I never get the Vice-Presidential nominee I want. I wasn’t thrilled when Barack Obama chose Joe Biden in August 2008; I’m not particularly excited now as Joe Biden has chosen Kamala Harris, who arguably is as safe and conventional a choice as Biden was twelve years ago.
I’d rather have Elizabeth Warren. She’s got better policy chops.
But if I wanted to wallow in rathers, I’d go back to February and put Bernie Sanders at the top of the ticket. Heck, I’d go back to 2008 and put Dennis Kucinich in the White House for eight years. We’d have a universal health care system that first-term President Barack Obama would be using right now as part of his strategy to keep American deaths from coronavirus below 20,000.
But we have no time for such alternative-universe wallowing. The Democratic Party chose its nominee, and that nominee has chosen his running mate. Those choices do not change the overriding moral imperative every patriotic American faces: we have a dictator to overthrow at the ballot box. We have absentee ballots to fill in and deliver early. We have courthouses and polling places to guard against Trumpian thugs. And we have Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to lead us in that effort, to win in November, and clean up the disastrous mess that Donald Trump and Mike Pence have left us.
Speaking of disastrous mess….. https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/trump-who-told-obama-to-resign-after-one-ebola-calls-160000-19-s-fantastic-job/
So, are we ready for early voting? Better get after it before EB5 Short Rounds and the tall skin tag, destroy the Post Office completely. Oh, BTW, take a look and listen to our next president and his vice president. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=UfACU9wC1ok&feature=emb_title
Its a great pick, so now let the racism and sexism begin.Both are alive and well in this state and Biden’s choice will bring them all crawling out of their rat holes. It will be interesting to see if this country is progressive or still locked in the jim crow era. No doubt where SD lies.
Let ’em rip, cibvet! South Dakota’s racists, like all the other insecure thugs clinging to Trump for self-affirmation, will say and do anything to tear down the next President and Vice-President of the United States, not contributing to any constructive policy discussion (as Joe Biden has been doing all summer, and as we Democrats are always wont to do), but simply exposing the darkness in their own souls.
Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, on Harris: “She knows what it is to be different or to be the other. Bringing that in, with the success that she’s had breaking through in areas that no woman had broken into before, I think all of that gives Joe Biden the kind of aura around his campaign that will endear him to the vast majority of American people.”
I don’t know much about Dennis Kucinich at all, but he would have had to have pretty darn impressive to talk Joe Lieberman into supporting anything resembling a single payer plan.
And our greatest hopes this fall lie in flipping the senate.
Trump’s numbers are starting to stabilize and climb. We’ll know in an other week whether this was a good choice. I would have preferred Rice or Bottoms.
Trump has already cut a commercial on the Biden/Harris team, but picking Harris will allow Trump to also cut a commercial about when Biden, during the debates, claimed that Carol Moseley Braun was the only African-American woman to ever have been elected to the US Senate; and it will also allow Trump to cut a commercial about Harris’s attack on Biden about busing, but only to then, Harris that is, take the same position as Biden’s on busing just two days later:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/harriss-views-on-busing-come-under-question-after-her-debate-criticism-of-bidens-past-position/2019/07/04/b197c6cc-9e71-11e9-b27f-ed2942f73d70_story.html
And these two potential commercials will matter with swing white voters.
I also think that Harris is far more dynamic than Biden, which makes this a Harris versus Trump race, which plays to Trump’s advantage with white swing voters as well. Her dynamic qualities to the party hardliners will play well within the Democratic Party as Palin’s extrovert qualities played well within the core Republican base back in ’08. But at the same time, in no way is Harris a Palin. Harris is a very intelligent and capable candidate, but like Palin, Harris as the Democratic VP choice makes her not only the drawing card but also the main target, and in so doing, I think Trump can sway swing voters from Biden/Harris by reminding voters of the differences and contradictions between Biden and Harris as best illustrated by the Biden/Harris feuds during the Democratic presidential debates.
Also, in my opinion, there are also three phases to this presidential campaign. The first one was with Biden’s VP pick. The second one will be as to whether Biden will have a big gaffe during one of the debates (Hopefully, it will be during the first debate, which will then give team Biden/Harris time to recover). Then, the third phase is the possible “October Surprise”, which will either be orchestrated by Putin/Trump, or merely an act of fate, which plays to Trump’s hands (Although, small they maybe). So, I reiterate, that polls in a week will tell if this is a good VP choice, but I am concerned, that Biden and Harris’s past cat fights in the debates will play right into Trump’s small hands with this VP choice.
Harris, however, was a good choice to help with the minority vote, but Rice or Bottoms could have done the same for team Biden, and the Harris choice, I am afraid, will be negated by a diminished momentum of the white vote to Biden, if Trump runs the commercials (I mentioned above), that is.
Hopefully, I am wrong about all of this. Hopefully, you will all be laughing at me (If not already ;-) ) on Wednesday, November 4th, but in my opinion, having picked Harris, Biden can no longer afford a lingering gaffe, nor can we all weather an “October Surprise” as members of the Biden/Harris team.
Biden should reply he has never said anything at all and skate home to victory. drumpf does it all the time. Why would anyone care if Biden or Harris told a few fibs?
mfi,
Because too many swing voters vote based on their emotional intelligence then their scholastic intelligence. Plus, Republicans are better at playing with ones emotions and the Harris pick gives the GOP an arsenal of fun to play with.
Historically, Republican presidential nominees have had a teflon quality that Democratic presidential candidates have never had, and it is because of this emotional play that the GOP do well.
And libs don’t have anyone on teevee willing to flat out lie about drumpf and the rest of the criminal enterprise in the wingnut party. I get that. And thanks for the response, JKC, Sr.
Wingnuts already demanding to see KIamala Harris’ long form black certificate.
https://www.wonkette.com/kamala-harris-is-black-af
Maybe it is being audited.
If JKC is right about how the past debates between Biden and Harris will influence “white swing voters” to support Trump, it seems a stretch to call them “swing voters” at all.
As for Democrats unwillingness to lie about Trump and Republicans, why would Democrats even need to lie? The truth seems more damaging than anything they could make up. And anyone who can’t see or understand that is probably not going to be convinced of anything negative about Trump and the current crop of Republican politicians in power whether true or untrue.
I must say, Dems staking the moral/ethical high ground when confronting wingnuts at election time, refusing to engage in the little theatrics and turning the other cheek nets them a nice pair of shiners and utter contempt from alleged kristians on the right.
In other news, wingnuts in Wisconsin are going all out to gain supermajorities in both houses of gerrymandered congress so they can basically govern the state and make it even more friendly to their desires.
One last good word for South Dakota pheasant killers, North Dakota reports a 15% increase in pheasant numbers for the year.
Trump actually donated Money to Kamala Harris’ campaigns when he was a Democrat. So take that, Trumpists. This is an easy one for the Dems they’re going to take this and run with it
I like Ms. Harris.
“Swing voters” are always influenced, that’s what makes them “swing voters”.
Trump also gave money to the Clintons in the past, too.
I’m so glad he didn’t choose one of the fine women on the panel of possibilities who were and are unknown to America. Harris is seen as tough and highly skilled and ready to hit the ground running. I remember being disappointed when HRC selected Tim Kaine as VP candidate. Nice guy, but he added nothing to the ticket.
I’m sure any one of the talented women on the panel would make a fine VP but he picked the right one. Tough, smart, talented, articulate, and ready to go. The only one who would have made me happier would have been E. Warren. But I knew that couldn’t happen.
And MFI, I’ve already read a rag article from the Wild West that claims Harris is the descendant of slave owners. So what’s she supposed to do about that. IF it’s true, and that’s a big if, she’s also the descendant of a slave. So. . .I’m still not sure what she’s supposed to do with that.
Cory, exactly. Yes, she could be more progressive, so could he. But it’s not going to happen this time. On our way to “clean up the disastrous mess that Trump and Pence have left us.'” Glad she talked about the pandemic today. No. 1 on our to-do list.
“A big gaffe”? How could there be a bigger gaffe than Donald Trump is all by himself, almost every day? was it yesterday that he said the “Spanish Flu ended WWII”? So Biden is to be disqualified by a gaffe, but not Trump? Why should we ignore Trump’s daily stupidity and meanwhile wait breathlessly for Joe to say something foolish? If we’re waiting for gaffes to attack (I’m not) then obviously, they’ll be coming from all directions. I’m more interested in voter suppression, abuse of power, and downright criminality.
Trump is more a liar than a gaffer. To call Trump primarily a gaffer is to be too nice.
Trump has seldom been held accountable for anything he says or does. If it hadn’t been for the 4/23 press conference, however, where Trump claimed that Lysol was the answer, his numbers would be higher right now, but that was an example not of a gaffer, but rather someone who tries to manufacture “truths,” which are actually a foolish lie.
Plus, Democrats are always held to a higher standard. Can you imagine what would be going on right now, if a current President Obama showed an indifference to Putin placing bounties on American troops in Afghanistan?
I too, am worried about voter suppression, abuse of power, and downright criminality, but have you looked at the polls? Trump has stabilized his numbers and there is some growth in his direction right now. We will see in a week to ten days if the Harris pick helps or hurts Biden.
Sadly, to win an election, you need to understand the issues and perceptions that matter to win and not the issues which voters should be more concerned about.
More of this please Ms. Harris.
“Kamala Harris launched a pointed attack on President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
“The virus has impacted almost every country. But there’s a reason it has hit America worse than any other advanced nation,” Harris said.
“It’s because of Trump’s failure to take it seriously from the start. His refusal to get testing up and running. His flip-flopping on social distancing and wearing masks. His delusional belief that he knows better than the experts,” she said.
The US has recorded 5.1 million cases of infection and more than 165 thousand deaths from the virus.” Booyah! Right choice Mr. Biden, right choice indeed. Go get’m Ms. Harris.
I’m very happy with Harris for many of the same reasons Robin and Jenny are. From what I’m seeing in my online women’s groups, they’re thrilled with her.
No one, absolutely no one, should underestimate what a powerful force Democratic women are in 2020. The rage and power and sheer unwillingness to be stopped or surrender is like nothing I’ve seen before.
I’ve been involved in politics all my 67 years and I’m telling you boys, women have had it. Harris is going to be VP and then president. Bet the farm.
Women and BIPOC have got Kamala’s back. All the Democratic men that I am aware of support her.
If the trump/GOP tries to cheat their way into a win there will be more than Portland moms in the streets of DC and everywhere else. This is about our families. While you guys are campaign planning, and women are too, the female bloc knows we’re not stopping. Most of you guys don’t get that yet because it’s too far outside your accustomed paradigm. This isn’t your election. It’s ours, BIPOC and women.
We could obviously carry this polite discussion/debate into infinity, but couldn’t what Harris said about Trump and COVID be said by any Democratic VP choice? She doesn’t hold the secrets, or facts, to these COVID truths, does she?
Of course, but she did in fact say it and it’s the truth that we need to hear day in and day out. Whose fault is it that our economy is in the crapper? trump did it. The blame is squarely on his failure to lead. We need to hear it 170,000 times for sure and counting.
BTW, who else in a position of power has made that statement?
I hope you are right Debbo. I am all for being wrong on this one, but it comes down to how popular Trump will be in early November. How most people, regardless of their politics, feel as to whether Trump can or cannot win. If they think he’s done, then the momentum down ballot for Democrats will begin to collapse among educated Republican women who voted for Democratic women in 2018 and were crucial to Democratic wins in 2018. It’s just part of the natural guilt factor that Republican voters have, when they start voting for Democrats. And so, this potential collapse will complicate many races for both parties.
Right now, the Democrats are poised to take both the presidency and the senate in the same year, which would contradict what I said in the last paragraph, but reality hasn’t set in yet for most voters. Polling of individual races allows potential voters to separate the realities of facing a ballot with many choices, as they will have to do in the fall.
Jerry, haven’t we all, both private and public? Wouldn’t the Biden camp have had any VP choice say that? I expect Biden to say it in the fall, too. And I bet we can find a quote like this from Pelosi or Schumer from the past few months as well.
Historically, VP choices are the hatchet man or woman in a given campaign and these comments by Harris are to be expected.
We all have thought and said it for sure. I call it the trump virus, but I am not a public figure whose voice is a megaphone. Speaker Pelosi called it “the trump virus” and then nothing more. Minority leader Schumer not so much. Whatever was said, was some time ago as well. You probably know and understand how the American people are when it comes to any kind of message. If they don’t hear it over and over, they forget about it. Why do you think republicans get their point across? They know the power of messaging.
What Ms. Harris said needs to be said again and again to bring that message home on who is to blame for where we are with the death and destruction of this country. That is why we cannot have another 4 years of this same corrupted crap. Let her and others who are working to become elected officials adopt that same voice. We must not give up or in and go for every office and position that’s being challenged. There are no winners until the votes are counted, take nothing for granted and vote early.
Cory, the simplest way to look at why Biden didn’t pick Warren is the effect it would have on the Senate. With Warren gone, the Democrats are more likely to lose a seat. As I understand things, in Vermont, there would be a special election to replace her, and there is no guarantee that seat would go to a Democrat. In the case of California, the Democratic governor would presumably appoint another Democrat to fill the vacancy. In my experience, the simplest explanation is usually the most accurate.
Amen Jerry!
It’s just nice to have someone That is intelligent and can talk coherently.
Both Trump and Biden shouldn’t be there. Trump is much more scarier than Biden. Kamala Harris is not a liberal at all, look up her record. (The establishment doesn’t allow progressives) But I’m still ready to see Harris smoke old man Pence in a debate.
Makes a lot of sense, Deejay. However, I don’t think it’s the only reason. Black women are fed up with being the Democrat’s patsy. A lot of votes would have disappeared for Ds if Biden would have selected Warren.
cibvet said: “ Its [sic] a great pick, so now let the racism and sexism begin.”
Racism and sexism are inevitable when you make a selection like this based almost exclusively on race and sex.
Neal, That’s why trump picked Pence or had him picked. We know Pence is a white white guy and we know that his views on sex are suspect..That burrheaded Q-Tip could be in the closet deep like a boll weevil.
DeejayBeejr – Why would Vermont hold an election to replace a Senator (Warren) from Massachusetts? Pay attention.
Let’s impeach drumpf again and this time ignore the Swine in the Sinate who are aiding and abetting drumpf’s criminal enterprise.
https://www.vox.com/2020/8/13/21366319/trump-post-office-vote-by-mail-fox-sabotage-pandemic-covid-19-coronavirus
drumpf is illegally sabotaging the Post Office to prevent legal mail in balloting and suppress votes.
Veterans are getting screwed over once again. Prescriptions are not arriving timely.
https://twitter.com/hashtag/TrumpYouLose?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1293916263945707522%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2F2020%2F08%2Fveterans-group-hits-draft-dodging-trump-with-new-ad-blasting-his-war-on-the-mail%2F&src=hashtag_click
The destruction of our Post Offices, seems to be okay with South Dakota republicans. We have not heard diddly squat from EB5 Rounds or the tall skin tag Thune on how they feel about it. Guess neither knows any veterans or had a parent that was one.
Here’s a little more hard information for you in regard to my earlier comment about this not being your usual election. It is about, by and for women.
In Minnesota turnout was the largest it’s been since 1970. That might be before some of you were born.
4 Democratic old white guy incumbents to the state lege lost their primaries. One lost to a Somali American man. The other 3 lost to young women, 2 Black and one white. I’m looking forward to further breakdown of the vote soon.
Other states have seen similar results of their primaries.
One of the primary winners, Jen McEwen, described the momentum this way:
“What that movement represents is a shift in our politics toward caring for one another.”
Joe had a rich selection of choices for VP but he has to keep in mind who he taps from other important jobs. I have admired Warren for years now but I can sure see her value in other cabinet positions. There were many candidates on the stage in the earlier debates and I can see a lot of job openings once Trump is gone. Lets see them filled with young vital smart thoughtful people that we’re already familiar with. I’m excited at the potential for a new working government… once Trump and McConnell and Barr and so many others are gone. They have only been a corrupting influence on the government and the citizenry.