# 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:** 49
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/963 "2020-08-13T00:51:50Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > > [@ISiddiqui](#): > > > > Yeah no one said that > > Read my original post #871 Yeah, it seemed like you completely misunderstood the post you were responding to. And if you think someone saying her being Indian-American is going to help drive Indian-American turnout means they think all South Asians vote the same way, then you are projecting something. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/964 "2020-08-13T00:57:42Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > [@ISiddiqui](#): > > > > > [@am77494](#): > > > > > > That does not mean every Indian-American will vote for Kamala. > > > > Yeah no one said that, but you’d have to be really burying your head in the sand if you don’t think the South Asians who are excited about a South Asian VP won’t be extra enthusiastic to get to the polls. There is a reason black turnout was so high when Obama was on the ticket. > > It really doesn’t matter; Indian-Americans are a tiny, tiny minority so their votes aren’t going to throw the election. They are wealthier than average, though, so perhaps their money might help. Depends on the state. South Asian communities are exploding in North Carolina. And if Texas is actually in play (I have my doubts, its one of the states with the highest concentrations of South Asians) ---
**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 13, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/965 "2020-08-13T00:57:52Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > … she was raised solely in the US … Actually her teen years were spent being raised in Montreal Canada. Her mother, an academic physician, had a position at McGill. Her father was a Stanford professor. I don’t think there will be pushback. There is no singular Black experience in America. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/966 "2020-08-13T01:17:17Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > …you’d have to be really burying your head in the sand… > [@ISiddiqui](#): > > …then you are projecting something… There is no need for hostility. It’s a debate, and I am stating my personal opinions and presenting evidence in good faith. You don’t have to agree with my opinions, but the quotes above feel personally directed. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/967 "2020-08-13T01:26:00Z")
You are mischaracterizating people’s arguments in quite strange ways (you’ve implied that saying increasing Indian American turnout means one thinks all South Asians vote the same way, if South Asians want to vote for someone who looks like them they are racist, thinking people feel Harris should treat South Asians better because of her heritage). Why exactly are you making these logical leaps to avoid the idea that South Asian turnout will likely be higher in this election because there is a South Asian on the ticket? ---
**Author:** ![urbanredneck2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/5f8ce5/32.png) [@urbanredneck2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urbanredneck2)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/968 "2020-08-13T01:30:22Z")
Ok, not the first time I’ve been lied to. Just asking. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/969 "2020-08-13T01:35:29Z")
A simple Google search would have answered your question. Or a quick read of that part of the Constitution. It’s 5th grade civics. You seemed to accept it because you “heard” it. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/970 "2020-08-13T01:38:54Z")
> [@urbanredneck2](#): > > Ok, not the first time I’ve been lied to. Just asking Are you shocked that a random meme on facebook is not correct? ---
**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 13, 2020, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/971 "2020-08-13T02:11:10Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > 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 think these are legitimate points/observations. In her defense, she was being attacked by multiple candidates, and that would probably rattle anyone. It was likely a rare – if not completely new – experience for her. I’ve watched a number of attack dog prosecutors deflate and lose their footing when their own tactics were successfully turned on them, let alone by more than one person simultaneously. I think she learned from it. Pence will keep to his talking points because he must please an audience of one. Harris knows she has to nail this (these?) debate(s). She will be prepared to do that, I think. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/972 "2020-08-13T02:18:17Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > They are wealthier than average, though, so perhaps their money might help. Wealthier than average Americans are more likely to vote republican: “ An individual’s likelihood of being a Democrat decreases with every additional dollar he or she earns. Democrats have a huge advantage (63 percent) with voters earning less than $15,000 per year. This advantage carries forward for individuals earning up to $50,000 per year, and then turns in the Republicans’ favor — with just 36 percent of individuals earning more than $200,000 per year supporting Democrats.” > **[Economic Demographics of Democrats & Liberals – Politics & Debt](https://www.debt.org/faqs/americans-in-debt/economic-demographics-democrats/)** > > Democrats attract minorities and those who are young, live in urban areas, have lower incomes, support labor unions and avoid religion. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/973 "2020-08-13T02:20:12Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > If he had the best rapport with Rice and wanted to pick her, why did he “have to” pick Harris? According to Perry Bacon Jr., an excellent reporter for 538, there were two implicit requirements for the pick (in addition to the explicit requirement that she be a she, based on Biden’s promise): –She has to be Black (Bacon Jr. is Black himself FWIW) –She has to be a sitting governor or senator Harris is the only one who fits both implicit requirements plus the explicit one. BTW, I meant to mention earlier: Biden’s promise, at around the same time he promised to pick a woman veep, that he would nominate a Black Supreme Court justice, is a big clue to his thinking. He was planning to take a white woman (most likely Klobuchar), and was signaling in advance to Black women: “don’t worry, I got you”. There’s no other reasonable interpretation of “I’ll pick a woman for veep, and a Black woman for SCOTUS” than "“I’ll pick a _white_ woman for veep, and a Black woman for SCOTUS”. But then Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck, and the rest is history. ETA: Of course, he will still have to honor his SCOTUS promise, so Black women will end up getting a twofer out of the deal, as long as he wins and Democrats retake the Senate–both of which I consider extremely likely. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/974 "2020-08-13T02:26:11Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Her father was a Stanford professor. Harris is now the odds-on favorite to be the next Democratic president after Biden. If so, it will mean that the first two Black presidents: –are not descended from American slaves –lived outside the U.S. for several years when they were coming of age –had fathers who were foreign born economists who left the U.S. when their children were young to return to their countries of origin to work for those countries’ respective governments The second and third parts are obviously just weird coincidences (although probably not so much being children of academics more generally). But the first part is a bit of a shame, as it would be good to see descendants of enslaved Black Americans get a turn. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/975 "2020-08-13T02:43:53Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > –She has to be Black (Bacon Jr. is Black himself FWIW) > > –She has to be a sitting governor or senator I’ve been saying the second one for months here. I started saying the first the day after George Floyd’s death eliminated Klobachar. Apparently Perry Bacon, Jr. reads the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/976 "2020-08-13T02:46:37Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > –are not descended from American slaves Actually, ironically enough Obama’s white mother had an ancestor who was a slave. She also had several ancestors who were slave owners. But no, Obama wasn’t an “African-American” in the original sense of the term. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/977 "2020-08-13T02:53:16Z")
I so want to make that into a meme. Probably with the Willy Wonka template. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/978 "2020-08-13T02:55:57Z")
As I have gotten older and more financially comfortable, I do find myself thinking in more conservative terms fiscally. That does not translate into support for the Republicans, though, as they are demonstrably worse at managing the nation’s wealth. ETA: not to mention all the other things that they stand for that I oppose. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/979 "2020-08-13T02:59:08Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > As I have gotten older and more financially comfortable, I do find myself thinking in more conservative terms fiscally. That’s probably a good topic for discussion here. “As you become more successful, do you think more in conservative terms?” ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/980 "2020-08-13T03:08:43Z")
When the status is quo, you tend to support it. It’s hard to not be selfish. When I was impoverished, I’d have loved a UBI, tear up the system, tax the rich. Now that I pay lots in taxes, I would get less direct benefit. There is a very small possibility that I am on the track to make lots and lots of money, will I want to part with that for the benefit of others? But, I do feel that, while my mindset has become more conservative fiscally, it has not become less enlightened. I do see the benefit that I receive from a UBI. I know many employers who are terrified of such a thing, because they will not be able to get workers. I look forward to a more honest wage negotiation, where we discuss what it is worth for them to lend me their labor, rather than being responsible for what they need to survive. Being conservative is to be mindful of our treasure, not to reduce its use. Democrats, for all their flaws, have been much more responsible on this during my lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/981 "2020-08-13T03:14:18Z")
I’m gonna come back and read this tomorrow when I’m not drunk 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/982 "2020-08-13T04:02:27Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Obama’s white mother had an ancestor who was a slave. Really? Wow. I did not know that. She was so fair-complected, that must have been way way back. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505.md?page=48) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505.md?page=50)