Whitmer is out. So is Michelle Obama.
I wonder if Whitmer is really “out”. I do hope she’d take it if offered.
I think having two women would escalate this election up to “astronomically historic” levels. It’s historic if we elect a woman, but two women?
Would be like Obama in 2008.
I still hope for it.
It would also hurt her chances of elections, so that is bad.
It’s a risk and now is probably not the time to be taking risks.
It was a risk too with Obama, fortunately it paid off, but I would have been ok with a McCain or Romney administration though I wouldn’t have loved it. It’s a very different situation now.
According to the Votemaster, she will have to make a choice in two days (unless she gets an exemption. Here is the quote:
"The Rules Committee of the DNC convened yesterday and formally adopted the rules the Democrats will use to choose their nominee. Candidates for the nomination have until Saturday at 6 p.m. EDT to submit their names for consideration. Then wannabe nominees have until Tuesday to submit signatures of at least 300 convention delegates, with no more than 50 from any one state. The rule also requires the names of both the presidential and vice presidential nominee. This will force Kamala Harris to make her choice of running mate known fairly soon (unless she can convince the committee to make an exception for her).
Once the nominees are known, the procedure depends on how many candidates are nominated. If there is only one, delegates will be sent electronic ballots and voting will begin on Aug. 1. If more than one person is nominated, then all candidates will get 5 days to make their cases to the delegates. Once that period has passed, the delegates will get at least 36 hours advance notice as to when electronic voting will start.
In any event, the voting will be completed by Aug. 7. This unusual procedure was forced by an Ohio law that states parties must present the names of their candidates to the Ohio secretary of state 90 days before the election, which is Aug. 7 this year. In the past, the legislature always waived the rule for whichever party held its convention in August, but Democrats don’t trust Ohio this time. The legislature did pass a new law moving the deadline up by 2 weeks, but that law doesn’t take effect until Sept. 1. The DNC didn’t want to take any chances about court cases keeping Harris off the Ohio ballot. If the nomination is official on Aug. 7, all state deadlines will be met."
I share with @puzzlegal the misgivings of choosing a Jew. I had thought most of the antisemitism had disappeared since the 30s when my father changed our name as he was looking for a job. But recent events have convinced me that it is still there, but had been hidden. Hidden no longer.
I still like Kelly.
Yep, still my best hope, too.
Whitmer is the best of the lot. Would her gender turn some off? Yes. Would it energize others? Yes. I could see the ticket attracting enough women and young people to counterbalance the built-in misogyny of the electorate.
The thing that really helps counter Whitmer’s XX chromosomes (for lack of a better phrase) is that blue collar union guys freaking love her. She’s “Big Gretch” to them, she got rid of right-to-work in Michigan. A lot of guys (building trades, factory workers, Teamsters) who might otherwise have a “problem” voting for a woman, don’t with her.
I think this pretty much has to be it. Safe.
I’m pretty confident the DNC rules committee wouldn’t have much trouble granting her an exception if she isn’t ready to name a VP.
More importantly, anyone who is really uncomfortable voting for a woman isn’t going to vote for Harris no matter who the VP candidate is. Whitmer being female doesn’t discourage any new set of voters.
She might not be seeking the role. She might not want to say she is seeking the role. Either way, she might accept it if they ask her.
Steve Bullock
Give him the job of “anti-dark money in politics” czar and the world just becomes better.
Harris seems in the position of having a pretty damn good range of choices being floated as to the way to go. From “astronomically historic” but not a gimmick, through a spectrum to “safe” but (to use my own term) not stage furniture. But goodness the speed at which she’s having to do it…
Yes, but she still probably has a good reason not to pick a woman.
The GOP is trying to define her as a leftist extremist. Having two women on the ticket feeds this. Having a moderate male on her ticket undermines it.
The more I think about this, the harder it gets. Maybe it is because Shapiro, Kelly, and Whitmer are all excellent choices, just with different upsides. But there is no real safety.
With Kelly, I wonder about the emotional impact of Gabby Giffords. Will the ticket get a sympathy vote because of her injury? Or will gun owners feel signaled that they have been rejected (even though Kelly is actually moderate in the gun controls he favors)?
A possible plus for Whitmer is that Trumpworld will overreach in its misogyny. Plus she probably has the best case for being a moderate.
Shapiro? He is popular in Pennsylvania. Based on polling, he has the highest probability of being essential to the Democratic ticket winning a tipping point state.
I’ve read that Kelly may be a weaker debater. Not sure how Whitmer vs. Shapiro compare there.
There is no planned VP debate
It may or may not be worth noting that Kelly is, himself, a gun owner. And, frankly, I would suspect that the vast majority of gun owners who are opposed to any form of gun control legislation aren’t going to vote for any Democratic candidate.
IIRC, there has never been a democracy anywhere in the world that had a female president and female vice president at the same time - even running on the same ticket together, let alone getting elected. It seems to be universally acknowledged to be “too much for the voters.” It’s not just America.
The Commission on Presidential Debates had one scheduled for September 25. While the intended hall has been released, the CPD stands ready to sponsor 2024 debates should circumstances change.
I find it hard to believe that either the Democratic veep nominee, or Sen. Vance, will accept the reputational damage from having chickened out.
Style, skill, and polish won’t be as important a VP debate as substance and credibility. A glib tongue is not going to convince Trump voters to vote for the Harris ticket, but a veteran with combat experience contrasting with Vance, who is milking his service for all it’s worth, might demoralize them.
Apparently they are seriously vetting Pritzker. I still don’t get it.