General Question

Mama_Cakes's avatar

Who is Biden going to pick for VP? Who do YOU like?

Asked by Mama_Cakes (11160points) July 17th, 2020
155 responses
“Great Question” (5points)

As asked.

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Answers

Hawaii_Jake's avatar

Personally, I like both Stacy Abrams and Kamala Harris. I don’t remember enough about Susan Rice to have an opinion about her. Elizabeth Warren is too old. I want him to pick someone young who could run in the future.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Kamala Harris or Tammy Duckworth.

ragingloli's avatar

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The fascists’ heads would explode, collectively.

janbb's avatar

I think it should be a woman of color. Besides that, I see plusses and minuses to many of them. I wanted Elizabeth Warren to be President but I don’t think she’s what’s needed on the ticket now.

JLeslie's avatar

I have no idea who Biden will pick.

I like Tammy Duckworth. I really don’t know all of the people in the running right now very well. I’m interested in learning more about Grisham, Demmings, and Tammy Baldwin. The Michigan Governor is interesting, because most of my Michigan Republican friends did not complain about how she handled covid and all those same friends of mine tell people to wear a mask. I do have one Republican friend who felt the governor went too far and was afraid and pissed.

I know a lot of people want a woman of color, does that mean a Black woman, or anyone who is not European white non-Hispanic? A Black woman might make it difficult to bring calm back to our country, but maybe we can’t have calm anymore anyway. It’s not fair to choose someone based on that reason I realize. Grisham is Hispanic, which maybe could help get Florida. The Michigan Governor (I can’t think of her name) and Baldwin might help get the Midwest, and even the Southwest.

@ragingloli Alexandria is only 30 years old, you have to 35 to be President.

Patty_Melt's avatar

Candace Owens.

mazingerz88's avatar

Condoleeza Rice. Though I have yet to hear about her position on some big issues.

seawulf575's avatar

Biden won’t pick anyone. His handlers will tell him who is running mate will be. I’m betting Hillary ends up as VP.

chyna's avatar

I hope it’s not Hillary. We need a younger person in there.

seawulf575's avatar

I say it will be Hillary for a couple reasons. Logically, she almost won last time. She is obsessed with being POTUS. We all know that Biden will be the first POTUS in the history of our country that will be replaced under the 25th Amendment for being unable to discharge the duties of his office. That would make the VP, the POTUS. Hillary would backdoor her way into the office. She is that ambitious. And she brings a large amount of cash to the party…something the Dems need. In other words, just like in 2016, she will buy the nomination.

janbb's avatar

@seawulf575 Much as you would like that wish fulfilled, I have never seen her name even floated. I think it’s pretty clear to the Dems that she brings nothing to the party at this point.

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Demosthenes's avatar

Well, he has to pick a black woman because diversity, so I guess either Kamala or Abrams. It’s hard to picture Kamala being chosen on account of her time as a prosecutor, which may be seen as too “law and order”.

JLeslie's avatar

@Demosthenes I disagree, he does not have to pick a Black woman. I was just watching The View today and Whoopi Goldberg took issue with that idea also. He probably will though. We’ll see.

kritiper's avatar

Michael Bloomberg.

kritiper's avatar

Biden has to win the election so who and what color his running mate might be is secondary.

josie's avatar

Elizabeth Warren
She’s a female which satisfies a constituency
She’s an old Boomer which satisfies a constituency
She’s a Native American which satisfies a constuency
She’s worth about 10 million dollars which satisfies a constituency
And she thinks that all sorts of stuff should be free, which is an idea that I find hard to argue against.
Go Libby!!!

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Darth_Algar's avatar

Good lord…

filmfann's avatar

Kamala Harris is the front runner, but he might need to nominate someone who can bring a swing state with them. Amy Klobuchar could guarantee Minnesota, but isn’t of color, which is probably a requirement.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth would bring Illinois, which is probably voting for Joe anyway. She is a wounded vet, and has a father’s lineage to the Revolutionary War, and a mother from China.
I love Elizabeth Warren, but I’d pick Sen. Duckworth.

Pandora's avatar

Tammy Duckworth or Susan Rice.. Personally I love Val Demmings. But I don’t think she is well known enough like Tammy Duckworth or Susan Rice. Duckworth is a Veteran and I think she will get a lot of Veteran Votes. Susan Rice is well known and can help in repairing our Global reputation. And I’ve seen her speak several times. She is very smooth and classy.. She like a female version of Obama. Really has the chops for diplomacy. I can see either of these women possibly run in the future and win. I’m not just looking at 2020. We need a VP that can win the Presidency in the future.

mazingerz88's avatar

@filmfann I thought Duckworth’s Mom is from Thailand?

Darth_Algar's avatar

@mazingerz88

She is. Thai, of Chinese ancestry. Tammy herself was born on a US military base in Bangkok.

JLeslie's avatar

@filmfann Amy Klobuchar is impossible at this point. After the George Floyd murder and the whole BLM movement in full swing, she has too much history not prosecuting bad cops. This was already an issue in the Black community with her, now it would get traction with everyone from every race or ethnicity.

@Darth_Algar I’ve never heard she was born on base. Are you sure about that?

Yellowdog's avatar

It has already been established by Biden himself that it will be a “woman of color”—which means a white person of mixed ancestry / race who claims to be an African American.

Darth_Algar's avatar

@JLeslie

Do I know what exact inch of soil she was born on? No. Was she exactly born within the perimeter of a military base? Likely not. Most don’t have hospitals on site. Was she born in Bangkok while her father was stationed there? Yes. That’s what I meant. Likely on a hospital near to the base, but I, personally, am not certain, as I was not present at her birth. My apologies for not splitting the hair fine enough.

gondwanalon's avatar

I think Biden will pick a black women but I hope that he picks Mrs. Clinton.

JLeslie's avatar

@Darth_Algar I’m not trying to split hairs, but a birther might. It doesn’t matter if she was born on base or not to me. I just try to be accurate on these things so some idiot doesn’t come back trying to say the Democrat, Socialist, Liberal, mask wearers are lying.

I don’t see it as splitting hairs. If she’s not born on base she’s not. I don’t even think her father was living on base. Was he there with the military or as a diplomat? I need to look it up. I really don’t know.

Darth_Algar's avatar

Who cares what birther morons think? There’s a few holds outs left, but that ship lost its sails when Ted Cruz threw his hat in the ring and they were ok with it.

JLeslie's avatar

I care about being accurate.

Mama_Cakes's avatar

Not H. Clinton. Ugh.

I like Susan Rice, but I’m thinking it’ll be Harris.

Darth_Algar's avatar

@JLeslie

You “don’t think” but you “don’t know” and “have to look it up”. If you’re not even aware of who her father is then how can you claim you “don’t think” he was even on base?

And yes, her father, Cpt. Franklin Duckworth, a veteran of World War II, Korean and Vietnam, was military, not a diplomat.

JLeslie's avatar

@Darth_Algar I’m saying I don’t know. You said she was born on base like you know it for a fact. I don’t see how you can criticize me for admitting I’m not sure.

rockfan's avatar

I’d love to see Biden pick a genuine progressive, like Nina Turner. She’s awesome. I doubt it’s going to happen though, considering Biden is basically a moderate Republican

rockfan's avatar

@seawulf575

At first I thought you were joking. Cash isn’t what the Democratic Party needs, they need good politicians that support policies that improve people’s lives, not corporate donors. Plus, Hillary ran the worst Democratic campaign in election history in 2016

seawulf575's avatar

@rockfan Cash is ALWAYS what the Dems need. And before they get good politicians, they need actual good policies that improve people’s lives. So far as I can determine, nothing I have seen fits that bill. But they all benefit a select few corporations and donors. As for Hillary, it is easy now to say she ran the worst democratic campaign in election history, yet all her Dem followers (and a complicit media) hung on her every word, took it all as gospel, and rabidly attacked anyone that dared to even challenge her. Let’s compare that with what Biden is doing now. The media is covering for every one of his gaffes by attacking anyone that brings them up OR by just not reporting on them. They (his handlers) don’t let him speak in public and don’t let him actually have live question and answer sessions. The media acts like this is all really normal and shows what a great guy he is! He still screws up at just about every event where he has to speak, even if it is prearranged, not live, and he has had time to formulate answers to questions ahead of time. Now, how do you think that would translate into running the country? Does the POTUS get a chance to silo himself away from everyone and everything, only coming out to answer questions he gets in advance and ignoring the ones he doesn’t like? Yet the media and the Dems are swearing he is doing a great job. Does that sound like a great campaign to you? Does it sound like he is a good candidate? That he could even realistically do the job? Or does it sound like he is a puppet who they want to get put into office so that unelected people can actually fill the role of POTUS?

jca2's avatar

Biden said he would pick a woman of color as the VP.

Paranoid people are saying Hillary, meanwhile, I’ve not heard anything about Hillary being interested. With Biden stating he would pick a woman of color, the paranoid people are totally mistaken as Hillary is whiter than white.

I thought Harris was out as a candidate. I have to google it.

With Duckworth, if her father is or was a citizen of the US, then isn’t the baby automatically a US citizen?

jca2's avatar

I just googled the circumstances about Duckworth. Even though she should meet the requirements, there are a bunch of right wing paranoid sites that are saying she doesn’t meet the citizenship requirements. Therefore, I think she wouldn’t be a good candidate for VP, as the right wing nuts will constantly be picking at that topic incessantly.

filmfann's avatar

@mazingerz88 Born in Thailand, mother from China.

JLeslie's avatar

@jca2 Her circumstance is basically the same as Ted Cruz, except Ducksworth’s father was actually serving the US when living abroad.

I knew the right would try to go after her, that’s why I was curious about the actual circumstance of her birth.

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gorillapaws's avatar

A genuine progressive like Nina Turner would guarantee a win. Biden’s team won’t do this. They’d rather roll-the-dice and pick a donor-approved, neo-liberal—just like Hillary. Because beating Trump is not the highest priority in the Democratic Party, maintaining neoliberal control over a progressive electorate is.

Caravanfan's avatar

As my post was moderated, I repeat: I don’t care. What people don’t realize is that it truly doesn’t matter who he picks as VEEP. All that is important is that the Great Orange is thrown from office. But since Biden is old, he needs to pick someone who is ready to step into the role of President at day 1. That rules out AOC as she needs more seasoning, but Bernie would be okay (although he is old, as is Warren). Although Duckworth has appeal being a disabled war vet, I don’t think she’s ready to step into a presidential role. Harris is, however. Abrams is not.

So, of all of those I mentioned, only Harris is the viable option. So I’m calling it now.

But again, It. Doesn’t. Matter. He can pick fucking Kanye for all I care.

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RedDeerGuy1's avatar

Jesse Ventura. He seems level headed and wise. I don’t know what political party he is in.

Darth_Algar's avatar

Sorry, but Jesse Ventura is a fucking crackpot, and he failed miserably during his single term as governor. His economic policies alone cost his state billions in revenues and took the state of Minnesota from a $4,000,000,000 budget surplus to a $3,000,000,000 budget deficit. Nowadays he operates as a mouthpiece for the Russian government-owned RT and peddles in inane conspiracy theories.

gorillapaws's avatar

@Darth_Algar ”[Jesse Ventura’s] economic policies alone cost his state billions…”

How much do you think Biden’s crime bill cost the taxpayers over the past 2+ decades? How much do you think the War in Iraq (that Biden fought hard to push us into) costs the taxpayers? Jesse Ventura is a fucking crackpot, to be sure, but if fiscal responsibility is a metric you’re using to gauge political competence, then Ventura is a genius by comparison.

As for RT, I trust them more than AT&T-owned CNN, or Comcast-owned MSNBC, or Disney-owned ABC, or Viacom-owned CBS, or Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post, or…(well, you get the idea).

Darth_Algar's avatar

“As for RT, I trust them more than…”

Of course you do.

seawulf575's avatar

Face it, Geriatric Joe is a puppet. He isn’t allowed out to interact with people anymore. He only interacts when he is given the questions that will be asked well before hand and then, his handlers give him the answers. He will choose for VP whomever his handlers want to be the POTUS when he is removed for being senile.

chyna's avatar

^ Your proof?

Darth_Algar's avatar

@chyna

His proof? “Eveyone knows it”.

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seawulf575's avatar

@chyna Well, I will admit, it is mainly my feeling from observations of his dealings so far. But Chris Wallace agrees with my assessment. He thinks Biden should be out getting grilled on tough questions which will not happen. He will only agree to appear on MSNBC or CNN both of whom will give him the questions well in advance, they will make them softball questions, and will edit out things that are too bizarre. This, too, has been shown to be true in their past dealings with Dem candidates. Let Biden sit down with Chris Wallace. Let him go onto some conservative site and do an impromptu interview. It won’t happen. He hasn’t done really any live press conferences except for the one in Delaware at the end of June. And that one showed how lost he really is.
Terry McAuliffe said it best: “People say all the time, ‘Oh, we need to get the Vice President out of the basement.’ He’s fine in the basement. He is seen by two people every day, his two body people. That’s it.” So apparently McAuliffe agrees with my assessment as well.

jca2's avatar

@seawulf575: OK, so there are two people who agree with your assessment, Chris Wallace and Terry McAuliffe.

Yellowdog's avatar

@seawulf575 It is not just his two body people who attend Biden daily. There are two staff attendies from Visiting Angels, and his wife.

chyna's avatar

<eye roll>. Where’s your proof @Yellowdog?
I know, you’re just making this shit up.

Yellowdog's avatar

If you know, then why do you ask?

Seriously, only two aids / attendees and his wife are allowed to interact for Biden. They are attendees but they are not (probably) with Visiting Angels.

But do you want your nominee to be someone who cannot or is not allowed to speak for himself? That much SHOULD be a serious concern.

Darth_Algar's avatar

@Yellowdog

So where’s your proof?

Tropical_Willie's avatar

@Yellowdog doesn’t need “any stinking proof ! ! ! ! ”
_

Yellowdog's avatar

They’re not with visiting angels. America’s choice for homecare. But being coddled by one’s wife and two attendees—and being told what to say to the point that one diverts from the narrative and has to be redirected back on track if his personal opinion is different from the given one, that’s pretty sad.

chyna's avatar

Ok, again @Yellowdog, how do you know there are 2 people with him at all times?
You do know that since he is high profile that he does have bodyguards don’t you? That is just common sense and most high profile people have bodyguards. All ex-presidents and their families are assigned bodyguards for the rest of their life.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

So @Yellowdog do you see wires and strings and other things connected to Biden by your “TWO ATTENDEES” ?

Darth_Algar's avatar

Every former president and vice-president is assigned a security detail for life.

Caravanfan's avatar

I called it (see above). Not that it took some huge prognostication to do that.

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

Breaking news Kamala Harris is Bidens vp. pick.

rockfan's avatar

This pick definitely helps Trump. Now Trump and Pence can point out Kamala’s awful voting record and pretend that they’re better on policing issues. If Biden picked an actual progressive with principles, Trump would look like a complete ass trying to make shit up to deflect the issues

Tropical_Willie's avatar

@rockfan people are dying because of Trump’s lack of focus and lack of responsibility. He is poor actor and not a good “spin doctor” !

It is what is is !” for an answer about people dying from COVID-19 !

ragingloli's avatar

Drumpf is the one that made this meme real

JLeslie's avatar

A friend of mine feels picking a Black woman will calm the country down. Her aunt has been locked down in her Chicago building because of the looting and rioting.

I am way more afraid of the WS and Q than Black people, and this will get the crazy extremists far right going. Part of the reason we got Trump was a backlash to Obama. I don’t see picking her as a way to calm down the country and unite us, but I really really hop I am wrong.

I was watching MSNBC for a few minutes earlier today, before the announcement, and Andrea Mitchell pissed me off when she said that picking a black woman would be historic. That is the same thing that pushed Obama to the top over Hillary. A woman would be historic period! Any race or ethnicity.

Some people I know were saying it had to be a Black women to motivate the Blacks to vote. Were Black people really not going to come out and vote for the Democrats unless it was a Black VP? That is really disappointing. What does that say? I am not so sure that is true. Black people around me seem pretty damned motivated to get rid of Trump. There is a concerted effort to get out the vote. The Democrats called my three times a few months ago to make sure I vote.

Kamala is smart, and I think competent, she just rubbed me the wrong way more than once. If she tries to eviscerate Pence like she did fellow Democrats on the debate stage it could easily backfire, I think she was pretty awful more than once. If she sticks to issues she will be amazing.

I’ll be crossing my fingers Biden gets elected and the crazy extremist libertarians don’t start shooting up the country.

Yellowdog's avatar

Kamala ain’t black.

She is half Asian, half Caribbean, but no more African American than Warren is Native American. She doesn’t even look African American though sometimes fakes an ‘accent.”

Anyone who sees an African American when they see this rich, privileged, preppy, militant agitator is delusional.

And no, she won’t unite the country. The Left is the one doing the rioting and looting. And BLM does NOT represent the majority of black people—who are mostly mainstream, hard working folk.

Kamala is a militant, anti-law enforcement, anti-military, anti-borders sort, She and others will be in charge of Biden, until he quits. Then she will rule. The horror will be real. Thank God they cannot possibly win.

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mazingerz88's avatar

Biden can pick the Virgin Mary or Mother Teresa and trump and his rabid mangy spirited fans will smear and tear her apart all the same. That’s what sad, pathetic sorry excuses for human beings do on their way to their doom.

Caravanfan's avatar

I literally spit out my beer reading @Yellowdog‘s post. Poe’s Law rules the universe.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

@mazingerz88

TRUMP’S approval rating is hovering around 40 % and disapproval rating is 53% ! That is not a winning position !

Tropical_Willie's avatar

@Caravanfan sorry for the wasted mouthful of beer !

gorillapaws's avatar

Kamala has an authenticity problem. You’re getting the dream candidate for the oligarchy. Biden blew his chance to bring progressives into the voting booths. This whole election is 2016 version 2.0 with a COVID-19 wildcard. If Biden wins, we’re looking at a right wing extremist backlash in 2024 and the Republicans taking over the working class vote. Let’s hope they just lock people up, and not force them to fight to the death in an arena.

Caravanfan's avatar

@Tropical_Willie It was the most blatantly racist thing I’ve ever read on this site. I’d flag it but it should be left up for people to behold, so they can see his true colors.

Yellowdog's avatar

So, its okay for the premise of the question to be about Kamala Harris’ race—an African American woman and for me to say that she is NOT that race (She is half Asian Indian and half Jamacian)—that this is the most blatantly racist thing you have read on this site?

Kamala Harris is not a ‘black woman’ as she preports to be. Her background is totally different. It is Caribbean and Asian, and neither of those are similar to African American.

gorillapaws's avatar

@Yellowdog first, “Jamaican” isn’t a race, it’s a nationality. Second, where did the black (non-indigenous) people in the Caribbean come from?
(Hint: slave ships from a continent that begins with the letter “A” and ends with “rica”)

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Caravanfan's avatar

@Yellowdog wrote “that this is the most blatantly racist thing you have read on this site?”

Yes. And that’s saying a lot. And then you doubled up on it. The fact that you can’t see that is very disturbing to me.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Well by Trump’s appraisal Kamala Harris is African American he said “She is Nasty !” – - – because he said Meghan Markle “She is Nasty !”

Bet ya that was a code word from his bigoted father.

ragingloli's avatar

Speaking of racism, what I have noticed is right wingers bringing up the fact that Harris has a slave owner in her family tree, as some sort of “gotcha” argument to claim that democrats still support slavery.
As if they are completely ignorant of the fact that slave owners tended to rape their slaves.

Yellowdog's avatar

Kamala Harris is NOT an African American. The consensus was probably for someone like Oprah or Michelle Obama to get the V.P. nominee.

Kamalla Harris does not speak for the constituency of minorities nor women in this country. But you don’t have to convince me. Just the voters.

@Candidmajor—if others bring up the topic of race, it is not any more racist for me to point out that she is not the race the slot was intended for.

ragingloli's avatar

Jamaicans are descended from African slaves that were brought there by the spanish.
She IS African American.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Where you coming from @Yellowdog ?
Is She from Mars or East Podunk ? I mean really !

Tropical_Willie's avatar

@Yellowdog Does your definition of African American require her to be from East St Louis or Watts?? Or some black ghetto?

chyna's avatar

And she’s female so…

Yellowdog's avatar

Jamaica is a French province. It had African slaves before the U.S. but its history and culture are entirely different from, say, Chicago, Los Angeles, Memphis, Detroit.

Caravanfan's avatar

OH, for fucks sake. She’s born in Oakland, California. That makes her American. Her ancestors come from Africa via Jamaica. Therefore she’s African American. She is also Indian American.

what a stupid sword to fall on

Yellowdog's avatar

We are not talking about a person’s race (which she doesn’t qualify) but one’s cultural identity.

Kamala Harris’ identity as an African American is a rather recent development.

Caravanfan's avatar

Jesus. Can you dig your racist hole any deeper?

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JLeslie's avatar

@Yellowdog Not exactly. She was bused to school as a little girl and she went to Howard university. From what I understand she attended a Black Baptist church growing up also. I agree she has a first generation background as well, as I said above, but she has been in the Black community.

I think a lot of it is semantics. You are using African American as a description of Black Americans who have been here for generations of I understand you correctly. Her dad is Black African by way of Jamaica. When you are just another Black girl on the street in America no one knows your dad was Jamaican, they just know you are a Black girl. Not until they get to know you.

It’s like is my husband Mexican? Is his father? His father was born in Mexico, but his parents were Israeli (they left before the UN decisions technically, but the family was from Haifa and Tel Aviv). Is he Hispanic-American? Or, is he Israeli-American? That’s not just for you, it is for the thread too. People move around so much and things are changing so much, that trying to categorize people like this will eventually become impossible.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

“With 2.9 million people, Jamaica is the third-most populous Anglophone country in the Americas (after the United States and Canada), and the fourth-most populous country in the Caribbean.”

Darth_Algar's avatar

@Yellowdog “Jamaica is a French province.”

For fuck’s sake…

Are you on some personal mission to continually demonstrate how ignorant about the world you are? Jamaica is an independent nation that was originally colonized by Spain (who called it Santiago) and then in the mid-1600s became part of the British Empire. And is currently part of the British Commonwealth (independent nations that recognize Queen Elizabeth II as their monarch) along with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (or course) and several others. It has never been under French dominion.

Not even getting into your racial bullshit.

JLeslie's avatar

@Tropical_Willie Why that quote? I’m missing something.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

I missed putting in the source. @JLeslie It was a Wiki source.

JLeslie's avatar

@Tropical_Willie I still don’t understand what Jamaica being English speaking has to do with anything.

Yellowdog's avatar

@Darth_Algar thanks for your info on Jamaica. I DO like the region, even if its history of slavery is likened to the Confederacy.

But the fact remains—Black Lives Matter and others demanded an African American woman of color—NOT someone whose background is Jamaican, Indian, Lebanese, Inuit, Australian, Sámi, Turquoise, Lunar, Scythian, Cytherian, etc etc.

Not sure your continual motive for incessantly calling me a racist, either. The topic of race being the only requirement for being Vice President is racist—and unconstitutional.

Pandora's avatar

@Yellowdog Her father was Jamaican and last I checked they came from Africa. Though I’m sure they have mixed since then. Just like a lot of American Black families are mixed here in the US. So Kamala is a black person born in America, and therefore that does make her African American. It does not apply to her father who was born in Jamaica. And you only have to look at her hair and skin color to see it’s not a suntan.

JLeslie's avatar

Not all Jamaicans are from Africa. Plenty of Chinese and white Jamaicans, I worked with a few.

Kamala’s dad does look at least part black African.

I think Republicans are putting this idea out there hoping it pisses of Black Americans. I don’t think @Yellowdog wants to do that, but he is following along with the messaging that she isn’t really African American because she is by way of the Caribbean. Same way no one calls the Pope Italian, even though his family was Italian, and Americans wouldn’t call my husband Israeli-American even though his father’s side is from Israel. Americans wouldn’t call Charlize Theron African American but she most certainly is. Sometimes there is no real logic to how we assign these things and people can try to manipulate the identity to fit the narrative they want.

Same thing as saying Planned Parenthood is a eugenics organization hoping to bring Black people into the Republican fold. It’s all politics and manipulation.

It seems to me the majority of the Black community accepts Kamala as Black and it doesn’t really matter politically what other people think it probably will help to continue to motivate the Black vote. It also will hopefully calm down the racial tension in the country, but it could easily increase it. Scary times.

The Democrats putting an emphasis on picking a woman of color is a mistake in my opinion. I agree with @Yellowdog on that. It plays into the same fears many white people had with affirmative action and quotas. Instead of everyone being equal a certain group was favored. A counterbalance to previous injustices.

Pandora's avatar

@JLeslie But also a mistake to make it white males all the time as if there are no qualified minorities or females. Especially when it comes to women. Women outvote men and yet we get stuck out of date crusty old white men. The nation has been brainwashed to believe women can’t lead and minorities can’t lead. Never mind that both have done so around the world, but for a country that is supposed to be progressive, we sure have a lot of backward thinking voters. I remember hearing a Trump supporter being viewed a few weeks ago at a Trump rally who said a woman could never be President because they have mood swings and go through menopause. Someone needs to point out to her that men go through hormonal changes as well and Trump is well known for his mood swings.
So my point is how long do we have to wait for the white people to give minorites a shot? And women a shot? This is why it has to be forced a little. Somethings won’t move without a shove.

mazingerz88's avatar

Only racists and sexists will think getting a black female VP as running mate at this point in time is unconstitutional and racist.

Supporting a deranged corrupt traitorous white racist douchebag in the WH at anytime is unconstitutional and racist.

JLeslie's avatar

@Pandora I agree that eventually we need to choose a woman over a man to get a female in office. I just don’t like the insistence that it be a woman or be a Black woman. There were female Governors who were more qualified in my opinion than some of the Black women being considered. Why isn’t being a woman ground breaking enough? We had a Black president already. I am not pointing my remarks at Kamala, I think she is very intelligent and has some experience that will definitely be of value. I think she will up to speed quickly. I worry it antagonized the racists in the country and feeds the QAnon messaging that Blacks want power and to destroy the country, but we can’t cater to them by not electing who we want.

When Hillary and Obama were in the primary it felt to me that cable news pushed the idea of the first Black president, the seemed to be all giddy with Obama and extra harsh towards Hillary. I had many friends who voted for Obama, because he would be the first Black president. Hillary had a ton more experience and her husband was a great President. Imagine if we had had Hillary for 8 years and then Obama now.

I know there are some idiots out there who don’t believe women can be president, but they are not voting for Democrats anyway. I have Democrats tell me America still won’t vote for a female president and I completely disagree. Hillary had more votes than Trump. More individuals voted for the woman. We haven’t had women run for president but for a few times, so there was no chance to vote for a woman. Women are constantly told they can’t win, so they don’t run. We women damage ourselves.

mazingerz88's avatar

trump voters really have zero credibility in criticizing anybody when it comes to Presidential or VP candidate picks by the other side.

Not after trump!

The ship where trump voters get to take the high road or any road on this issue has sailed.

Pandora's avatar

@JLeslie I would’ve been fine with Whitmer. I liked her a lot as well. But I don’t think she is more qualified than Kamala. My only objection to Kamala was her being a former prosecutor and I am worried with the state of our Nation (citizens against lawless officers and the laws that protect them) right now that it would be used to tarnish Biden on police reform. And I figured some idiot would start the whole birtherism garbage again. I think if Biden was thinking of only going for a black person and really wanted to pander to getting black votes he could’ve chosen other qualified candidates who don’t have a history of giving him a hard time, especially when during her run there were already idiots saying she isn’t black because she’s light skin and mixed.
So in my opinion he chose her because she was the best woman for the job. The fact that she’s a minority helps his campaign.

Also it wouldn’t have mattered who he picked. He would’ve been in hot water for a white male or a white female. No matter what people would claim he’s pandering to either race or gender. So the best thing he could do was pick someone who was mixed and qualified. Republicans and activist and racist where going to go after anyone he picked.

JLeslie's avatar

@Pandora I was not thinking about or criticizing Biden at all. I am talking about the Democrats, or the party, or people in the media, saying it should be a Black woman, or it needs to be a Black woman. I’m Jewish, I haven’t been able to vote for a Jewish president yet. I don’t care. It would be a fun perk if we had a Jewish president, but when Gore chose Liberman I was not happy with that choice, he was too conservative for me, and Bernie being Jewish did not change my mind that I felt he was too far to the left for me, but I did like the guy, and I liked that he felt very NY and Jewish, it was funny and familiar to me.

People say Americans won’t vote for a Jewish president, I don’t agree. They have voted in large numbers for a Mormon, a Jew, and many Americans seemed to really like Nikki Haley, and many liked Elizabeth Dole.

I actually felt like Michigan needs Whitmer right now, so I was surprised she was in the running.

Pandora's avatar

@JLeslie I get what you are saying but I’m pointing out whether the media or anyone else cornered Biden to go with a minority doesn’t matter. The current political atmosphere was already anti-white male. Biden is not a stupid man. Getting a white male on the ticket would’ve assured his loss despite people hating Trump. It would’ve made a lot of liberals and democrats stay home, because for some unfathomable reason people can’t seem to understand that a no vote is a vote for the opponent. I like that Kamala is from two different races and a Christian that is married to a Jewish man. She has a better understanding of the discrimination that face many people in our nation and I trust that it helps guide her better angels when it’s time to help piece our nation together.
The only thing that was unfair about the pressure was that it tainted whoever he selected. For all anyone knows she may have been in his top selection way before but no one would ever trust that she was a prime candidate from the beginning.

Darth_Algar's avatar

@Yellowdog “Not sure your continual motive for incessantly calling me a racist, either.”

I didn’t. I called you ignorant, not racist. Though I’m not sure why you, and white conservatives like you, feel the need to deny the woman even her racial identity. What is it that drives you to do this and why does it matter to you?

Darth_Algar's avatar

@JLeslie “Not all Jamaicans are from Africa. Plenty of Chinese and white Jamaicans, I worked with a few.”

Obviously, not all Jamaicans are from Africa. It’s a remnant of the British Empire, so clearly there are going to be a fair amount of white Anglos there.

(A notable example being Norval Marley, although few people would, I think, consider his famous son to be white.)

JLeslie's avatar

@Darth_Algar I was just noting pandora wrote that “Her father was Jamaican and last I checked they came from Africa.” My point is being Jamaican does not automatically make you African, it only holds true if your people actually came from Africa. The thing is how far back do we go? I would not call her African American, I would probably call her Black. What if she was white from Jamaica? Is she just Jamaican then? Or, do we say she is Scottish-Jamaican? Each person identifies how they want. The reason many Black people prefer the term Black is because they don’t really identify with Africa. It was many many generations ago. If they came to America from the Caribbean they identify with their recent country. If you (you) moved to China you would identify as American most likely if asked where are you from, not where your ancestors came from before America. Each migration changes the story.

Yellowdog's avatar

I’ll aver that my definition of African American may be too small.

When I see Kamala Harris, I see someone multicultural and sophisticated, like from a prep school, with an attitude. I don’t see a Michelle Obama, Opera Winfrey, Keith Ellison, or Bill Cosby. You may hate Ben Carson and the late Herman Cain, who are actual African Americans. But Harris is not from that culture or “race”

Race or ethnicity or for that matter probably gender, should never be a criteria in selecting a V.P. in America.

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JLeslie's avatar

@Yellowdog When you say you don’t “see” you mean actually how she looks?

You say sophisticated, so are you saying African Americans are unsophisticated?

Now you’re losing me.

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Yellowdog's avatar

@JLeslie Sophisticated as in wealthy, over-privileged prep-school smartass. Most blacks, believe it or not, want someone real and down to earth who will make things better.

Yellowdog's avatar

@Tropical_Willie Your Tammy Duckworth suggestion was better.

Donald vs. Duckworth. Names should be as relevant as race, don’t you think?

raum's avatar

So…she’s not black enough because she doesn’t fit your stereotype that African-Americans are poor and unsophisticated?

Good lord.

Caravanfan's avatar

@Yellowdog How on Earth do you know what “most blacks want”.

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jca2's avatar

@Yellowdog: Jamaica is a French province. It had African slaves before the U.S. but its history and culture are entirely different from, say, Chicago, Los Angeles, Memphis, Detroit.

You’re all over the place. Jamaica is a French province but that has nothing to do with where it’s people are from.

As far as the culture of Jamaica, you’re saying that because Harris’ culture is not from the inner city, it doesn’t count?

You’re really all over the place and reaching.

She’s not African American, she’s not culturally from Chicago or LA or Detroit?

Caravanfan's avatar

It’s. Not. French.

chyna's avatar

If the tone of Ms. Harris’ skin is all @Yellowdog can come up with to disparage her, I’m pretty happy.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

It was never French; it was Spanish and then English. @Yellowdog is on the wrong island with wrong language and he probably thinks the the slaves use on the Jamaican plantations came from Mars . . . and not Africa !

Yellowdog's avatar

Don’t you realize that @Darth_Algar corrected me on Jamaca’s Spanish origins right after I mis-stated this? All of you are acting like it was an original thought of yours now,

@Tropical Willie What’s your point? Are you trying to say they came from somewhere before Africa now? Did Martians breed Africans as slaves to work in their Monatomic Gold Mines? Or was that the Fungi from Yugguth (Pluto)?

jca2's avatar

It wasn’t a French colony but a lot of French did settle there, hundreds of years ago.

Yellowdog's avatar

Everyone I’ve known from there claims a French/Spanish Creole heritage, I don’t know any Rastafarians but they seem more French than Spanish.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

@Yellowdog Oh man you have missed it again, never was French ! Creole yes; all of the Caribbean is considered Creole including New Orleans.

You are thinking about Republic of Haiti (west end of Hispaniola) the east end is Dominican Republic .

French Creole is New Orleans not Jamaica.

Darth_Algar's avatar

If anything Jamaica would be a British Creole, as evidenced by the abundance of British names there. And I’m not sure how Rastafarians seem particularly French anymore so than any other Anglophone community. Yeah, they have a particular dialect they tend to use, but it’s still an English-based dialect.

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crazyguy's avatar

I guess I am a little late to the party. The pick has been made already.

So I’ll just comment on the actual pick. I think Harris brings balance to the ticket. Biden is calm while Harris is fiery. Biden is white while Harris is “blackish”. Biden is from the East Coast, Harris is from the West Coast.

The real question is whether Harris will hlep Biden win the Presidency. In that regard I think the jury is still out. The decisive factor may be the riots and looting and Biden’s and Harris’ response to them.

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