I was trying to be polite, yes.
His attacks on Trump have been tougher than most other politicians have been.
For example. Gift link.
Because I’ve heard many of his supporters - and more of his detractors - be far less polite. Might not be right. But to be denied at one’s potential peril.
I’ve been pretty much ignoring politics (before Biden’s withdrawal.) That makes me like JB more - enough so that I’d like him to stay as our guv.
And then there’s this:
Not that it matters but she’s now officially the candidate
Pritzker is my governor and I like him. I could see him running for POTUS at some point.
I feel Harris has better options than him and expect she will go with one of them.
But, who knows.
All I can say at this point is that I hope (and expect) that Harris and her team are not engaged in the level of navel gazing that the VP speculation has descended into among the chattering classes. Analysis paralysis is real, and every single candidate mentioned has potential strengths and weaknesses. I hope that she has decided or decides quickly which candidate gives her the best shot at running the race she thinks she needs to in order to win. And have a plan ready for how they’ll exploit those strengths and mitigate those weaknesses.
This (longish) interview with Walz is worth listen to. Even if he doesn’t get picked for V.P. I hope we see a lot more of him on the national stage. He’s kind, super relatable, and deeply thoughtful about the issues.
Listening to him makes me feel like we could recover the best parts of our country.
I’m don’t think JB is the best choice but it does consistently seem to me that gays are the most apprehensive of the problem of Buttigieg being gay, Blacks were most sure Obama was unelectable, and Jews are most concerned about Jewish being a negative.
Meanwhile I don’t think Lieberman’s being Jewish was a drag on Gore. Gore was the drag on Gore. Lieberman being somewhat conservative wasn’t helpful I’ll admit.
And somehow Jews are elected to office in a variety of states, at high levels, governors and Senators included, significantly beyond their population representation. It seems like they are being judged less by their cultural identity and more by their stands on issues and efficacy. I can see no reason why national voters would behave differently.
The problem with Shapiro is that he has both. Once I found out he championed shutting down the pro-Gaza protests, I realized the big deal with him. Who shuts down protests? The people who are against what those people stand for.
Hid the off-topic hijack enabling part about Biden. {WE?}
This is an election about turnout. One of Biden’s biggest flaws before mental issues was his position on Israel and Gaza. That was the main “hold you nose and vote for Biden” issue. Bringing that issue back after we have all this momentum seems like a horrible idea for Harris.
I’ve been trying to convince Jewish people online with Shapiro is not that he’s Jewish, but that he took a strong position against the pro-Gaza protests. That would seem to me like if Harris had stopped BLM protests in 2020.
I really do not think Shapiro is a good idea. I’m hoping that other bit of info mentioned above rules him out. But I’m concerned based on where the Tuesday rally is.
The only way I can see Shapiro working is if he immediately backtracks on all that and goes hard against Bibi and Israel. And I think that’s really difficult to do right now due to their current situation.
Of course, maybe I’m wrong. I was wrong about the Dems coalescing around Harris. But I have a hard time seeing how Harris doesn’t need to avoid pushing away the most energetic parts of the Democratic party. That she doesn’t need to push away the new college-aged voters who have registered.
I’m not convinced the rally location is a giveaway to Harris’ choice. If that is in fact the case why not keep the location under wraps for a few more days? But what do I know. 
Clearly NOT the place to discuss the details of the protests. Posters have been thread blocked already. The point is that if his support for Israel’s actions in the name of self defense, and his handling of protests that he believed crossed some line are issues that you believe would be problematic then fine. I’m increasingly believing the Jewish identity per se is less of an issue than I had initially believed.
Good, because I wqasn’t discussing the specifics of the protests, either. Just the fact that he went against them, which, regardless of his intent, comes across as being against their position.
That, no the mere fact he is Jewish, is why I think that even a lot of Jewish people think he’s a problem.
I don’t think being Jewish is a big problem. Being vocally anti-ceasefire is a problem, and being Jewish makes that particular problem somewhat worse, not necessarily a lot worse.
In general, though, I agree with DSeid, we should probably all calm down and remember that there isn’t actually strong evidence that swing voters will flee in horror from any non-white/straight/Christian/male candidate.
Shapiro has also been more critical of Netanyahu than any of the other VP hopefuls (AFAICT, anyway), and Kelly attended Netanyahu’s speech (unlike many other Democrats). While I think some of Shapiro’s statements could reduce his appeal to critics of Israel’s conduct, I think that’s also true of the other possibilities.
Critical of Netanyahu’s government in general, or of his conduct of the war in particular? I think to the extent American voters care, it’s only going to be about the latter.
Just harping on Trump’s felony convictions is not enough to sway voters. Democrats need to sell the Democratic presidency to the voters, not just be against Trump. They seem to keep forgetting this. And we’ve already got a prosecutor at the top of the ticket.
Pritzker is Chicago establishment, he’s got the Chris Christie look, just being portly does not make someone appear tough, he’s a billionaire and Dems need to reach progressives…no, just no, just NO!
Nah. Most of us had the hot take that there is too much antisemitism and that what with Harris being stepmother to Jewish kids and married to a Jewish man it would be too much Jewish.
That’s what I have revisited upon reflection.
I am NOT a fan of JB as running mate and am not promoting him as such. The comment was in response to why he might be considered “tough” and how he would serve well in the traditional attack dog mode. He is very comfortable and good at that.
I think he is great. And I do not think he is the best running mate choice or even close.
Can’t have Pete, or another woman, on the ticket. One woman, and a woman of color at that, is pushing it enough. A white male astronaut is just what the doctor ordered. Their attempts to smear him would be humorous.
Well, yeah. I know it wasn’t your reason. But I saw a lot of posts that would touch on this. And one post that started to bring it up, but then got shut down. The reason I brought it up is that I didn’t think it had been fully articulated.
I agree with your argument that the antisemitism concern was overblown. I wasn’t arguing with you, so much as using one of the most recent post about Shapiro as my in to articulate my opinion on him as a VP pick.
And I’m hoping someone will read the whole thing and tell me why I’m wrong (about the hint that he’s her pick, or that he would be catastrophic on the Gaza issue). Because it genuinely makes me quite nervous.