Let’s speculate about who will be the vice presidential candidates picks.
Trump: current Vice President Pence has zero charisma. But he’s obsequious and shores up the administration’s support among Christian theocrats. The administration cannot afford to lose that support. I don’t see him being replaced unless the pandemic response becomes a political liability. The problem for Trump is that if things are bad enough that Pence gets dumped, the election has probably already been lost.
Democrats: I think the best vice presidential candidates are Julián Castro, Kamala Harris, and Stacey Abrams. The ticket will need color and youth. For Bernie, I’d recommend Castro, for Biden I’d say Abrams. But I think any of the pairings work well. I don’t think it matters the exact policies of the vice-prez candidate; they’ll echo the prez candidate. The important thing is that the vice presidential candidate can pull in votes and not abandon an office that might flip Republican.
It ABSOLUTELY should (and probably MUST) be a woman. There’s no excuse that we haven’t had a woman VP (or Prez, for that matter). This kind of thing never changes until decisions are made specifically to frickin’ change it!
For Biden, Warren should be first. Kamala Harris would also be a good one. I think young voters who want more gun control may like Harris in there.
And I have a question. Why wait to announce who your running mate is until after the nomination? Wouldn’t picking a good one now bring more voters to a primary? Seems like if Biden or Sanders picked someone like Warren today, wouldn’t that help bury the other candidate?
I think Abrams is best for all three (Sanders, Biden, and Trump.) For Sanders and Biden, she injects youthful vigor and competence into the campaign. For Sanders in particular, she will help with the black voters where he seems to have a complete inability to connect. And he cannot afford to have a Castro on his ticket after his 60 Minutes interview.
Also, I think Abrams would take it. She wants to be president, and VP is still a reasonable, if inconsistent, step to that.
I have thought for a loooong time that Biden would pick Amy Klobuchar to solidify the upper Midwest. Tammy Baldwin, the Senator from Wisconsin, can work as well - though her being openly lesbian probably would be somewhat risky. It would, on some level, be fighting the last election, but I think it would also be a relatively wise move as well.
I don’t know if an Illinois Senator gives the same bump in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania (not to mention Ohio). I also thought that while she is new in the job, Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan is not a bad choice - she won the Governor race by 10 points in late 2018. And she just endorsed Biden.
The wackadoo who jujitsu’d every Dem candidate save Biden into supporting quite possibly the most politically toxic campaign position - decriminalizing unauthorized immigration - should be nowhere near the VP slot.
I think it will be a younger woman for Biden. Harris main downside is she’s from CA which is not a problem for Dems. He may want someone from the midwest like Duckworth.
Biden doesn’t need anyone to help him win the Midwest, nor does he need another moderate on the ticket. Klobuchar is painfully boring and wouldn’t help him win the states he needs. He actually needs to add a little oomph to the ticket, someone that brings energy across the Democratic spectrum and the geographical landscape. He already brings moderate, industrial Midwest, and normalcy to the ticket. He needs to spice it up a little (but not too much).
Abrams or Warren would do that just fine. Maybe Kamala, but I’ve never been crazy about her.
Keep in mind that this is the party that let the assault weapons ban expire as it was convinced that it is what cost Gore the 2000 election (“the version I heard was,” it is the only plausible explanation they have for Gore losing both his own home state and President Clinton’s). I bring that up because I wonder how many party diehards blame Geraldine Ferraro for Mondale losing as badly as he did in 1984.
However, if they really want a woman VP, here’s a name nobody seems to have brought up: Dianne Feinstein. The only problem with her is, she’s from California, and usually the VP choice is from a state that the party needs help winning. Then again, that would “disqualify” Kamala Harris as well.
Whoever’s going to be at the top of the ticket at this point, it’s going to be someone very old. The VP’s primary, and very nearly only, job description is to take over when the President dies or otherwise becomes incapable. So the VP in this case absolutely must be someone young.
I think that saying that “the VP should be a woman” or “the VP should be nonwhite” is just as big a mistake as “the VP should be a man” or “the VP should be white”. Take whoever’s best, regardless of sex or race. That said, some of the strongest contenders out there are in fact women and/or non-white.
Beyond being young, I think that the candidates’ needs are somewhat different. If it’s Biden, then he needs someone who’s exciting and tenacious. My preference would be Tammy Duckworth, but there are others who could also fill the bill.
On the other hand, Sanders would need someone just the opposite: Someone viewed as traditional (by Democratic standards) and level-headed. I’m not as familiar with many politicians by that description-- Ideas?
