# 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:** 50
**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, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/983 "2020-08-13T04:10:41Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Really? Wow. I did not know that. She was so fair-complected, that must have been way way back. It’s not airtight, but there’s good evidence. [The ancestor lived in the 1640s](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/us/obamas-mother-had-african-forebear-study-suggests.html), and Obama would be a 14th generation descendant. ---
**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, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/984 "2020-08-13T04:22:56Z")
Ah, okay. Interesting! I could easily imagine one of the Obama daughters being president one day, and she might be the first president to be a descendant of enslaved African Americans, thanks to her mother’s lineage. Or maybe we’ll have someone else before that, but I think we’re likely going to get to the end of Harris’s second term in 2033 before there will really be an opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/985 "2020-08-13T05:23:07Z")
> [@urbanredneck2](#): > > Ok, not the first time I’ve been lied to. Just asking. Ah, Just Asking Questions. Gotcha. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/986 "2020-08-13T06:26:51Z")
Interesting point- Chauvins murder of Floyd did not seem to be racially motivated. Bloggers, reporters, FBI, everyone have looked into Cauvins background FB posts, etc, and can find not a hint of racism. It appears as a personal grudge and Chauvin lost his temper. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/987 "2020-08-13T08:31:21Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > She’s the Schrodinger’s cat of progressivism. > > She’s both more and less progressive than you want. She’s an uber left-wing socialist! She’s an anti-progressive establishment politician! > > She’s a floor wax! She’s a desert topping! > > Whatever you want, as long as it’s BAD! [McSweeney’s has got your back there](https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-dont-hate-black-or-women-candidates-but-kamala-harris-is-running-for-vice-president-and-my-head-just-exploded): > [@](#): > > Look. If there’s one thing we can learn from Harris’s many accomplishments — as a district attorney, state attorney general, and a U.S. senator, she advocated for [LGBTQ rights](https://www.advocate.com/election/2019/12/03/kamala-harris-lgbtq-ally-exits-presidential-race), [immigrant](https://www.colorlines.com/articles/california-ags-new-position-deportation-win-immigrant-rights) [rights](https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article194282134.html), [women’s rights](https://www.ontheissues.org/2020/Kamala_Harris_Abortion.htm), [victim’s rights](https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2014/04/08/attorney-general-kamala-harris-honored-for-rape-kit-processing/), helped [defend Obamacare](https://health-access.org/2011/02/ag-harris-defends-health-reform/), worked for [website data collection transparency](https://www.insideprivacy.com/advertising-marketing/online/bill-adding-do-not-track-disclosures-to-caloppa-passes-california-senate/), and consistently [supported a progressive agenda](https://progressivepunch.org/scores.htm?house=senate%E2%80%8A) — it’s that she’s [too ambitious](https://www.thelily.com/kamala-harris-is-being-criticized-for-her-ambition-black-women-have-been-told-to-wait-their-turn-throughout-history/). > > What’s more, Kamala Harris is [too left-wing](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2284568968467567) and also [too right-wing](https://theintercept.com/2019/01/31/kamala-harris-and-the-myth-of-a-progressive-cop/). She’s [too Black](https://twitter.com/tariqnasheed/status/1088169289570373632), but she’s also [not Black enough](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/28/us/politics/donald-trump-jr-kamala-harris.html). She’s [too angry](https://www.wonkette.com/is-kamala-harris-just-another-angry-black-lady-chris-cillizza-will-keep-an-eye-out-on-her), and I don’t like how [she has money](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/05/2020-election-how-kamala-harris-and-her-husband-made-their-money.html). She’s [dated men](https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/kamala-harris-willie-brown/) and her [campaign was flawed](https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/kamala_harris_drops_out.php), and she’s an [authoritarian](https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/08/kamala-harris-joe-bidens-authoritarian-vice-president-finalist/), and [something about Sean Hannity and a Twitter official](https://twitter.com/seanhannity/status/1292808786651095041)? ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/988 "2020-08-13T08:58:35Z")
I don’t believe Biden felt forced to choose Harris. She and Beau Biden were very close and I think that played a part in the decision. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/989 "2020-08-13T11:28:57Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Will there be any racial pushback from, well, _anyone_ , because although Harris is a woman of color, she’s not African-American? I wonder. There was (to me) surprisingly little pushback on this with Obama — but maybe in part that’s because at least he married into a Black family. Harris did not. One small reason for the apparent lack of pushback (so far) with Harris, could be that Biden promised to pick a Black woman (let’s assume a truly Black person this time) for the next Supreme Court vacancy. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/990 "2020-08-13T11:33:49Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Interesting point- Chauvins murder of Floyd did not seem to be racially motivated. Bloggers, reporters, FBI, everyone have looked into Cauvins background FB posts, etc, and can find not a hint of racism. > > It appears as a personal grudge and Chauvin lost his temper. Even if that’s true, it isn’t relevant - you don’t have to be racist to take advantage of institutional racism. Chauvin allowed himself to kill a human being in broad daylight, in front of a crowd because he knew that cops were allowed to do that to black men. That’s the problem, not his personal beliefs. Sorry about the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/991 "2020-08-13T12:33:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Interesting point- Chauvins murder of Floyd did not seem to be racially motivated. Bloggers, reporters, FBI, everyone have looked into Cauvins background FB posts, etc, and can find not a hint of racism. > > It appears as a personal grudge and Chauvin lost his temper. As Alessan says, and as I’ve said before: if the reason Chauvin thought he could get away with murder in public and on camera was at least in part because his victim was black, then it’s still racism, even if the motive wasn’t racist. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/992 "2020-08-13T13:03:38Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I wonder. There was (to me) surprisingly little pushback on this with Obama — but maybe in part that’s because at least he married into a Black family. Harris did not. She went to Howard. She’s AKA. Those are pretty powerful indicators that she identified as Black in her formative years. ---
**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 13, 2020, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/993 "2020-08-13T13:22:20Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > …truly Black person… You’re serious, right? Words fail me… ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/994 "2020-08-13T13:39:38Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Interesting point- Chauvins murder of Floyd did not seem to be racially motivated. Bloggers, reporters, FBI, everyone have looked into Cauvins background FB posts, etc, and can find not a hint of racism. You’re claiming that when Chauvin’s murder squad approached Floyd with guns drawn and immediately started swearing and threatening even though the only crime was a non-violent misdemeanor 1000x less severe than Chauvin’s tax evasion and Floyd offered no resistance (and in fact was clearly terrified), it was just… entirely happenstance? It’s just a coincidence that police manage to arrest white people for non violent misdemeanors without using the direct threat deadly force (gun in your face) but decided to start off with guns drawn here? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/995 "2020-08-13T13:43:10Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > You’re serious, right? Words fail me… It can be hard to tell these days. I mean, most stores don’t even use paper bags any more. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/996 "2020-08-13T14:16:49Z")
Trump called Harris “disrespectful” on twitter. What a laughable attack – both coming from the most undignified and indecent president in history, but also in that it makes Trump look like a whining snowflake. Who could possibly think this could be an effective line of attack? ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/997 "2020-08-13T14:21:41Z")
People who think that a rich white dude should be Alpha, and that people of color, women, and especially women of color should know their place. To a certain mindset, Trump literally can’t be disrespectful because no one is better than him. He is owed respect, he doesn’t owe it. In this mindset, she does, so her failure to acknowledge that is presumptive, infuriating, and threatening. Accusing people of being “disrespectful” is a great tool for bullies: it reminds the target that they are lesser. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/998 "2020-08-13T14:23:59Z")
Respect flows only one way in Trumpworld. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/999 "2020-08-13T14:30:13Z")
Typical Trump, typical trumpeteers buying his bullshit. They’ll never see the hypocricy: Trump on Hillary Clinton: “nasty woman” Trump on Kamala Harris: “nasty woman” Trump on Nancy Pelosi: “nasty woman” Trump on Elizabeth Warren: “nasty woman” Trump on Maxine Waters: “nasty woman” Trump on Yulin Cruz: “nasty woman” Trump on Denmark PM: “nasty woman” Trump on Meghan Markle: “nasty woman” Trump on Ghislaine Maxwell: “I wish her well” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1000 "2020-08-13T14:30:40Z")
So Jamaicans aren’t Black now? Does that mean that Colin Powell _wasn’t_ the first Black Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1001 "2020-08-13T14:30:51Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > People who think that a rich white dude should be Alpha, and that people of color, women, and especially women of color should know their place. To a certain mindset, Trump literally can’t be disrespectful because no one is better than him. He is owed respect, he doesn’t owe it. In this mindset, she does, so her failure to acknowledge that is presumptive, infuriating, and threatening. > > Accusing people of being “disrespectful” is a great tool for bullies: it reminds the target that they are lesser. The only people who could possibly be swayed by this attack are the hardcore-in-the-tank Trump voters. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1002 "2020-08-13T14:35:46Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > …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. This strikes me a pretty much BS, as I often see when people decry the pace of change. So we’ve never had a woman VP. Other than Obama, we’ve never had a non-whte pres/VP. So why the fuck is status as a “descendant of enslaved Black Americans” a characteristic that demands immediate attention at the top of the ticket? How many non heteros have there been? Nontheists? Descendants of Mexican immigrants? Native Americans? She is a woman, and definitely non-white. I’m not expert, but I’d imagine that if her Black ancestors are Caribbean going back many decades, there might be a good possibility that some of them were slaves at some point. But if they were not enslaved in America (or what eventually became American), that doesn’t count? Just strikes me as unhelpful BS to complain that she is not non-white enough, or not the right type of non-white. Which groups on what portion of the spectrum do you think significantly distinguish between Blacks who are descendants of enslaved Black Americans and those who are not? Hell, if anything, I’d imagine more people distinguish between skin color, facial characteristics, and hair type. Do we need a certain percentage, or will a drop satisfy? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505.md?page=49) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505.md?page=51)