In his regular Wall Street Journal column William Galston muses about the profile of the individual whom Joe Biden should pick as a running mate:
The woman Mr. Biden chooses—yes, it will be a woman, as he has pledged—must be perceived as having the experience to step into his shoes at a moment’s notice. Those with limited records in national politics are unlikely to meet this standard of credibility, as are those who have never held elective office.
In addition, Mr. Biden should give priority to African-American candidates. He owes his nomination to unwavering African-American support at the campaign’s critical juncture. The disproportionate effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the demonstrations sparked by the killing of George Floyd moved issues facing this community to the center of national politics.
The selection of an African-American running mate would guarantee the unity and enthusiasm of the Democratic Party, while the failure to do so would be dispiriting for a crucial portion of Mr. Biden’s coalition. Although religious conservatives were likely to support the eventual Republican nominee in 2016, Donald Trump’s selection of Mike Pence was a powerful signal that he didn’t take their support for granted. In this one respect, Mr. Biden should follow Mr. Trump’s example.
Mr. Biden is an effective congressional negotiator, but his presidential schedule, much of which would likely be dominated by foreign policy, would force him to delegate much of this job to others. A vice president who could work with Congress on Mr. Biden’s behalf as he did for President Obama would be a force multiplier. The vice president should also have the capacity to manage specific portfolios for the president, as Al Gore did with the National Partnership for Reinventing Government and Mr. Biden did with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Summarizing the qualifications:
- Woman
- Black
- National stature
- Younger and more vigorous than Mr. Biden
- Held elective office
- Experience in dealing with the Congress
- First do no harm.
Try as I might I can’t think of anyone who meets all of those qualifications. If you’re willing to accept someone older than Mr. Biden, Eleanor Holmes Norton would fit. Not only is Maxine Waters older than Joe Biden, she would violate the “first do no harm” requirement as well. Condoleezza Rice has the fatal flaw of being a Republican. Additionally, she has never held elective office.
Kamala Harris is too inexperienced (she has additional issues as well). Tammy Duckworth isn’t black and is too inexperienced. Stacy Abrams is not sufficiently experienced. Elizabeth Warren isn’t black. Cory Booker isn’t a woman. Donna Brazile has never held elective office.
No shortage:
Oprah
Michelle
Kim Kardashian
But what I really think is Joe should step aside for any one of these Black women to take the top spot. Their time has come. Get out of the way, old white man.
IMO Biden needs to pick someone competent. I don’t care about their identity. Biden is old enough that the chances of him dying or becoming incapacitated in his first term are not trivial. It’s already crystal clear he is not nearly as sharp as he was even a couple years ago.
Biden at best was sharp as a bowling ball. He’s undergoing terminal dementia. I saw it happen to my mother-in-law. It’s not fun watching a mind disintegrate. He’s got Alzheimer’s or something like, probably exacerbated by the two brain operations he had years ago. You are never as good as you were when your brain gets sliced.
When your chief concern is not whether the cat can catch mice but what color it is, you’ve lost your way.
Pelosi is now making noises that regardless of the election results they might still inaugurate Biden as President. Crazy as it sounds, I can see the reasoning behind it – because all the polls showed Biden winning means that Trump stole the election again.
https://youtu.be/XlH156c_nXw
Did not list Val Demings; one of the favorites.
She has similar positives to Senator Harris; in addition Demings hails from a purple state and most importantly; did not accuse Biden of being a racist.
Never been around politicians — but I imagine Biden is not the type to forgive an accusation like that.
Rep. Demings would not be a bad pick; she’s a bit inexperienced and not really of national stature but that would change should she be picked as Biden’s running mate.
Politically she seems to be what used to be called a “mainstream Democrat”. I’m not honestly sure how the increasingly assertive left wing of the party would react to her nomination.
In that sense she might be a great pick. I think that if Biden has any self-awareness and a sense of self-preservation he should want a running mate that the left wing of his party wants less than they want him.
Another problem with Demings is she is a retired Police Chief and thus an agent of the racist hegemony. On the other hand, she might pull away some of the hmmm, scared suburbanite voters from Trump.
I’m thinking that in the end, emboldened by the polls, Biden will select Warren. The only real reason to feel forced to pick a Black woman is the need to energize the Black vote, and he can win without a large Black turnout if the polls hold. Warren is the safe choice. The Pocahontas stuff is old news and Warren may satisfy a lot of Bernie supporters. Hell, he may even endorse and call off his Anti-fa dogs after a Biden-Warren win.