Why do you think Klobuchar “changed the whole dynamic of the race by endorsing Biden”? How are you so certain that that was the main reason Biden surged and not, say, that South Carolina Black voters, desperate to get rid of Trump and thinking Biden was more likely to win than Sanders, went for Biden? Or that there was a backlash to Sanders’ nomination?
She likely dropped out of the race and threw support to Biden for a very different reason than you’re suggesting:
Klobuchar told her aides that she wanted to get behind Biden quickly — “it all happened in a matter of a couple hours,” she said — **over fear that Sanders would lose badly to President Donald Trump **if he won the Democratic nomination — something she raised in debates earlier this year.
[bolding mine] [source]
A Minnesota newspaper said Klobuchar’s decision to drop out and deliver her home state to Biden was for a very specific reason:
I like Klobuchar. I’m just not convinced things unfolded as you speculate they did.
This is interesting. She might be best served being the VP candidate and Trump losing. She would get national exposure and not have any Trump baggage by the time 2024 rolls around.
The pass she’s been getting on the cult stuff would be revoked the second she’s named as the VP candidate.
This video would be on TV and social media 24 hours a day. America, even liberal America, is not ready for a vice president (and potentially a president, given Bernie’s age and health issues) who is a Hare Krishna.
Not to mention the overt homophobia she’s exhibited in the past.
I think Duckworth would be great not only on her merits but also to troll Republicans, both for needling Pence about not being alone with her, and making them all look like assholes when a small number of them will inevitably make fun of her name. There’s also the possibility of a “I prefer soldiers who didn’t get injured” moment.
Trump should dump Pence and run with Palin. It’s the kind of bat shit crazy thing he loves and the pair would draw huge crowds. The Evangelicals would kiss his feet.
And it might win the election - Ignorance and rhetoric will always prevail over knowledge and logic. (Socrates dialogues)
They can go to Nome and look at Siberia together. Think: Trump Tower Vladivostok.
(I’ve got to work Trump-Palin into a trampoline pun. Tramp-Paline - is that too subtle?)
One advantage of Palin over Pence: NOBODY will attempt a presidential assassination.
Okay, enough of the lords of disorder. Biden’s best Veep candidate is Michelle Obama but she’s too smart to suffer the slings and arrows of public office. Did any names leak from the Biden campaign while I wasn’t paying attention?
There is no way in hell that Trump will replace Pence. There’s nothing to be gained from it, and a lot to lose. Pence was a major strategic asset to him in 2016 winning the Bible Belt and he knows this. Pence is the PERFECT foil to Trump. Trump is all emotive, Pence is an unreadable brick wall. Trump is a secular womanizer from New York, Pence is an uptight Christian from the “heartland.” Trump is a totally flamboyant character, Pence is the “gray man” who fades into the background, keeps his eyes and ears open and his mouth shut. It’s why their pairing has been so successful, politically speaking, for both of them. And Pence will be well positioned to run in 2024, regardless of who wins this time around.
Presidential candidates have typically held a major statewide office (obviously there are some notable exceptions), and women only started being elected to statewide offices in large numbers about 25 years ago. When Thatcher, Gandhi, and Bhutto were winning their first elections, there were next to no women in high-level US politics.
I don’t think it helps that our cabinet is not a part of a traditional path to the presidency, or that political parties choose their candidates up and down the ballot in primaries open to the general public.
Good point about Cabinet. Note that all four of AK84’s examples come from parliamentary systems. You don’t need to win state-wide or national elections to work your way up the parliamentary system, just your local constituency. That makes entry to political office easier.
Although it can’t be ignored that two of those four came from really well-established political families. Doesn’t mean the premiership was handed to them, but Gandhi and Bhutto certainly benefitted from that sort of background.
Thatcher and Merkel both came from much humbler beginnings.
A candidate who has so far gathered 2 delegates seems an inappropriate veep choice unless the goal is aiding Tramp and Putin.
But let’s brainstorm. Russian agents deliver hallucinogens to DNC members who reassign superdelegates so the Sanders-Gabbard combo gains the Dem nod. Defeat is assured. America is great again. But wait - hacked vote-counting machines give S&G a startling victory! Alas, Dems are reduced to only 30% of House and Senate seats and most state offices. Do Trampistas arise to overthrow the dirty socialists?
Booker endorsed Biden today. I guess eventually almost all the dropouts will endorse Biden. Probably Warren too. Anyone who ran and wants VP slot or cabinet job will have to endorse Biden.
I’m moving Tammy Baldwin back into my number one spot over Harris. Of the must win hang in the balance states Wisconsin is the one that Biden currently loses to Trump, narrowly. 2 points delivered there by a native daughter VP candidate, could be the election.
