Who you like 2020 Dems- Page 25

[Highland Guy]

There are now 3 million coronavirus cases in the United States.

Trump says the U.S. is doing "very well" during this pandemic.  He threatens to cut off funding to schools if they don't reopen.

Four more months until November

 

[Highland Guy]

In an interview with MSNBC's Joy Reid this afternoon, future President Biden said there are four Black Women on his list of potential Vice Presidential candidates.  According to MSNBC, it is believed that there are two other women, as well.  Joe said he has always supported and been supported by Black Women.  "My Administration will look like America."  I'm getting anxious to know! 

 Any guesses which strong American women are on the list........and who will be his running mate?

[bwaylyric]

There may be four black women, but I doubt they’re at the top of his list. The four: Kamala Harris, Val Demmings, Susan Rice, and longshot Stacey Abrams. The other two who probably top his list are Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Duckworth. 

[Sutton Ross]

Keisha Lance Bottoms and Karen Bass are among the Black women being considered as well. 

[Sally Durant Plummer]

The fourth is Keisha Lance Bottoms. Abrams was never seriously vetted, despite her campaign. I doubt Bottoms will be chosen simply because I refuse to believe the Biden Campaign would allow “Biden Bottoms 2020” to be a topic of conversation.

As of now it sounds like a tight race between Harris and Duckworth, with Harris remaining a slight favorite. We shall see in about 2 weeks.

[Highland Guy]

Joe Biden today said that he will choose his running mate next week.

Democratic National Convention:    August 17-20

Republican National Convention:    August 24-27

[Sutton Ross]

So, it's going to be Kamala based on his notes. She did not poll well, particularly with African Americans. I don't know if this will help or hurt him. 

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Oohh, the knives are out for Kamala this week. This means two options are possible:

1) Biden wants Kamala, but a small group of his advisors (he has a tiny core group as well as hundreds of Dem insiders who he consults with) are against her, and are attempting to elevate relative unknowns like Bass and Rice as credible picks.

2) The Biden campaign actually has serious doubts about Kamala and this has lead them to seriously consider Bass (who is very under the radar with no executive experience) or Rice (who has great experience but has never run for office, plus was involved in the Benghazi drama that the Republicans are sure to bring up.)

Of course, maybe Kamala is already chosen and the campaign is floating other possibilities as a way to avoid her seeming inevitable.

I’ll just say this: Kamala is by far the candidate who polls best with voters of color. People still floating Warren don’t remember her dismal standing not only through the entire primary, but especially in South Carolina. The veiled sexism and racism going against Kamala is real, but she is handling it with class and dignity.

Also, aides are now admitting the VP choice is more likely to be announced the week of August 10th.

[Sutton Ross]

I’ll just say this: Kamala is by far the candidate who polls best with voters of color. 

Yeah, that's a lie. As I just said, she does NOT poll well with people of color, particularly African Americans. 

[Sally Durant Plummer]

The YouGov poll that was just released would say otherwise.

[Miles2Go2]

I think the reason Harris struggled through her campaign after a strong start had to do not so much with African American voters not liking her as being pragmatic about the chances of a WOC winning the election this time around. That’s why Biden had such strong support among POC. Part of that was his association with Obama, but also he was less alienating to many voters than Sanders and thus the pragmatic choice.

Biden needs someone who brings immediate energy to the campaign. Harris does that. Rice and Bass do not. With Rice, we’ll be hearing about Benghazi for three months. With Bass, the campaign will have to spend time introducing her to voters who have no idea who she is.

[Highland Guy]

Over on the White Wing "Faux Snooze" website today, this was the lead headline:

 
"BASS GRILLED.  Rising star in Biden Veepstakes scrambles to explain remarks on Castro, Scientology"

 
Fasten your seatbelts, folks.

[javero]

ETA: I really got carried away & didnt' mean to post a treatise. My bad!

My latest take on it is that Rice is in it for the Sec of State slot that Obama couldn't move her into for sundry reasons. She's universally panned by the Right across the board from Reagan Republicans to the Trump cult. She's never campaigned for elected office, aka never engaged in the all-important task of fund raising. Biden and his inner circle are not new to this. Their focus is squarely on a path to 270. I wouldn't worry too much about Rice getting the nod.

It seems that Karen Bass now has a Fidel Castro problem akin to the bullet Obama had to dodge w.r.t Rev Jeremiah Wright. Marco Rubio and a few of his friends in South Florida are actively painting Bass as the mother of all Castro sympathizers. She's made a few trips to Cuba and used a poorly chosen & translated phrase in Spanish that the right is characterizing as a term of endearment for Castro. Even Bass has responded with a pithy "lesson learned". If she can get past this tempest in a a teapot, I wouldn't rule her out.

Now, I hope you all don't attack me for what I write next. But, it's been weighing on my heart lately. I think that Kamala Harris has a character problem similar to the burden carried by Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Klobuchar. She is guilty of the one unpardonable sin for any American woman, the desire to be president. I really wish that men of a certain age would reveal the gist of the private discussions we have among ourselves about what a woman president should look and sound like. Dana Milbank arguably failed at it today in what reads more like a "hit piece" on Susan Rice in WaPo than an objective and balanced assessment of what Rice brings to the table. A few African American women blew up my Inbox with "did you see that bullshaite that Dana wrote about Susan Rice...why be coy about it...just call her an uppity angry black woman already". One of those women even accused Biden's team of planting the hit piece via Milbank to clear a path for either Kamala Harris or Tammy Duckworth, which is an excellent segue.

IMHO Tammy Duckworth is looking more viable with each passing day. She is a hero. Biden's team would not have to manufacture a hero narrative for her. And it would be extremely difficult for Captain Bonespurs and his henchmen to swiftboat her like the neocons did John Kerry in the past. When Kerry ran, the Vietnam War was becoming a distant memory for many voters. He was able to return home after the war with both life & limb. That is only partly true in the case of Duckworth who bears visceral evidence of the cruelties of war. Come to think of it, she'd be only person out of the group with a record of military service, which includes Trump, Pence, and Biden. Let Trump & Pence label her a "limousine liberal" at their peril.

One thing is almost certain...the woman picked by Biden as running mate will instantly become the most vilified person in the nation by right-wing media. She'll need to be thick-skinned and comfortable with the most scrutiny she and her spouse will likely receive in their lifetimes.

Finally, I'm going to offer a friendly reminder to some of the BLM adherents on here. Politics is about "compromise". If Kamala, Val, Karen, Susan, (or even Stacey for the sake for argument) appear to deter Biden in any way from having a shot at 270, sistah gurl needs to take one for the team gracefully. Reality set in fairly quickly for Amy Klobuchar , Elizabeth Warren, and Kirsten Gillibrand all of whom did the right thing at the most appropriate time. Unlike Obama, Kamala came nowhere close to capturing the party nomination which speaks volumes; Susan Rice wisely withdrew her nomination for Sec of State under Obama to avoid an utter humiliation; and Stacey Abrams lost her last statewide race which is a kiss of death politically. That leaves Karen Bass, Tammy Duckworth, Val Demmings, and the darkhorse Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer. I personally would be quite comfortable with either Bass, Duckworth, Demmings, or Whitmer as Biden's veep. 2024 will take care of itself.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

I think that Kamala Harris has a character problem similar to burden carried by Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Klobuchar. She is guilty of the one unpardonable sin for any American woman, the desire to be president. I really wish that men of a certain age would reveal the gist of the private discussions we have among ourselves about what a woman president should look and sound like. Dana Milbank arguably failed at it today in what reads more like a "hit piece" on Susan Rice in WaPo than an objective and balanced assessment of what Rice brings to the table. A few African American women blew up my Inbox with "did you see that bullshaite that Dana wrote about Susan Rice...why be coy about it...just call her an uppity angry black woman already". One of those women even accused Biden's team of planting the hit piece via Milbank to clear a path for either Kamala Harris or Tammy Duckworth, which is an excellent segue.

A great point for a salient - and complicated - discussion.

Yes, Hillary Clinton, Kirstin Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren faced fierce sexism in their pursuits of the white house. Remember in 2015, when everyone said Warren was the anti-Hillary Clinton - Hillary without the baggage of being a Clinton? Well, she rose in the polls, became a formidable frontrunner, and then never finished above third in a state - including her home state. People love to hate on Hillary, but she won numerous states in both of her Presidential campaigns - and remember that 2008 was far closer than 2016 and she won the popular vote of the primary in both races (Obama only had an advantage of 63 pledged delegates over Clinton at the end, though he ended up winning a majority of the superdelegates. Warren has a total of 63 pledged delegates in the 2020 primary.). Clinton was actually able to win the popular vote of Democratic primary voters twice. That's a huge thing to consider.

However, the sexism that Clinton, Warren, and others faced (and yes, they did face it: consider the reaction to Warren alleging that Sanders told her a woman couldn't win the White house) can really be only a fraction of the misogynoir that Harris faced in her presidential ambitions. Like her predecessor, Shirley Chisholm, Kamala Harris became a lightning rod for race questions on the trail. She is a gifted politician who had detailed plans that seemed to meet a moment, until it didn't. It became "Oh, I'm supporting a woman candidate - just not this year" or "just not that one" or "she'd be a great pick for VP" (That final quote is literally the discussion that was had after that first debate - Kamala would be a great pick for Joe's VP. Oh, how a year can change things.) Things that would have rear-ended Harris' campaign (Warren releasing a genetics test, the police killing in South Bend last summer), were minor dents to others. And that has a lot to do with race and sex. 

That is not to say that Harris ran a perfect campaign. There were plenty of mistakes that were made. However: Biden made numerous gaffes. Sanders embraced Castro. Warren had a plan for everything except her signature issue. Of the obvious front runners, only Harris dropped out in 2019. There is a point to be made there.

And this argument that we shouldn't elect someone out of fear that others won't vote for them is ridiculous. It is that idea that keeps Black women among the most underrepresented constituency in America, along with Native Americans as a whole and Native women specifically. That was what Dodd was implying when he said Harris was too ambitious. Too ambitious? I would hope the second Black women in the Senate and a candidate for the 2020 Democratic Nomination is ambitious! Why is running an unsuccessful campaign a death nail in the VP coffin? That's how Biden became VP 12 years ago.

What I'm trying to say is, Kamala Harris has a record that can be scrutinized, and I encourage those who prefer another person to be VP to explain their reservations about her record. But hiding under the gauze of - "people won't vote for her", "she's too ambitious", or "she's a cop" (a gross over-simplification of a nuanced topic), create the trap and the environment we are in today. No, we should not push these talented Black women aside for Gretchen Whitmer (who I adore and believe will be a fierce Presidential contender down the line). We need to be elevating Black voices and Black candidates, particularly in this moment. Let's not get dragged down in the mire of how each one is inevitably imperfect.

Also, if you're looking for someone with executive experience, has been vetted by the media, will not allow Trump to portray the Dem ticket as crazy socialists, is "simpatico" with Biden, and who would be "ready on Day 1" to be President... Well, you know my thoughts.

Credentials Not Cosmetics: The Case for Kamala Harris for VP

[javero]

Sally Durant Plummer said: "...Clinton was actually able to win the popular vote of Democratic primary voters twice. That's a huge thing to consider..."


Indeed it is, Sally Durant Plummer. I left the Dems for the Libertarian Party a few years before Obama & Hillary duked it out. The 2004 Dem nomination process left a very bad taste in my mouth. I grew up in NC in the 60s and never thought anything of Jesse Helms (or John Edwards). I also didn't like how many leading Dems didn't fight back with every weapon in their arsenal after the GOP started the smear campaign in 2004 against Kerry's record of military service.

I still believe the heart of the Dems is in the right place but the party needs to figure out how to elect governors again from the Rust Belt, Great Plains, and Old South. Voters need to see that Dems are capable of actually governing and managing resources (and spending) again outside of coastal states and urban enclaves. Otherwise, every four years the Dems will bump up against the nearly insurmountable wall of 270 at the top of the ticket and dicey prospects in the House of Overlords (aka the Senate It boggles the mind that the Dems have somehow been cast as the party of elites when the GOP is swimming in a mixture of old money & plutocracy.

My 81 year old reformed misogynist dad just texted, "hell, if a man like Tammy Duckworth had hit the scene a couple of decades ago he'd be president already". That is not to take anything away from the other women under consideration though. It's just that Biden & Duckworth's electoral college calculus is nothing to scoff at. I'm left wondering though whether her husband and she desire to subject their young kids to the level of scrutiny that a veep nod and potential White House stint would engender. And Whitmer and hubby have their hands full with 5 kids.

[Highland Guy]

javero said: "My 81 year old reformed misogynist dad just texted, "hell, if a man like Tammy Duckworth had hit the scene a couple of decades ago he'd be president already". That is not to take anything away from the other women under consideration though. It's just that Biden & Duckworth's electoral college calculus is nothing to scoff at. I'm left wondering though whether her husband and she desire to subject their young kids to the level of scrutiny that a veep nod and potential White House stint would engender. And Whitmer and hubby have their hands full with 5 kids."

 

Did I just get kicked back into the 1950's?  Women are incapable of excelling as wives and mothers AND National leaders?

 

[javero]

Highland Guy said: "Did I just get kicked back into the 1950's? Women are incapable of excelling as wives and mothers AND National leaders?

"

@Highland Guy: I'm not remotely suggesting that women are incapable of managing the demands of home & public office. It's that the two women cited have young pre-school and school-aged children compared to the other two, as well as husbands to factor in. It's a package deal. Not everyone would be comfortable exposing their young kids to the scrutiny that I noted earlier. And sadly, the only men who've ever faced any real prospect of hearing their wives addressed as Madame President (or Madame Vice-President ) are a certain former President himself and a fellow from Wasilla, Alaska. I'm being careful not to dismiss how even a veep nod could impact the family dynamic. Sarah Palin's entire family was eviscerated by elements of the left-wing media and several late night comedians during the McCain-Palin campaign, with her oldest daughter Bristol often bearing the brunt of it. You will recall Amy Carter's struggles while her dad was president, and afterwards. I'm confident you get my drift.

[Highland Guy]

 

[Highland Guy]

It was announced this morning that the Democratic Convention will (mostly) be conducted virtually.  Joe Biden will not travel to Milwaukee to accept the nomination, but will do so from his home State.  Excellent decision, given Covid-19.

[Highland Guy]

 

[Highland Guy]

 

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Joe Biden has finished interviewing the finalists and has disbanded his VP committee. There is nothing left to do but for Biden to pick. The announcement could come as early as tomorrow, but most aides expect it to occur on Wednesday. Finalists include:

Kamala Harris

Susan E. Rice

Karen Bass

Elizabeth Warren

Tammy Duckworth

Val Demings

And Last-Minute Dark Horse Gretchen Whitmer

Other candidates who made it far along into the process and it is unclear if they were interviewed are:

Keisha Lance Bottoms

Tammy Baldwin

Michelle Lujan Grisham

Not much longer to wait before all our questions will be answered.

 

In other news, the VP pick will address the nation next Wednesday during the Democratic National Convention, after speeches from Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Warren's announcement to speak that evening has sparked rumors that she will not be chosen for VP.

 

 

[Highland Guy]

Now that we are close to knowing Joe Biden's decision, any predictions?

All of the announced possibilities would be exceptional Vice Presidents.  I think he will select Harris.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

This is totally supposition on my end (and I could end up being way off), but I feel like Joe Biden is torn between his head and his heart.

Kamala Harris fits all the boxes and has withstood most of the criticism that has been thrown her way. She would be a historic choice: the first Black woman (and woman at all!) to be VP, reflecting the constituency that buoyed Biden's rocky campaign. She has vast executive experience, has been elected to the Senate, and has a national reputation (and enormous media vetting) from her presidential run. Her debate skills are incredible, and she could more than hold her own against Pence.

Gretchen Whitmer is a relatively new face to the nation, bursting into contention with her response to the 2020 State of the Union, and making headlines for her handling of COVID in Michigan. She is the Governor of a battleground state. But she is a white woman, which might suppress black turn out, and she hasn't been vetted as vigorously as a presidential candidate has been. And as a Governor, if things take a turn for the worse in Michigan while she is campaigning as VP, that could be bad optics for the Biden camp.

This article also had me wondering what the response would be to a white woman should Biden pick her. I really think the Dodd comments re: Harris might be a bigger deal if a white woman is chosen. ‘He better pick a Black woman’: Biden faces Whitmer backlash

All in all, I adore Whitmer, but as I said elsewhere, I believe the choice must be a Black woman. The time is right and there is such a qualified candidate that there is no reason to turn her down. 

At the risk of being extremely wrong, I feel like Warren wasn't actually being considered for VP, but just interviewed and mentioned to keep progressives happy. I would be shocked if she was chosen. Plus, her Senate seat is a swing seat, and we need all the votes in the Senate we can get.

In 2008, Obama was torn between two choices: Joe Biden (his head) and his heart (Tim Kaine). He knew the safest bet to launch him to the White House but was lured by a new and exciting figure in the party. We know who he chose. We'll see what Biden does.

[Miles2Go2]

I think most all those in contention could do a good job, but it’s also about reading the optics of the time, the opportunity to make history, picking someone who can complement Biden, the need for someone people think could be president if needed and could be set up to be the next president in 4 to 8 years.

I think Harris ticks all the boxes. For that reason, I hope it’s her.

I believe Biden wants Harris, but his team is pushing him away from her. I think Whitmer would be a mistake this time although she’s got a bright future on front of her. Same for Duckworth. They just don’t tick off some critical boxes.