It looks like Biden is pulling away from Sanders. Nate Silver recently tweeted something like “If you think my tone has changed, it has. Biden is going to be the nominee.” So, who will he pick as his running mate?
Exactly zero of my political predictions have been correct since 2015, so that means I’m due, right? OK, here goes.
Biden will pick someone youngish, more progressive than himself, and either not white or not male. While Warren is in great health and very energetic, she’s not exactly a spring chicken herself. Also she shouldn’t have to be anyone’s second fiddle. She should get a prominent Cabinet position. AG?
Kamala Harris is 55. Her past as a prosecutor might be an asset if Biden goes the route of “I will make them pay for what they have done!”, but I think progressives are leery of her for her past of incarcerating people.
Adam Schiff has the anti-Trump goods, but it’s hard to go from the House to the White House, and he’s also a white dude.
My dark horse candidate is Kate Brown, Governor of Oregon. I don’t know a lot about her but she seems pretty progressive, she hits some demographic marks, and she won’t cost the Democrats a seat in the Senate.
So, my prediction is: I have no fucking idea. Kate Brown, just so if it’s her I can come back here and do a victory lap.
I’d like to see Tammy Duckworth, who would tick a lot of the boxes you mention. But the main reason I’d like to see her is that we need a fighter on the ticket, someone tenacious enough to do what’ll need to be done, and I think she’s got what it takes for that. Being a veteran who’s unquestionably sacrificed for her country helps, too.
I can’t predict but short list:
**Stacey Abrams **from Georgia might help take Georgia, would probably help with women. she’s under 50. Biden doesn’t really need the help with African Americans.
Elizabeth Warren but she is 70 and didn’t even win her own state (a very blue one at that)
Ask Warren & Sanders to provide a short list of acceptable progressive under the age of 70 if they agree to campaign hard for the Biden/younger Progressive ticket.
Any very popular politician from a largish Purple state is a fairly good choice. If someone like that exists in Florida, maybe the best choice.
I’m not predicting either, but I’m kind of tired of hearing about Stacey Abrams. You want to go with a woman of color, fine. But pick one from a swing state, who’s actually won an election (yes, yes, I know). Reps. Brenda Lawrence of MI and Val Demmings of FL come to mind.
I’m also over the Abrams hype. Yes, there was a lot of monkey business in that GA race, but politics ain’t beanbags. There were two senate races in Georgia and she played footsie with both while deciding not to run. Then she was playing coy with Bloomberg suggesting a deal for VP.
If she wants to stay behind the scenes and work on voter suppression, great. But, especially after the Gillum incident, I think Biden should stick with someone who’s won a statewide race. I think Kamala would be fine, yes some of the Bernie Bros will whine about Kamala is a cop but I don’t think they’re nearly as powerful as they are loud and tend to already be concentrated in deep blue area
Joe’s dilemma: picking someone voters will accept as his successor when he croaks in a few months.
While I don’t really want established (D) senators [del]ripped[/del] lured from the legislative to the executive, Kamala Harris wouldn’t be replaced by an ®. She’s non-male and non-white and non-ancient enough to balance Joltin’ Joe, but she’s also from Ecotopia and so will alienate many… who might not have voted for Biden anyway.
Kamala seems to own a bit of national name recognition. Is it mostly positive, negative, or indifferent?
I don’t know much at all about Abrams. On paper she looks good, and she seems to have gotten jammed in her run for Florida governor, but her resume in elected office is kind of thin. The highest office she’s held is in the GA State House. That seems like a liability if Biden wants to reassure people the country will be in capable hands when he goes face down in his Cheerios one morning.
I get it, but living in Georgia, one of the reasons I see the Abrams hype is that she is one of the most impressive speakers I’ve ever seen. Her command of the facts and her ability to explain things is far beyond anyone running for President (yes, she makes Buttigieg look like an average guy IMO)
On February 5th, 2019, Stacey Abrams — whom Rolling Stone recently profiled — gave the official Democratic response to President Trump’s State of the Union address to Congress. Within minutes of her finishing, Biden’s campaign tweeted that Abrams, who had lost her campaign for Georgia governor in 2018 by the narrowest of margins and amid accusations of fraud and voter suppression by her Republican opponent, had achieved “in a matter of minutes something Donald Trump failed to do in over an hour — to embrace and give voice to the spirit and core values that make America great.”*
A few weeks ago I would have said Klobuchar with little hesitation. Now I’m about 50/50 with Duckworth. I’m wondering if there will be some challenge to her eligibility. I think she is eligible but I’ve heard grumblings about a challenge. It might muddy up the water a bit.
All a guess of course. I don’t know when I’ve guessed right if ever.