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Joe Biden’s VP Dilemma
With less than 90 days until the election, Joe Biden still has not yet selected his running mate for Vice President. This has led to speculation, as you might imagine. Although also much less speculation than you might imagine, because Mr. Biden has already said that he will select a black female running mate. Based purely on qualifications and skills, of course.
It has also led to threatening letters from “black male leaders” informing Mr. Biden that if he does not select a black female running mate, that he is sure to lose the election. Because of Mr. Biden’s apparent failing health (cognitively, at least), many people view his choice for the Vice President to be unusually relevant in the upcoming presidential election. There are many interested parties involved, who are presumably putting as much pressure on Mr. Biden as possible to get their way. I have rather strong feelings on this matter, and if you’re interested in my analysis, please read on:
It does not matter who Joe Biden selects as his running mate.
Published in General
As I posted elsewhere, the Biden VP selection should be released as a late Friday afternoon news dump as whoever he selects is bad news.
Is this a serial?
By pandering in such as specific way, Biden has sort of boxed himself in on his VP pick. Pre-George Floyd, the pandering was simply Joe was going to have a female running mate. Now that he’s limited it to a Black female running mate, if he goes back and picks someone like Gretchen Whitmer, the implication is none of the Black female options was as good as Governor Karen, even if most of the media will spin Governor Karen as being the greatest VP pick in American history.
(I suppose Biden could mitigate the damage a little by opting for another minority, like Duckworth or Lujan-Grisham. But even there, because the Democrats have tossed enough race cards in the past 2 1/2 months to bury every casino in Las Vegas while making racial identity a core part of their platform, there are still going to be woke Black activists out there not happy if Harris, Rice or one of the others does not get the VP slot.)
Well this is amusing to watch unfold. The delay in making pick hints at some serious divisions there that we aren’t aware.
The woke calculus is rather interesting to see play out. The Obama/DC crowd clearly want Rice or Harris.
The ‘Base’ really want a a Commie/Black Panther-type.
Wonder if Hillary will bring out her hot sauce and borrow some makeup from Gov. Northam.
And it’s Anybody’s guess who is really making the decision. Anybody guesses it’s the same guy/gal who planned/plans on running Biden if he’s actually elected.
I saw this news article and thought, “They are already coming up with the reason for Biden’s huge loss – ‘he didn’t pick a black female Veep like he promised.’ ” Very convenient, but they’ll also have to explain why many blacks came out in support of Trump . . .
I disagree. If Biden picks someone who is seen as radical (e.g., Karen Bass had to walk back her adulation for Fidel), that could drive more people to the polls to pull the lever for Trump. If Biden picks someone who is unknown or is considered “safe,” he’ll likely win the election.
I believe he’d do better with a black male than a black female. But you’re right, Doctor. It won’t matter.
The VP pick is always a token of some kind. LBJ was the token Texan, for example to counteract JFK’s Massachusetts brahmin persona.
Winning a key State is another historical consideration.
But in Biden’s situation he’s not only painted himself into a corner with the preemptive declaration, he has to pick someone who can step in as President on day one – for obvious reasons- and at the same time, that person can’t outshine him, since that would make him appear even more pathetic.
People vote for whoever is at the top of the ticket anyway. The Presidential candidate is the dress and the shoes, the VP is the handbag.
Ultimately, the Vice President is always an accessory. He/she gets a lot of exposure but has very little power. The exposure and VP status puts them first in line for party and voter consideration 8 years hence, but in Biden’s case she has to be more than that. Four years or even less, and that’s even before the election.
There are several candidates that could thread that needle, but they are all men. I can’t think of a black female who has national recognition and no baggage. Susan Rice fills it, except she’s not a politician and not especially likeable. She wouldn’t outshine Biden, ( she’s that dull and monotonic) , has enough gravitas ( there’s that word again!), but she has Benghazi baggage.
This being another dead end, all other options are get Joe out of the race and put him out to pasture.
They might do that … but only after the DNC convention and then only if Biden gaffes enough so that his polling numbers head south right after Labor Day. He’s completely safe until the convention, because neither the Obama nor the Hillary people want to give Bernie the right to claim he’s next in line, and he’s probably still safe as long as the current polls hold up.
(As for the Rice-Harris debate, Kamala’s ambition and the fact that Biden’s mental health makes the VP pick this year the most consequential since Truman in ’44 means the more ambitious and self-aggrandizing the candidate is, the more they’re likely not simply to upstage Biden, but possibly not even be on his side, if Joe were to get elected and people started talking 25th Amendment due to his embarrassing public performances. A Kamala Harris who’d throw a deck of race cards at Joe Biden in the very first Democratic debate probably wouldn’t have problems getting leaks to the media about how feeble the president is at Cabinet meetings, and how something may have to be done in the near future).
Those people are not the base. They are the very noisy fringe. Real life is not the same as what happens on Twitter.
Yes, she’s toxic. And she’s still “that little girl”, but nastier.
Exactly. Merely a footnote in history.
If Joe was a man, and really committed to justice, he’d select not only a black woman, but a black Marxist trans woman! C’mon Joe, Black Lives Matter!
It might matter more this time, as many see an unusually good chance that “she” will become President at some point in the four years, but you’re right, it traditionally doesn’t matter much:
https://youtu.be/C11ZNuVSBMU
Sadly Kamala Harris died yesterday. (WWF wrestling star)
Pence might become President, Biden’s running mate will not.
Biden’s strategists must recognize that this election is about the Obama=>Trump voters in 3 key states: Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, and potential “swing” voters in Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire, and North Carolina. He needs to pick a VP who won’t scare those voters. Sen. Harris is not that person. Sen. Duckworth might be.
Why doesn’t it matter who Joe’s Veep is?
I stand corrected! What was I thinking?
Isn’t that a little triumphalist before the triumph.
Don’t get Cocky, Kid.
The only one who is remotely qualified is Amy Klobuchar who withdrew her name from consideration.
The others are simply not qualified.
I think Biden will pick Gretchen.
Not that it will matter.
I guess Beyonce would be too much to ask.
She can’t be an unknown because dozens of MSM commentators could be instantly fired for calling her a “dark horse” candidate.
Her name must have few syllables, be easy to pronounce and not similar to other public figures, all to lessen the chance Biden will repeatedly misidentify her.
She has to be alert to where Joe is at all times so he does not get photographed nuzzling her neck or sniffing her hair.
She must be able to issue brazen, Bidenesque lies to appease the marxoids while not scaring the straights. That will be fun.
She must be able to keep a straight face and nod in agreement when Biden talks about giving names to his favorite two or three cheese curls while on break in the coal mines.
Who will she be?
Could Beyonce beat Trump if she were the Democratic nominee? I feel like I’d rather have a beer with Beyonce than Donald Trump.
Joe must be thinking “If only the Pennsylvania Health Commissioner was black . . .”
Hmm. Mrs. Wilson is no longer available, though she aces the experience test.
Even if the selection process were wide open, there is no one they can select that won’t send swing voters running the other way.
Maybe she identifies as black. That works, right?
You think whoever is actually making the decision will risk the internal war? I could see him trying it but I see that move ticking off the Bernie Bros. and the POC’s.
@drbastiat I’m curious whether the young and vibrant Tulsi Gabbard has been considered as a dark horse candidate. She is a quick, formidable debater… she singlehandedly demolished Kamala Harris’s campaign in a single verbal exchange, almost Sicilian in its deadly precision. When Kamala woke up next morning she knew exactly who left the horse head in her bed. Gabbard might even give Pence a few difficulties.
But she’s probably not a likely VP pick. She might be a dark horse, but just not “dark” enough.
A further risk to the Biden campaign is that she’d probably be mistaken for Ol’ Joe’s “Visiting Angel” caregiver. On camera. By Joe.