There has been a ton of speculation about who Joe Biden will choose as a running mate. He narrowed it down a bit during the last Democratic debate by plainly stating that he would choose a woman.
Since then, most people agreed that the short list included four people.
Biden would likely choose Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), failed 2018 Georgia governor candidate Stacey Abrams, or Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA).
At this point, it’s looking more and more like Kamala Harris.
Christopher Cadelago and Natasha Korecki write at Politico:
Kamala emerges as early Biden VP favorite as sting of debate attack fadesKamala Harris was written off as a possible vice presidential pick for Joe Biden last year after a cutting debate performance where she seemed to suggest he was racially insensitive.Now, Harris is not only in top contention, but Biden aides, surrogates and major donors see her as the best fit at the onset of the process — at least on paper — to join him atop the Democratic ticket.Biden’s campaign has formally started vetting a group of prospects that includes roughly a dozen women. But in interviews, more than two dozen Democrats, including advisers, allies and donors aligned with Biden, returned to Harris as an early frontrunner. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the favorite among progressives, was also seen as rising above the pack.Biden and his family were stung by the June debate exchange over his record on school busing. The attack was particularly hurtful because of Harris’ bond with Biden’s late son Beau, also a one-time state attorney general.But Biden and others close to him have come to view Harris’ debate knockdown as part of the rough and tumble of presidential campaigning.
Choosing Harris makes sense for Biden, especially when you consider the other choices. Elizabeth Warren is a divisive figure who is more popular among New York journalists than American voters. She came in third in the Massachusetts primary.
Amy Klobuchar was virtually unknown nationally before she decided to run for president in 2020.
Stacey Abrams is a 2018 also-ran who has become an object of ridicule for her apparent attempts to position herself as the best choice for the job of VP.
Francis Wilkinson of Bloomberg News suggests that “The presumptive Democratic nominee needs someone who makes voters comfortable with an old white guy at the top of the ticket.”
He writes:
Kamala Harris Can Be Joe Biden’s BidenJoe Biden is getting a lot of unsolicited advice about a running mate. Here’s mine: Find yourself another Joe Biden.When Barack Obama was cruising to the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2008, he chose someone who buttressed his political weakness. Obama’s overriding political weakness wasn’t hard to pinpoint: He was a mixed-race intellectual whose father was from Kenya…Biden’s more hazily defined weaknesses will come into better focus after Republicans work through their arsenal and find a few attacks that stick, more or less. He starts out with not-so-great favorable/unfavorable ratings — typically net negative by a couple points. Meantime, Republicans are already attacking his age, 77, and in the primaries young Democratic voters invariably preferred other candidates.Despite Biden’s support among older black voters, both Russians and Republicans are likely to repeat their 2016 efforts to suppress black voter turnout; a black vote surge is far from guaranteed. Finally, Biden has a wobbly left flank, the residue of rekindled left-wing ambition and Senator Bernie Sanders’ persistent campaign against the party whose nomination he sought.
“Russians and Republicans…”
Right.
Kamala Harris has many shortcomings as a possible running mate for Joe, perhaps primarily her record as California attorney general. The left has shown it is not terribly keen on law enforcement in recent years.
That may explain this tweet from yesterday:
Which means we can expect to see more of this meme:
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