# Biden's choice for vice presidential candidate **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 10, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505 "2020-04-10T15:04:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 44
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/863 "2020-08-12T03:25:25Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Pence was defending a pussy grabbing racist, and did quite well at it. His ice-cold grandpa act, accusing the interlocutor of making shit up isn’t half bad and buried Kaine. I’m with you. Anybody who can keep their head above water as Trump’s VP won’t be fazed by anything Harris has to say. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/864 "2020-08-12T03:38:16Z")
I doubt there will be any debates. trump will demand ridiculous rules and concessions, like only OANN moderating and carrying the debate. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/865 "2020-08-12T03:43:48Z")
Kaine might’ve sucked at debates, but mommy-loving, pray the gay away financier has a lot more to worry about after defending a false orange god. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/866 "2020-08-12T03:49:52Z")
Lots less name recognition but his favorability was above water. Now most have an opinion of him and more dislike than like. Harris will, as advertised in the debates, prosecute Trump during the debate. Pence will not get ruffled but she is good at that job. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/867 "2020-08-12T04:05:53Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Lots less name recognition but his favorability was above water. Now most have an opinion of him and more dislike than like. If we’re discussing Pence, his approval is _way_ up since the beginning of the administration, and for the last couple years has hovered around high 40’s to just over 50, [cite](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/pence_favorableunfavorable-6013.html). And honestly, if you asked a random person about Pence, I think you’d get a blank stare. His talent in the administration is being invisible. His most notable exposure is being in the Covid strike team, which involved standing aside so Trump could talk. > [@](#): > > Harris will, as advertised in the debates, prosecute Trump during the debate. Pence will not get ruffled but she is good at that job. I think Kaine (also a lawyer, but not a prosecutor) took that approach and it didn’t work out. Maybe another is needed. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/868 "2020-08-12T04:11:18Z")
I am already seeing one of the benefits of this pick. Despite having months to prepare a strategy against her, the Trump campaign doesn’t have a consistent message. I have already seen attacks that she is too tough on crime and attacks that she is too weak on crime. While people criticize her stint as AG in California, she did thread the needle in a way. She was particularly tough on serious criminals, especially those who used firearms, but she was against using the three strikes law for nonviolent offenders. She has been consistently against the death penalty yet ackowledged that it was the law in the state at that time. She would definitely have made an excellent AG, but I am thinking that she will help the campaign. She may not win a debate in a landslide but I doubt she will do much harm. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/869 "2020-08-12T04:22:24Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > Despite having months to prepare a strategy against her, the Trump campaign doesn’t have a consistent message. I found it amusing that the [Lincoln Project](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUwxqxlUXXY) had an ad ready to go before the Trump campaign. So did [Meidas Touch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGj0nkRLWzs). ---
**Author:** ![Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raymond_luxury_yacht/32/4099_2.png) [@Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raymond_Luxury_Yacht)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/870 "2020-08-12T08:54:38Z")
I’m a bit disappointed at the overall response here to this selection. I think that she is far and away the best choice for VP. Here is an opinion piece from a former adversary/public defender. > **[Public defender: I worked with Kamala Harris. She was the most progressive DA...](https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2020/08/10/kamala-harris-progressive-pioneer-san-francisco-da-column/3334668001/)** > > I grappled with this idea of defending a former prosecutor for a long time, but I have to say what I feel is right to set the record straight on Harris. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/871 "2020-08-12T10:45:33Z")
Did you click to see all the polls? First ones ran 26 to 21 (+5): 27 to 31 (-4); so on. Averaging about even to slightly positive but biggest numbers without an opinion. Most recent running like 44 to 50 (-6) or more underwater, with very few (6%) of no opinion. He’s attached to Trump now. Trump’s 40ish favorable and Trump’s 50ish unfavorable are his now. Granted probably not as intensely held in either direction. No idea if Kaine was a good lawyer, but he certainly was _not_ a good prosecutor. To be fair to him of course there was not the current record to prosecute either. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/872 "2020-08-12T12:43:25Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Don’t forget that in addition to checking the African-American box, she is also Indian-American. The Indian-American voters are an growing block. As an Indian-American, I feel proud of her personal accomplishments and feel she will inspire many Indian-American kids including mine. But that doesn’t automatically translate to votes. The Indian-American diaspora is very diverse in culture, values and income levels. It would be kind of racist, if Indian-Americans voted her just for her Indian background. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/873 "2020-08-12T12:58:06Z")
I didn’t read every post in this fast-moving thread, but I’m wondering about something: Will there be any racial pushback from, well, _anyone_, because although Harris is a woman of color, she’s not African-American? I’ll take my answer off the air… Okay, I see this was touched on a ways back: > [@Lamoral](#): > > I knew numerous people of color who during the primary earlier this year, claimed to not know that Kamala Harris WAS “a person of color” at all. Like Barack Obama, her connection to the African-American community comes in a more round-about way than most Black Americans - how much this will matter to the voters, I don’t know. It certainly WILL matter to many racist assholes but those people were probably never going to vote for Biden anyway. Maybe y’all have already discussed this and I just need to read earlier posts. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/874 "2020-08-12T13:12:03Z")
Trump’s main push against Biden at this point is that he’s an ultra-leftist limp noodle who’s gonna be controlled by his socialist BLM antifa vice-president, or something. So when I see all these leftists talking about how disappointed they are in Harris–when I see Fox News headlines talking about how the progressive wing is pissed off–I’m not too upset. The more the ultra-left talks her down, the harder it’s gonna be for Trump to convince people that she’s ultra-left. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/875 "2020-08-12T13:18:55Z")
Re: Pence - I lived in IN under his reign, and he was as consistently and predictably awful on every social issue I imagined, from “show me your papers”, to funerals for fetuses, and everything else. No idea what others nationwide knew/know or feel/felt about him then/now, but to me, the stuff about “Mommy” and not trusting himself in a room w/ another woman was a whole new level of creepiness. He looks good in a suit, and is able to look serious, not get ruffled, and spew conservative soundbites w/ the best of them - if that is what appeals to you. Re: Harris, I was fine w/ either her or Rice. I am glad not to be hearing the Benghazi BS as we would have w/ Rice, and I look forward to her in a high-level foreign relations position such as SoState. Harris might not be young enough, progressive enough, and black enough for various folk - but she damn sure is a big step in the right direction. Gonna be interesting to see the right go after her w/o betraying their true colors. Look forward to seeing a bunch more diverse/young appointments to high offices, preparing a new, younger group of leaders. Abrams, Bottoms, Buttigieg (sp?)… ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/876 "2020-08-12T13:24:51Z")
> [@Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](#): > > Here is an opinion piece from a former adversary/public defender. I’ve got no real problem with Biden’s choice of Harris for VP, but I do have some issues with that public defender’s characterization of Harris’ time as a prosecutor. For example, Niki Solis (the public defender) praises Harris for efforts to prevent “sex trafficking,” but at the time there were many in California, including sex workers and their advocates, who argued that Harris spent far more time locking up or making life more difficult for consensual sex workers than she did fighting trafficking. As [this Guardian article](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/19/kamala-harris-2020-election-top-cop-prosecutor) points out, “her practices as prosecutor and the legislation she has supported have often conflated human ‘trafficking’ with consensual adult sex work.” This is a common theme in local, state, and federal law enforcement: they know that running sting operations to lock up consensual sex workers and their clients is not really something that makes people any safer, so they dress up their stings as “anti-trafficking” busts, and hope that no-one will notice when they don’t actually file any indictments for trafficking. It’s the sex-work equivalent of using the dangers of cartels and heroin to justify busting the guy selling a couple of ounces of weed on the street corner. When Harris was California Attorney-General, there were efforts to pass legislation that would have required the A-G’s to conduct independent investigations of fatal police shootings in the state. Harris opposed the law. She also opposed enacting a statewide rule requiring police departments to use body cameras. The most troubling part of her history as a prosecutor, though, is her dogged determination to defend even the most egregious of bad convictions. Read about the cases of George Gage, Daniel Larsen, Johnny Baca, and Kevin Cooper in [this New York Times piece](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/opinion/kamala-harris-criminal-justice.html) by Lara Bazelon, who is a lawyer and law professor whose work mainly involves criminal defendants and wrongful convictions. In terms of her general political positions, Harris is a perfectly standard, mainstream Democrat who will fit well with Biden’s ticket and be a perfectly serviceable VP. In fact, I think I’m actually happy that she’s been selected as the VP candidate, because it means that she can’t be appointed Attorney-General. ---
**Author:** ![urbanredneck2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/5f8ce5/32.png) [@urbanredneck2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urbanredneck2)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/877 "2020-08-12T13:35:25Z")
Ok, please help me out here. I read that Harris cannot actually be president because her parents were not born here. Is this true? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/878 "2020-08-12T13:41:01Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > The minute you squeeze Pence off his talking points, he’s got nowhere to go. I’ve watched him fall apart in television interviews. > > I think Harris will have him on the ropes in short order. I guess we’ll see. Depends which Harris shows up, I think. When she’s in “prosecutor” mode, with notes and a clear aim, Harris is excellent. She was damn good back in May when she was questioning William Barr in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. But I was surprised at her performances in the Democratic primary debates, where she really wasn’t that great at all. I had been expecting much better from someone who made a living thinking on her feet. And her overall campaign was also rather inept, with rapid flip-flopping on things like health care that suggested a lack of a clear policy agenda. To be honest, right now I think that the Biden campaign would benefit from encouraging Harris to do exactly what Joe Biden’s been doing for the past couple of months: lie low and let the country focus on the incompetence, the corruption, and mendacity of Donald Trump. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/879 "2020-08-12T13:41:17Z")
> [@urbanredneck2](#): > > I read that Harris cannot actually be president because her parents were not born here. Is this true? No. Just asking questions? ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/880 "2020-08-12T13:44:20Z")
> [@urbanredneck2](#): > > Ok, please help me out here. I read that Harris cannot actually be president because her parents were not born here. Is this true? You’ve been misinformed. She was born here. She’s a citizen. Cite: US Constitution. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/881 "2020-08-12T13:46:40Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > It would be kind of racist, if Indian-Americans voted her just for her Indian background. It would be racist if their thinking was “I’ll vote for the Indian-American because Indian people are superior”. It wouldn’t be racist if their thinking was “I’ll vote for the Indian-American because her victory will help change perspectives about Indian people and lead to more opportunities and inspiration for Indian people in the future” Whether or not that’s a great metric for voting for someone can be debated, but it isn’t racist. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/882 "2020-08-12T13:47:02Z")
Whoever told you that is passing along misinformation and you should no longer rely on that source for any news. So, do you plan on blocking that news source? Because they are either lying to you or ignorantly passing along lies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505.md?page=43) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505.md?page=45)