus protests are to get the universities to divest their investments in Israel and companies that support Israel, same as was done to end apartheid in South Africa. By the way, Israel wholeheartedly supported the apartheid government in South Africa. W. Twirley

Enhanced history

Woods Cross, Utah: Sen. Lindsey Graham recently said, “We were faced with destruction as a nation after Pearl Harbor.” The threat to the wheatfields of Kansas and the harbor of Charleston, S.C., was apparently so bad that we were forced to flatten Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Historians of World War II say America went abroad to come to the rescue of democracy in Europe and Asia, not because armies and navies were bearing down on our homeland. And many say we could have kept our nukes in our pants. Hamas soldiers crossed the border on the morning of Oct. 7, killed and grabbed up civilians, then ran back home before lunchtime. Suggesting this was somehow like Hitler occupying France in 1940 or Emperor Hirohito knocking off the Philippines in 1942 is crazy talk. Mr. Graham, you are teaching the same kind of fabricated history that Israel’s Netanyahu is teaching young people in Tel Aviv to justify his budding dictatorship there. Kimball Shinkoskey

Wholly mad

Manhattan: The 16th-century French philosopher Blaise Pascal said, “We are so necessarily mad that not to be mad must be considered a form of madness.” Thank you for covering this truth so well in your pages. Joel Griffiths

Day ahead

Brooklyn: In Tuesday’s edition, it seems those responsible for posting the evening TV schedule got ahead of themselves. Checking the schedule, I soon realized I was looking at Wednesday’s lineup. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Neil S. Friedman

Prophetic programming

Tuckahoe, N.Y.: How come Jesus is not on free TV? Look at the junk that is on. Channel 9 is all game shows and talk shows. Maybe people would be nicer to one another. Maybe people would learn something. Jesus is supposed to come back. Maybe it would be sooner. God is the boss, people are not. C. D’Onofrio

Albany is considering a bill that would dramatically disregard fundamental principles of contract law and provide certain owners of cooperative apartments with heretofore unimagined benefits in the setting and renewal of ground leases between building and property owners. This legislation is chiefly sponsored by state Sen. Liz Krueger and Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, who represent wealthy Manhattan neighborhoods filled with co-op owners.

In New York City, around 100 residential cooperatives lease the underlying land directly from the owner pursuant to a ground or land lease. Under a typical ground lease, co-ops lease the land from the property owner for a set period, often spanning 99 years or more. At certain intervals noted in the lease, an appraiser determines the land’s value, which is ultimately used to help fix a new rent.

None of this is a surprise to the residential owners. Indeed, the terms of the ground lease are made clear to every owner when shares in cooperative units are purchased, and such shares typically trade at a lower price than other cooperatives. The average sale price of a ground-leased Manhattan unit is more than $1 million, and although the holders of such units are being characterized by a coalition sponsoring the bill as “co-op owners from diverse socioeconomic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds,” the vast majority are affluent and not in need of the type of government intervention proposed here.

The bill vitiates the existing legal agreements between the parties as to the calculation of re-setting of the ground lease rent and removes all leverage in negotiations. It would impose a maximum of 3% (or Consumer Price Index) annual increase in ground lease rent; grant co-op owners new rights to automatically renew the ground lease; and to impose a first mortgage on the ground lease if proceeds will be used for rent, repairs, maintenance or capital improvements — ignoring the rights of any existing first-position lenders.

The legislation also grants co-op owners a “right of first refusal” to purchase the ground — after devaluing the fee position via the bill’s other provisions.

This bill would almost certainly be found unconstitutional under both the Contracts Clause of the U.S. Constitution, as a substantial alteration of the central economic terms of longstanding pre-existing contracts between landowners and residential cooperatives, and under the Takings Clause of the 5th Amendment, because they limit a landowner’s ability to use its own property while simultaneously minimizing the return a landowner might receive.

A recent Supreme Court case, Sheetz vs. County of El Dorado, unanimously confirmed that the Takings Clause applies to legislative acts, such as this bill, eliminating any argument that legislation is exempt from scrutiny as a violation of that constitutional provision.

Passing this bill would send a clear and chilling message: contract law is irrelevant in New York. Just imagine the sweeping impact such a policy would have on those looking to do business here, or on banks who lend in New York State.

Moreover, this bill would be terrible public policy, as they seek to protect a class who don’t need it. These are savvy buyers affluent enough to purchase units valued at more than $1 million, who bought units priced well below comparable units in non-ground leased buildings. Now, with this bill, they want to have their very large slice of luxury cake and eat it too.

The bill’s terms not only apply to residential owners of shares in ground lease co-ops, but to all owners of such shares, and will therefore also unjustly benefit wealthy corporate owners of retail space in ground lease buildings, where they’ll be able to pay a lot less in rent, but lease their retail space on Billionaire’s Row and elsewhere for unlimited sums — and profit.

Instead of spending their time working to address myriad meaningful issues New Yorkers are facing, lawmakers are instead looking to reward rich apartment owners and retail barons and lock in exorbitant returns for investors, even if that will cause chaos and chase businesses and lenders from our state.

Lawmakers with wealthy constituents are willing to throw New York State’s contract laws, banking system and ability to do business into chaos in order to paint themselves as affordable housing champions. That can’t be allowed to happen.

Laremont is a partner in the real estate division at the law firm Fried, Frank Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.

Flynn was convinced that keeping Wallace on the ticket would lead to defeat and set out to convince the president to dump Wallace. Had Roosevelt not done so, his replacement Harry Truman would not have become president — and a Soviet apologist would have led the United States.

It’s a precedent which Joe Biden, who fancies himself a new FDR, might want to consider following. The parallels are striking. As with FDR, who would die just months following his reelection, concern about Biden’s health and fitness abound. The 1944 Democratic convention — where Wallace lost his bid to remain on the ticket — was held in Chicago. And Kamala Harris’ poll numbers are even worse than Biden’s. According to the polling site 538’s most recent survey, only 38.2% of those surveyed approved of Harris’ performance.

It is hard to conceive of anything that would better revive Biden’s failing fortunes — and reassure the nation that a capable replacement was waiting in the wings — than the bold act of asking Harris to step aside.

To be sure, the identity politics that led Biden to pick Harris in the first place would be hard for him to confront. But in doing so, he could remind voters of Bill Clinton’s “Sister Souljah” moment — the rapper whom the self-styled Comeback Kid dared to criticize and in doing so established himself as a New Democrat centrist. Not that Harris is as extreme as the Bronx-born rapper — but her word salad speaking style and non-performance when it comes to addressing the migrant crisis, as assigned by the president, have won her no broad public following.

At the same time, Democrats have a deep bench of plausible women to replace Harris. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, a former governor of Rhode Island, private capital investor and Rhodes Scholar, recently got a star turn on “60 Minutes.” She stood up to public sector unions in resolving the pension financing crisis in Little Rhody. Even better, from an electoral perspective, would be Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who likes to call herself a pragmatic progressive — and hails from a state whose electoral vote may swing the election. As a Californian, Harris brings no similar boost.

Even more important, both Whitmer and Raimondo have themselves run successfully in closely contested elections and have serious executive experience, something neither Biden nor Barack Obama had before entering the White House. As Biden shuffles slowly off the political stage, such experience would be reassuring to voters — just as was Truman’s experience as the head of a Senate committee investigating World War II contract corruption and his background as a Kansas City county executive.

This is not to endorse Biden — but to suggest that he owes it to the country to look for a vice president convincingly qualified for the most important role of that office: taking over upon the death of the president.

To be sure, Donald Trump, having cut loose Mike Pence — who played a key role in recruiting capable executive talent for their administration — similarly owes it to the country to quickly name his own vice presidential nominee. That person, too, must be able to take over for the 77-year-old Trump, about whose health we can’t be assured either.

Author Roll notes that Roosevelt found a face saving exit for Henry Wallace, as secretary of commerce. Truman, however, distrustful of Wallace for his naïveté about the Soviets, later dismissed him. Wallace, in turn, ran against Truman in 1948 as a Progressive. That election itself reminds us of the present. A four-way race, it featured Truman, Republican New York Gov. Tom Dewey (of Thruway fame), as well as Wallace and “Dixiecrat” Strom Thurmond, who actually carried four Southern states. Truman won anyway.

Face-saving exits for Harris are also possible — whether replacing Merrick Garland as attorney general (the post she held in California) or even Sonia Sotomayor on the Supreme Court,

Dumping Harris would signal that Biden actually has something Americans doubt he possesses: guts. Of course, someone, in an era without big city political bosses, would have to play the role of Bronx leader Flynn. Dr. Jill?

Husock is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Ultimately, this policy will have limited impact, and it’s sure not to satisfy anyone, neither the hawks calling on President Biden to more fully adopt his predecessor’s extreme stance, nor the advocates who have been disappointed by the president’s refusal to fully step back from the Trump-era dynamics. Whatever the outcome, it should not be a system run through the whims of the current executive. Congress, having tried and failed to pass a limited border bill earlier this year, seems content to abdicate this responsibility, only to be pulled out as an electoral cudgel, never to be fixed.

Meanwhile we’re squandering time and talent, as businesses clamor for labor and innovation and migrants find their way to costly city shelters as opposed to being integrated into the economy and reversing population declines in towns and cities across the country. The can gets kicked down further, and everyone loses.

The most damaging thing is the persistent myth that this has to be all or nothing. Either we have some sort of immoral and illegal absolute border closure, abandoning our principles and obligations to the people so aptly described by the Statue of Liberty, or we have no process, no restrictions, no standards. This belief is both wrong and incredibly persistent, poisoning the dialogue and standing in the way of meaningful reform, which all parties claim to want.

We do not have to remake the wheel. The bipartisan border deal that collapsed in Congress in February had had a lot not to like, including the reinstatement of a version of the always misguided Title 42 restriction. However, there were worthwhile elements that should be resuscitated, notably an effort to take many new asylum claims out of the slow and confrontational setting of the immigration courts and place them in an internal agency process, where trained government personnel would evaluate the applications like they already do for countless other immigration matters.

Applicants would either quickly get approvals or quickly get denials, which could then be appealed to another panel of experts. Faster resolutions help everyone: those who qualify for protections can receive them expeditiously, giving them runway to begin their new lines in the United States without the unstable limbo of drawn-out removal proceedings. Those who do not aren’t left to start building lives here only to, in a year or two, have the rug pulled out from under them.

There are real questions to be hammered out around how to speed things up without infringing on due process, and there are structural obstacles like a widespread shortage of attorneys who can take on these often complicated cases. These considerations must be taken into account in order for us to avoid the worst-case scenario of sending people back to danger.

But these are not insurmountable obstacles, certainly not for a nation with the resources, breadth and ingenuity of the United States — the very qualities that many immigrants are both seeking and have contributed to. In all but giving up, Congress shows they have less grit than the immigrants they’re failing.

Brooklyn: Kudos to the Daily News for calling out the New York State Legislature for its inexcusable delay over several years as it relates to the pending Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) Act (“Life, death and Albany,” editorial, May 9). The sole purpose of this very compassionate legislation, contrary to numerous falsehoods irresponsibly spread by opponents of the measure, would be to allow terminally ill New Yorkers the option of a peaceful death if their end-of-life suffering becomes too great to bear. This kind of end-of-life autonomy has been very responsibly made available for years to mentally competent dying patients in 10 other progressive-minded states — including our neighbors in New Jersey and Vermont — as well as in Washington, D.C.

As a result of the procrastination and dithering in Albany, far too many New Yorkers continue to watch their terminally ill loved ones endure needlessly agonizing deaths. This points to a clear failure of leadership on this critical issue by Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (photo). Do these legislative leaders not realize (or care) that more than 70% of New Yorkers favor enactment of this truly compassionate and responsible measure?

In the handful of weeks left in this year’s legislative process, I can only hope that Albany gets off the sidelines and enacts the critically needed MAID Act. Although death is inevitable for all of us, our legislative leaders’ inaction on this issue continues to translate into far too much intolerable and unnecessary agony throughout New York. Bernard O’Brien

Industry arguments

Valhalla, N.Y.: National Grid’s Long Island, Staten Island and Brooklyn customers’ gas rates are poised to increase by nearly $65/month by 2026. This comes on the heels of recent Con Edison gas rate hikes of nearly $30/month in just one year in NYC and Westchester. Substantial portions of both these hikes are the result of wasteful investments in new gas pipes, and downstate N.Y. can expect larger hikes in the future. The NY HEAT Act will address this issue while also directly addressing energy affordability for all New Yorkers. Yet, right-wing politicians and fracked gas propagandists from upstate published a double dose of disinformation, “Don’t raise the N.Y. HEAT Act: It threatens the safety of all New Yorkers” (op-ed, May 12) and “We have to be honest about energy costs” (op-ed, May 12), in a single day. Anshul Gupta

Former phrase

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.: Since nobody else is doing it, I hereby decree that as of Monday, June 17, 2024, the phrase “X, formerly known as Twitter” will cease. Henceforth, the phrase will be merely “X.” Please notify all concerned parties. Bob English

Practice what you preach

Woodland Park, N.J.: Tom Selleck spent last week being interviewed on every available TV show promoting his new book and telling us how disappointed he is that his show “Blue Bloods” has been canceled. He said he worries that if he does not work enough, he may not be able to hold on to the 63-acre avocado farm he lives on. With the extra time he now has, perhaps he will see one of those constantly running commercials with him promoting reverse mortgages for exactly the problem he is worried about. Check it out, Tom. Problem solved. John Dent

B movie A-lister

Tivoli, N.Y.: One of the best directors of the 20th century passed away a few days ago (“Farewell ‘King of the Bs,’ ” May 13). He was 98. Roger Corman made mostly B movies but they were entertaining and brought new life and fans to actors such as Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. He was the first director to use a new actor in his movies — Jack Nicholson! He also directed one of my all-time favorite movies, “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.” Best Valentine’s Day movie ever! Marc Savino

Lamentable loophole

Manhattan: Voicer Louie Russo has the right idea about enforcing laws concerning e-bikes speeding on sidewalks, but he misses a point. How do you issue a ticket to an e-biker who is often an undocumented person who has no ID and might not speak English? There are no licenses to suspend or registrations to revoke — documents a cop needs to enforce the law. E-bikes are treated like any other bike except they are required to speed no more than 20 mph. But many speed past me in my car as I drive the 25 mph limit. Rewiring the lithium-ion battery cells will produce more voltage, which means more speed but also an unbalanced charging that could create a fire. The city is now considering lowering the speed limit for drivers to 20 or 10 mph. Good idea, but it won’t apply to e-bikes because it can’t be enforced. Vincent Novak

Public unsafety

Brooklyn: The tourist who was stabbed in Times Square and the famous actor randomly punched in the face (“Actor Buscemi randomly punched on Midtown street,” May 13) are alarming because it has become a trend with people walking the streets and traveling on transit every day and night in NYC. They say the attackers are mentally ill, so they are let go soon after they are arrested because of lenient district attorneys, judges and jurors who feel sorry for them. But whether the ones committing serious crimes are mentally ill or not is no excuse to let them back onto the streets with no real jail time to commit even more crimes, sometimes taking someone’s life. Joseph Comperchio

Well said

Staten Island: Kudos to Voicer Nancy Reilly for her contribution to Voice of the People re the raising of the American flag that was removed by protesters at City College of New York. She totally nailed it. Nobody could have said it better! What a patriot. Brian O’Leary

Dress to impress

Massapequa, L.I.: Thank you, Voicer John Brandenburg, regarding your letter about dressing professionally at work. When I was a young girl, I admired how classy and professional the women looked as news anchors. I learned from them how to dress professionally and feel respectable, ladylike, etc., when I wasn’t partying. Maybe Fox News wants the women to look “foxy” so more men will watch. There are other local stations that have no dress code. Two anchors on News 12 with their cleavages and tight pants; PIX11 has one who really dresses inappropriately. However, I admire Kaity Tong on PIX11, who always looks classy and casually elegant. Other women will respond that it’s “body shaming” to tell women not to show their bodies. I feel the problem is no self-respect and no respect for their coworkers or the audience. What message are they sending? Jean Marie Chiaramonte

Things change

Tarrytown, N.Y.: To Voicer Dennis Burge: It’s because of me that newsstands are going out of business? I guess you’re going to blame me for the end of VHS tapes, 8-tracks and not putting our kids in car seats. It’s called adapting, Dennis. I am 60 and continue to keep up with the times as much as I can. I understand your frustration of paying a dollar more and not receiving the latest edition. That is why my advice to you was to subscribe to the digital version. And I definitely do not subscribe to get the latest on the Lupica family. But if you’re like me, like it or not, we have grown up with them. Stephen Talenti

Fortify yourself

Warwick, R.I.: Most Americans live their lives anticipating no serious concerns as they pursue their daily activities. We usually expect that the car will start, your job is secure, your money and valuables are safe, your technology will respond normally and your personal safety is assured. But even when one negative occurrence happens, we become desperate to find an immediate solution, as time is not an option for resolution. Therefore, we should live our lives expecting sudden changes, as they surely will occur. A health crisis, loss of a job or financial concerns are just a few of the adversities we all will face someday. Preparing for the unknown is hard, therefore accepting these difficulties with composure and resolve can be a start for resiliency and recovery. One option is to live life with enthusiasm and purpose so these difficulties can be processed clearly. Time is a factor that mends. Bob Sweeney