Biden VP news megathread (pg 286 - been selected, announcement could be today)

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

I think the VP being “too old” is a weak attack. Does anyone really want Biden handpicking the next leader of the party? A Biden-Warren ticket could get us out of the mess of the last 4 years and set us on a path forward, then hand the baton off to whatever younger Democrat wins the *competitive and open* primaries next cycle.

Vice-President Harris/Klobuchar/Cortez-Masto immediately become the front runners for nominee in 2024. We were robbed a wide-open race this year by Biden and Bernie, they should let us have one next time so we can actually have an election that decides where we want to go as a party.

I disagree, Biden is a white man and people project what they want (positively) on him. He has working class credentials with low income, non college whites, inoffensive to white suburban women, and close ties to the Black community with his long relationships with CBC members and standing by President Obama.

Someone could easily get into the 2024 primary and run up the Black and youth vote vs Klobuchar, or run up the rural/WWC vote against Harris. Neither would be guaranteed the nomination IMO

It's unlikely that the same candidate would get the youth vote and the 30+ Black vote. AA keep supporting establishment candidates and most young voters back anti-establishment candidates. The Dems don't have that much rural and WWC support left, and it'll only decline further. The big groups in the next primary will be Hispanics/Asians/non-AA blacks; PMC suburbanites (mainly white, but not exclusively); and AAs. If Harris can keep the two last ones she will be unbeatable unless the PMC starts drifting back to the GOP. Non-AA PoC and young whites and (to a lesser degree) AAs will form the core of the progressive coalition, but still won't be a majority. If a progressive candidate can add enough low income whites to that coalition he/she may win, but that's going to be very hard.

I mean...there is a candidate that could get both the AA vote and the youth vote, but she is the ultimate dark horse. Pressely is a freshman and lacks legislative credentials, but she does have some leadership experience from Boston. She doesn't come from a swing state, but she has key ties to both groups. However, she is the ultimate dark horse and her selection would be more in line with Romney's choice of Ryan. Biden would need to have full trust of Warren and Kerry, probably requiring Kerry to be on the vetting committee, in order to push her forwards.

I don’t want any candidate to have a leg-up next time around. The blacks are gonna fall in line behind whoever the VP is because they vote establishment. Doubly so if Harris is the pick. I, and I think most people, would just prefer a primary with no obvious front runner.

[President Johnson]

Biden is never going to pick someone else who is 70+ years old. What are people not getting about this?

None of the candidates are perfect.

- Kamala draws the ire of the left, and seems better on paper than she ever has in real life.
- Klobuchar is moderate, white, and boring. Helps with the midwest but not young people, progressives, or black or latino voters.
- Whitmer is Midwestern but inexperienced, and elevating her at this moment could backfire depending on how coronavirus plays out.
- Abrams is wildly inexperienced.

Warren may be 70 but she's already shown that she can appear vital. We all remember the constant jogging and waving videos. She is as sharp as ever mentally.

My point here is that some demographic sacrifice has to be made. I wouldn't trust anyone who claims to know which it's going to be.

Actually fair points. Only one you missed is CCM. I don't see any downside by picking her. But a lot of the opposite: Will help with Hispanics, with whom Uncle Joe may need more help than with African Americans, has enough experience to be vice president, her replacement would be picked by Democratic governor Steve Sisolak and stay on until the regular term is up in 2022 and is neither too old nor has any known baggage. Plus, she brings geographical balance.

[American2020]

Biden has one VP pick that stands above the rest

Besides the concerns some have raised about Biden's age and stamina, the fact that this campaign will take place in the middle of a full-scale pandemic means Democrats will need all hands on deck to pull out a victory in November.
While there are many good possibilities from which Biden can choose, one stands out more than any other: Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/18/opinions/biden-vp-pick-stands-above-the-rest-zelizer/index.html

[Orser67]

I think the VP being “too old” is a weak attack. Does anyone really want Biden handpicking the next leader of the party? A Biden-Warren ticket could get us out of the mess of the last 4 years and set us on a path forward, then hand the baton off to whatever younger Democrat wins the *competitive and open* primaries next cycle.

Vice-President Harris/Klobuchar/Cortez-Masto immediately become the front runners for nominee in 2024. We were robbed a wide-open race this year by Biden and Bernie, they should let us have one next time so we can actually have an election that decides where we want to go as a party.

I disagree, Biden is a white man and people project what they want (positively) on him. He has working class credentials with low income, non college whites, inoffensive to white suburban women, and close ties to the Black community with his long relationships with CBC members and standing by President Obama.

Someone could easily get into the 2024 primary and run up the Black and youth vote vs Klobuchar, or run up the rural/WWC vote against Harris. Neither would be guaranteed the nomination IMO

It's unlikely that the same candidate would get the youth vote and the 30+ Black vote. AA keep supporting establishment candidates and most young voters back anti-establishment candidates. The Dems don't have that much rural and WWC support left, and it'll only decline further. The big groups in the next primary will be Hispanics/Asians/non-AA blacks; PMC suburbanites (mainly white, but not exclusively); and AAs. If Harris can keep the two last ones she will be unbeatable unless the PMC starts drifting back to the GOP. Non-AA PoC and young whites and (to a lesser degree) AAs will form the core of the progressive coalition, but still won't be a majority. If a progressive candidate can add enough low income whites to that coalition he/she may win, but that's going to be very hard.

I mean...there is a candidate that could get both the AA vote and the youth vote, but she is the ultimate dark horse. Pressely is a freshman and lacks legislative credentials, but she does have some leadership experience from Boston. She doesn't come from a swing state, but she has key ties to both groups. However, she is the ultimate dark horse and her selection would be more in line with Romney's choice of Ryan. Biden would need to have full trust of Warren and Kerry, probably requiring Kerry to be on the vetting committee, in order to push her forwards.

I agree; she hasn't gotten a lot of attention as a potential running mate, but I think Pressley is a great sleeper pick if Biden's main goal is to energize youth turnout and court the left wing of the party. And personally, I think she'd be a much better pick than Abrams.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I think the VP being “too old” is a weak attack. Does anyone really want Biden handpicking the next leader of the party? A Biden-Warren ticket could get us out of the mess of the last 4 years and set us on a path forward, then hand the baton off to whatever younger Democrat wins the *competitive and open* primaries next cycle.

Vice-President Harris/Klobuchar/Cortez-Masto immediately become the front runners for nominee in 2024. We were robbed a wide-open race this year by Biden and Bernie, they should let us have one next time so we can actually have an election that decides where we want to go as a party.

I disagree, Biden is a white man and people project what they want (positively) on him. He has working class credentials with low income, non college whites, inoffensive to white suburban women, and close ties to the Black community with his long relationships with CBC members and standing by President Obama.

Someone could easily get into the 2024 primary and run up the Black and youth vote vs Klobuchar, or run up the rural/WWC vote against Harris. Neither would be guaranteed the nomination IMO

It's unlikely that the same candidate would get the youth vote and the 30+ Black vote. AA keep supporting establishment candidates and most young voters back anti-establishment candidates. The Dems don't have that much rural and WWC support left, and it'll only decline further. The big groups in the next primary will be Hispanics/Asians/non-AA blacks; PMC suburbanites (mainly white, but not exclusively); and AAs. If Harris can keep the two last ones she will be unbeatable unless the PMC starts drifting back to the GOP. Non-AA PoC and young whites and (to a lesser degree) AAs will form the core of the progressive coalition, but still won't be a majority. If a progressive candidate can add enough low income whites to that coalition he/she may win, but that's going to be very hard.

I mean...there is a candidate that could get both the AA vote and the youth vote, but she is the ultimate dark horse. Pressely is a freshman and lacks legislative credentials, but she does have some leadership experience from Boston. She doesn't come from a swing state, but she has key ties to both groups. However, she is the ultimate dark horse and her selection would be more in line with Romney's choice of Ryan. Biden would need to have full trust of Warren and Kerry, probably requiring Kerry to be on the vetting committee, in order to push her forwards.

I agree; she hasn't gotten a lot of attention as a potential running mate, but I think Pressley is a great sleeper pick if Biden's main goal is to energize youth turnout and court the left wing of the party. And personally, I think she'd be a much better pick than Abrams.

Same issues as Abrams, she'd be at least a Trump-level anathema to suburban whites and Biden needs turbocharged suburban white - a group he's always been pretty weak with - turnout far more than he needs turbocharged Berniecrats.  True, this doesn't mean his VP pick needs to pander them, but it can't be so odious to them that they don't give him the numbers he needs to compensate for turbo-charged WWC turnout.  For this reason, Pressley, Abrams are non-starters and while I don't know enough about her to say, it is a possible risk with Demmings (although she may be fine in this respect). 

This is also probably going to be a big problem if he picks Warren, tbh.  Plus, Warren is damaged goods at this point and would probably hurt more than she helps. It can't be Baldwin b/c it risks a Senate seat and Biden already said he's picking someone who shares his views on healthcare.

Harris and especially Klobachar would piss off Berniecrats the way that Abrams or Pressley or even Warren would actively piss off suburban whites.  Whitmer, Duckworth, and CCM are all picks that every faction of the party should be able to at least live with.  At this point, CCM and Whitmer are probably the best picks.  Duckworth would've been good before COVID, but I think seeing someone with a physical disability will make voters think of Biden's age too much and play into that talking point, especially during a public health crisis (much as I hate it).

[Orser67]

I think the VP being “too old” is a weak attack. Does anyone really want Biden handpicking the next leader of the party? A Biden-Warren ticket could get us out of the mess of the last 4 years and set us on a path forward, then hand the baton off to whatever younger Democrat wins the *competitive and open* primaries next cycle.

Vice-President Harris/Klobuchar/Cortez-Masto immediately become the front runners for nominee in 2024. We were robbed a wide-open race this year by Biden and Bernie, they should let us have one next time so we can actually have an election that decides where we want to go as a party.

I disagree, Biden is a white man and people project what they want (positively) on him. He has working class credentials with low income, non college whites, inoffensive to white suburban women, and close ties to the Black community with his long relationships with CBC members and standing by President Obama.

Someone could easily get into the 2024 primary and run up the Black and youth vote vs Klobuchar, or run up the rural/WWC vote against Harris. Neither would be guaranteed the nomination IMO

It's unlikely that the same candidate would get the youth vote and the 30+ Black vote. AA keep supporting establishment candidates and most young voters back anti-establishment candidates. The Dems don't have that much rural and WWC support left, and it'll only decline further. The big groups in the next primary will be Hispanics/Asians/non-AA blacks; PMC suburbanites (mainly white, but not exclusively); and AAs. If Harris can keep the two last ones she will be unbeatable unless the PMC starts drifting back to the GOP. Non-AA PoC and young whites and (to a lesser degree) AAs will form the core of the progressive coalition, but still won't be a majority. If a progressive candidate can add enough low income whites to that coalition he/she may win, but that's going to be very hard.

I mean...there is a candidate that could get both the AA vote and the youth vote, but she is the ultimate dark horse. Pressely is a freshman and lacks legislative credentials, but she does have some leadership experience from Boston. She doesn't come from a swing state, but she has key ties to both groups. However, she is the ultimate dark horse and her selection would be more in line with Romney's choice of Ryan. Biden would need to have full trust of Warren and Kerry, probably requiring Kerry to be on the vetting committee, in order to push her forwards.

I agree; she hasn't gotten a lot of attention as a potential running mate, but I think Pressley is a great sleeper pick if Biden's main goal is to energize youth turnout and court the left wing of the party. And personally, I think she'd be a much better pick than Abrams.

Same issues as Abrams, she'd be at least a Trump-level anathema to suburban whites and Biden needs them overwhelmingly in his camp far more than he needs turbocharged Berniecrats.

Oh I agree, and I'd much rather go with several other candidates. My point is more that I'm surprised she isn't in the conversation, especially given that Abrams is.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I think the VP being “too old” is a weak attack. Does anyone really want Biden handpicking the next leader of the party? A Biden-Warren ticket could get us out of the mess of the last 4 years and set us on a path forward, then hand the baton off to whatever younger Democrat wins the *competitive and open* primaries next cycle.

Vice-President Harris/Klobuchar/Cortez-Masto immediately become the front runners for nominee in 2024. We were robbed a wide-open race this year by Biden and Bernie, they should let us have one next time so we can actually have an election that decides where we want to go as a party.

I disagree, Biden is a white man and people project what they want (positively) on him. He has working class credentials with low income, non college whites, inoffensive to white suburban women, and close ties to the Black community with his long relationships with CBC members and standing by President Obama.

Someone could easily get into the 2024 primary and run up the Black and youth vote vs Klobuchar, or run up the rural/WWC vote against Harris. Neither would be guaranteed the nomination IMO

It's unlikely that the same candidate would get the youth vote and the 30+ Black vote. AA keep supporting establishment candidates and most young voters back anti-establishment candidates. The Dems don't have that much rural and WWC support left, and it'll only decline further. The big groups in the next primary will be Hispanics/Asians/non-AA blacks; PMC suburbanites (mainly white, but not exclusively); and AAs. If Harris can keep the two last ones she will be unbeatable unless the PMC starts drifting back to the GOP. Non-AA PoC and young whites and (to a lesser degree) AAs will form the core of the progressive coalition, but still won't be a majority. If a progressive candidate can add enough low income whites to that coalition he/she may win, but that's going to be very hard.

I mean...there is a candidate that could get both the AA vote and the youth vote, but she is the ultimate dark horse. Pressely is a freshman and lacks legislative credentials, but she does have some leadership experience from Boston. She doesn't come from a swing state, but she has key ties to both groups. However, she is the ultimate dark horse and her selection would be more in line with Romney's choice of Ryan. Biden would need to have full trust of Warren and Kerry, probably requiring Kerry to be on the vetting committee, in order to push her forwards.

I agree; she hasn't gotten a lot of attention as a potential running mate, but I think Pressley is a great sleeper pick if Biden's main goal is to energize youth turnout and court the left wing of the party. And personally, I think she'd be a much better pick than Abrams.

Same issues as Abrams, she'd be at least a Trump-level anathema to suburban whites and Biden needs them overwhelmingly in his camp far more than he needs turbocharged Berniecrats.

Oh I agree, and I'd much rather go with several other candidates. My point is more that I'm surprised she isn't in the conversation, especially given that Abrams is.

I don't buy that Abrams is being seriously considered.  I think this is just Abrams trying to force herself into the conversation.

[Pheurton Skeurto]

Biden has one VP pick that stands above the rest

Besides the concerns some have raised about Biden's age and stamina, the fact that this campaign will take place in the middle of a full-scale pandemic means Democrats will need all hands on deck to pull out a victory in November.
While there are many good possibilities from which Biden can choose, one stands out more than any other: Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/18/opinions/biden-vp-pick-stands-above-the-rest-zelizer/index.html

NUT

[Brittain33]

Didn’t Biden say some time last summer he’d look at Abrams for the VP nomination? This isn’t all coming from her.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Didn’t Biden say some time last summer he’d look at Abrams for the VP nomination? This isn’t all coming from her.

No, that was also Abrams IIRC

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Abrams can serve in the cabinet until 2022 and then run again for Veep; consequently, Warren is gonna Veep, we already have candidates like Barb Bollier and Jeanne Shaheen that are gonna be elected and reelected to the Senate. I think Warren will be the nominee

[Brittain33]

Didn’t Biden say some time last summer he’d look at Abrams for the VP nomination? This isn’t all coming from her.

No, that was also Abrams IIRC

This is what I was thinking of.

https://www.axios.com/2020-presidential-election-joe-biden-stacey-abrams-vp-54472f8f-5bb2-4d1f-bc7c-0544a09ebba5.html

https://apnews.com/0f2e21e505ea4eb8bbcd1b2ded9c2b76?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sendto_newslettertest&stream=top

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2019/11/23/joe-biden-possible-vice-president-stacey-abrams-sally-yates/4284126002/

[BudgieForce]

I've seen mention of the idea that Biden's new podcast is a way for him to test his compatibility with potential VP picks. The other day he had Gov. Whitmer on. Looks like Klobuchar is up next:

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/493607-klobuchar-to-be-next-guest-on-bidens-podcast?__twitter_impression=true

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

The RNC is working on oppo research on several of the likely VP shortlisters (including Whitmer):

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer-is-a-rising-star-for-democrats-and-a-target-for-republicans/2020/04/18/86d6dcf4-80e1-11ea-8013-1b6da0e4a2b7_story.html

Whitmer gave great oppo to a VP candidacy when she made an executive order banning people from buying seeds and child car seats at the store, using a motorboat, etc.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Its probably Warren, Dems feel comfortable in winning the Senate and adding more than 50 seats: the initial reporting was right. Whitmer is gonna wait til 2028 to run for Prez, by then, Warren will be too old.

Whitmer said she will be on Biden's vetting team, but said she is only a 2yr Gov of MI

[American2020]

Biden’s VP prospects break along Dem fault lines

Joe Biden’s campaign hasn’t yet started the process of formally vetting or interviewing potential running mates. There’s been no private polling yet, and no focus-grouping of potential candidates.

But the hunt for a vice presidential pick is already taking shape along familiar fault lines, mirroring the ongoing debate over whether the Democratic Party should focus more on winning back the white working class Rust Belt voters it lost to Donald Trump in 2016 or re-energizing the minority-powered coalition that elected Barack Obama to two terms.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/20/biden-veep-race-geography-195772

[Mr. Morden]

https://twitter.com/jeneps/status/1252270792634773504

[Mr. Morden]

The Klobuchar episode of Biden's podcast is up now, btw: https://joebiden.com/heres-the-deal/

[Landslide Lyndon]

Speaking about Harris's failure to attract black voters in the primary.

https://twitter.com/markos/status/1252278424682414089

[BudgieForce]

The Klobuchar episode of Biden's podcast is up now, btw: https://joebiden.com/heres-the-deal/

They have pretty good chemistry. Biden actually laughed at one of Klobuchar's joke.

Edit: He laughed at her second joke too.

[Rookie Yinzer]

Speaking about Harris's failure to attract black voters in the primary.

https://twitter.com/markos/status/1252278424682414089

This is accurate. She had the largest field operation in SC by far and was there the earliest and had the most events/rallies there. Outside of Biden she had the most Internet searches and activity by any of the other candidates by a mile. Folks just didn’t think a Black woman could beat Trump. She will have to prove her viability by being Biden’s VP before running for POTUS again.

I knocked doors for her in rural SC: Orangeburg, Marlboro County, Chesterfield County, Lancaster County, Chester County... low income Black voters from a variety of age groups. I heard the prosecutor stuff brought up twice out of hundreds of door attempts. If they did know who she was they were either positive or no opinion. Black voters do not hate Harris and her favorability is comparable with Abrams and Warren within the margin of error. I’m with Kamala for VP until/unless Biden makes a choice that’s not her.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Warren is gonna be Veep and its good to welcome Joe Kennedy and Pressley in the Senate to ad diversity

[Ogre Mage]

Speaking about Harris's failure to attract black voters in the primary.

https://twitter.com/markos/status/1252278424682414089

I've heard that particularly in the South, black voters tend to be very pragmatic / not idealistic so this jibes with that impression.  The silver lining for Harris' VP chances is that it suggests her failure to attract black support was mainly driven by fear of losing rather than dislike of her.

The Harris Campaign saw all this data last year.  Her early dropout took many by surprise.  One factor may have been that she concluded she could not overcome the perception she was "too risky" compared to Biden.  So how could that be addressed if she ever ran again?

[Adam Griffin]

I think the VP being “too old” is a weak attack. Does anyone really want Biden handpicking the next leader of the party? A Biden-Warren ticket could get us out of the mess of the last 4 years and set us on a path forward, then hand the baton off to whatever younger Democrat wins the *competitive and open* primaries next cycle.

Vice-President Harris/Klobuchar/Cortez-Masto immediately become the front runners for nominee in 2024. We were robbed a wide-open race this year by Biden and Bernie, they should let us have one next time so we can actually have an election that decides where we want to go as a party.

I disagree, Biden is a white man and people project what they want (positively) on him. He has working class credentials with low income, non college whites, inoffensive to white suburban women, and close ties to the Black community with his long relationships with CBC members and standing by President Obama.

Someone could easily get into the 2024 primary and run up the Black and youth vote vs Klobuchar, or run up the rural/WWC vote against Harris. Neither would be guaranteed the nomination IMO

It's unlikely that the same candidate would get the youth vote and the 30+ Black vote. AA keep supporting establishment candidates and most young voters back anti-establishment candidates. The Dems don't have that much rural and WWC support left, and it'll only decline further. The big groups in the next primary will be Hispanics/Asians/non-AA blacks; PMC suburbanites (mainly white, but not exclusively); and AAs. If Harris can keep the two last ones she will be unbeatable unless the PMC starts drifting back to the GOP. Non-AA PoC and young whites and (to a lesser degree) AAs will form the core of the progressive coalition, but still won't be a majority. If a progressive candidate can add enough low income whites to that coalition he/she may win, but that's going to be very hard.

I mean...there is a candidate that could get both the AA vote and the youth vote, but she is the ultimate dark horse. Pressely is a freshman and lacks legislative credentials, but she does have some leadership experience from Boston. She doesn't come from a swing state, but she has key ties to both groups. However, she is the ultimate dark horse and her selection would be more in line with Romney's choice of Ryan. Biden would need to have full trust of Warren and Kerry, probably requiring Kerry to be on the vetting committee, in order to push her forwards.

I don’t want any candidate to have a leg-up next time around. The blacks are gonna fall in line behind whoever the VP is because they vote establishment. Doubly so if Harris is the pick. I, and I think most people, would just prefer a primary with no obvious front runner.

Yeah, this is a big concern (broadly speaking). The Democratic Party over the past several years has really become the party that "falls in line" rather than the one that "falls in love" (and of course, the GOP has flipped from "line" to "love" as well). Black voters have always fell in line, but given their relatively small share of the party, that was at least something that could be feasibly usurped (though the last time that happened was 1988). They aren't the problem in the present day. The major change is all of these other groups (i.e. the white wealthy educated types who think of themselves as so well-informed) who create an unassailable coalition.

If Biden picks somebody like Harris, then potentially the next 12-16 years of the Democratic Party's presidential candidates are set in stone. Might as well just abolish primaries and give the power back to the county, state and/or national committee members like in the "good ol' days" at the rate we're heading. It's obvious campaign spending and infrastructure are increasingly meaningless: why go through this big charade if this is the path of the future? For an illusion of choice?

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Blacks will fall behind Warren, we need Pressley and Joe in Senate