Gene, the opportunity has been choked off.

There are costs associated with having nominees forced upon voters:

Hillary Clinton was an unlikable candidate who lost, resulting in four years of incompetence, destruction, and buffoonery of Donald Trump.

Joe Biden was retrieved from a boat to meet St Peter by the party establishment to become the Democratic nominee. Without COVID, Biden, who was never particularly liked, would likely have lost to Trump.

President Biden gave the middle finger to two-thirds of Democrats who did not want him as their 2024 nominee. This blocked another younger and more talented.

Biden's campaign failed even before his implosion. He waited almost a month to bow out and anoint his choice, Kamala Harris, whom few ever liked, as the nominee.

Harris has a huge task ahead. She has to get out of the hole dug by Biden and lift herself above Trump. That Harris has a track record of disorganization, unpreparedness, poor campaigner, and poor communication doesn't lend confidence.

Best.