There is a Hole in the Democratic VP Pick Conversation

A long time ago, Presidential tickets aimed for regional balance. Or the idea was to pick a VP candidate who could deliver a delegate rich state. It is true that this didn't always work out---Al Gore failed to deliver Tennessee, for example.

Still the general idea seems to have merit to me. So I'm looking at the list of supposed front runners for Biden's pick and saying to myself, WTF?

Kamala Harris and Karen Bass are from CA, which is going to go Democratic no matter what.

Susan Rice is from where, exactly? IDK. What I do know is that she has not campaigned for or held elected office and her son, at Stanford, is the President of the campus GOP and a fan of the current President. (My source on this is imperfect so if you know better, please correct me.) Which constituency can Rice be counted on to deliver? It's baffling.

The whole "woman of color" thing seems increasingly nuts. The principal idea of any campaign needs to be to win, not to put points up on an Identity Politics scoreboard.

Now let's consider the various options I see: Either Joe goes down clinging to ID politics or
he goes down because he wants to lose, or he chooses a running mate who can deliver a state he needs to win. And possibly, befuddling as it seems, this doddering Centrist (RW) Democrat wins the election.

Let me offer two choices that make a bit of sense. Gretchen Whitmer the Governor of Michigan. Julian Castro the former two term Mayor of San Antonio. Both of these choices give the electorate something in the ID category as well as coming from a state we need, Michigan, and a state that who knows, may be Purple after all. Please offer up other ideas if you have them.

OTOH If Joe Biden persists in picking a WOC who has little else going for her, then the scenario is Biden playing Hot Potato with a baby wearing a loose diaper who is about to poop. He wants to lose and who can be shocked at that with our country unraveling before our eyes.

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Lily O Lady's picture

It’s all about pleasing TPTB. And if they lose they can spend another four years saying “OMG! Trump! Send us money now!” I can just imagine the emails they’ll send us already.

If they win they’ll complain that the mean ol’ Republicans won’t let them do anything. Or they’ll start singing bi-partisan Kumbaya. They have to give the GOP what it wants in the name of peace and harmony. What they won’t say is that they want what the GOP wants which is what TPTB want. We just don’t rate.

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

@Lily O Lady GOP/DNC are becoming more and more indistinguishable at this point.

Neither party wants what we want.

I'd like them both to lose and yes i understand how crazy that sounds.

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NYCVG

snoopydawg's picture

@Lily O Lady

we won’t only be called misogynistic cruds, but they will also accuse us of being racists. Win win for democrats.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Granma's picture

The Biden campaign doesn't seem to know what they are doing.
Maybe tptb are arguing about who the VP should be and/or considering whether the VP will be running things or the cabinet picks. If Biden is in worse shape than the thought, they need to make sure the VP is someone they like if he steps aside. And it might not have been in the script for him to say he would choose a female of color for his VP. I'm just thinking out loud here I guess.
My state will go blue regardless of how I vote. I dem-exited in 2016.

I would like to see Trump out. But I cannot get excited about Biden or the idea that unknown persons will be making decisions should he actually win. If people actually begin to pay attention to the election, how many of them will see it for the farce it is being revealed so openly this time? (Think my phrasing is awkward, but don't have enough brain power at the moment to improve it.)

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@Granma Your view is perfectly clear and it matches mine.

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NYCVG

The Borman 6 girl is got to have soul.

No, he doesn't. He says, tell the folks on Wall St. nothing is going to change.

There is only one party, the Donor Party. If it was the Donner party then the problem would take care of itself. But we're the Donner Party.

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@Snode lol very funny. Donner Party

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NYCVG

And I think they’re still trying to figure out a way to make that happen.

I agree with you that none of the names really make sense in the conventional wisdom on a VP pick at all (and I’d throw the other names sometimes mentioned like Warren and Abrams in there as well.) Not that I think the Klob is any better, but I really think they painted themselves into a corner on this.

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Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

@Dr. John Carpenter My pick all along has been Julian because he has the governing and campaigning experience---plus his Latino background and his and his twin brothers popularity in Texas. Joaquin is a re-elected Congressman

I think that ticket could win.

I'm not sure that winning is Biden's goal, however.

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NYCVG

Gore as VP didn't deliver TN. Clinton/Gore carried TN in 1992 and 1996. However, that wasn't a prime reason why Clinton chose Gore. The most recent use of a VP nominee to help carry a state that might be out of reach would be Edwards in 2004. It didn't work.

Prior to that, there was Bentsen in 1988 and it didn't work. It probably figured into Nixon's choice of Agnew in 1968, but it didn't work that time either. Would guess that it was a factor in LBJ's 1964 choice, but more regional and labor support than state specific. Definitely a major factor in 1960 for JFK.

Agree that Biden has dug himself into a hole on this, but perhaps it doesn't matter and ABT (anybody but Trump) will prevail. However, that's the thinking of losers. Of those you've listed, Whitmer might be the strongest, and she's already experienced tangling with Trump. A governor at the bottom a of VP ticket would be different.

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Biden then wins in a historical landslide.

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travelerxxx's picture

@Battle of Blair Mountain

I guess we can still dream, eh?

If I could have my pick, she would be it. Nina.

And you're right. It would be a massive, historical rout. The damn Democrats - they know this, too. Their corruption is beyond comprehension for me.

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