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Biden Allies Try to Derail Kamala Harris Pick

Some of Joe Biden's biggest donors are trying to derail Kamala Harris's chances of becoming his running mate.

I hope they succeed. Given that Biden has been a crime warrior his entire 35 career in the Senate, the last thing I want is a former career prosecutor in the second highest spot.

I could care less about how she treated Biden in a debate. Plus, from all the transcripts of congressional hearings I've read on the subject of busing from back then, she accurately described his opposition to court-ordered busing).

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My objections to Kamala Harris are based on her decades as a prosecutor and then California Attorney General. See also, Kamala Harris Has Been Tough On Black People, Not Crime and The Two Faces of Kamala Harris and the New York Times OpEd, Kamala Harris was not a Progressive Prosecutor.

Come to think of it, Kamala Harris would make a much better Attorney General than Vice President. There she can be true to her core values but also act on her more johnny-come-lately positions of eliminating racial disparity in the criminal justice system.

Biden should offer her that position. And never, ever offer her a place on the Supreme Court.

I'd like Biden to pick Julian Castro, but as usual, Biden's foot in mouth disease made him promise a female running mate before he or his team even took the time to vet candidates. Since when is choosing the Vice President of the United States by gender or race as opposed to actual qualifications, relevant experience and character acceptable?

Elizabeth Warren is my second choice for VP pick, but that's likely not going to happen because his foot already semi-promised not just a female, but an African-American female. (I know there are many highly-qualified African-American women who would make terrific Vice-Presidents, I just haven't studied Biden's potential choices enough to advocate for any of his possible picks over another. I just know Harris is not the right one.)

Sure, there are worse choices than Kamala Harris, but since when have Democrats had to use that as a measuring stick? Why not reach for the best and trust voters to do the same?

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  • Display: Sort:
    Former VicePresident Biden (5.00 / 0) (#7)
    by KeysDan on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 01:00:37 PM EST
    indicated during the March CNN debate that he would select a woman as his running mate. The announcement became the dominating news of that debate providing a needed spark to his candidacy.

    As events developed since that debate, starting with his bounce-back from the results of the South Carolina primary, it became increasingly likely that the vice presidential candidate would be a woman of color. Indeed, Senator Amy Klobuchar, a frequently mentioned possibility, withdrew from consideration stating that she believed the times called for a qualified woman of color.

    It is not uncommon for either political party to select a running mate that balances or complements the top of the ticket in some way, be that geography, religion, or other germane factor.

    Senator Harris, in my view,is very well-qualified and offers complementarity. She worked her way up through local elected office and  has been elected to state-wide office as Attorney General, and then, to the US Senate. from California our biggest state.  And, she has some national campaign experience as a presidential primary contender.

    It is true that as an elected prosecutor, she prosecuted. But, she did indicate that she would never seek the death penalty--which she upheld, under pressure to do so, in the case of the killing of a police officer.

    She is overall, a progressive. The senator is in favor of federal de-scheduling of cannabis, a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, the Dream Act, tax reform, a ban on assault weapons, and single payer health care (although her Medicare for All primary proposal was disappointing in timing and method, but probably closer to Biden).

    Senator Harris is a graduate of Howard University, a HBCU, and the University of California Hastings College of Law.

    These are no ordinary times. The democracy is at stake. The vice president needs to be supportive of the president's goals and be ready, if necessary, to assume leadership for the country. I believe a Biden/Harris ticket will be a strong one for the Democratic Party and the country.