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

[Mr. Morden]

https://twitter.com/jeneps/status/1276600493557657601

[Mr. Morden]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/opinions/three-women-who-should-be-at-the-top-of-bidens-vp-list-alexander-cohen/index.html

They list Kamala Harris, Val Demings and Susan Rice as the Top 3.

To be clear, it's an opinion piece that says those three *should* be the top 3 Biden considers, as opposed to some news scoop saying that they're at the top of the list of who he *is* considering.

[Mr. Morden]

Can we have this discussion elsewhere? This thread is supposed to be for news and I feel like the last several pages of this thread is just arguing about the merits of different candidates ad nauseam.

There are also merits in containing all VP discussion, their merits, their drawbacks, and their news, to this thread.

I wish we wouldn't though.  I created a "Biden VP news megathread" (which subsequently got merged into earlier threads, which is why I'm not the OP ) for the purpose of aggregating news about the VP selection.  Was hoping that the news about the search wouldn't get drowned out by page after page of discussion about people's own VP preferences.  As it is now, this thread is very active, but the news items tend to get buried.  Would prefer if the debate about who it should be was elsewhere.  That was the model used four years ago, when we had a "VP news thread" and a separate "VP discussion thread", or something like that.

[Mr. Morden]

https://twitter.com/JTHVerhovek/status/1280647259869282306

[Mr. Morden]

Not sure if this has already been posted, but in this story about Duckworth from last week:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/07/tammy-duckworth-biden-vice-president-running-mate/613753/

There's this quote from Biden:

On Tuesday, Biden said his potential vice-presidential picks include “a number of women of color. There are Latino women. There are Asian.”

I guess this is consistent with other reporting that Duckworth and Grisham are or have been on the list, since it's not like there are many other Asians or Latinas who it could realistically be.

[Mr. Morden]

The Harford Courant says Chris Dodd is “first among equals” on the team leading the VP search, because of his long running friendship with Biden:

https://www.courant.com/politics/hc-pol-chris-dodd-biden-vice-president-20200713-ukrephnva5d7bmnls2cgm2mmg4-story.html

The two colleagues have been helping each other for years. In December 2009, Biden attended a fundraiser for Dodd in Hartford when the senator was under attack from opponents and a month before he decided not to seek reelection. Biden praised Dodd, describing him as “the single most gifted legislator in Congress now that Teddy Kennedy’s gone.”

He called Dodd his best friend, noting that Dodd was facing mediocre poll numbers at the time amid constant attacks from Republicans as “Dump Dodd” became a common refrain in Connecticut. Dodd had played a key role as leader of the Dodd-Frank legislation on the Senate Banking Committee and in crafting the Affordable Care Act.

“Chris is getting the living hell beat out of him, the living bejesus beat out of him,” Biden said at the Hartford fundraiser. “Why? Because he’s being a leader.”

[Mr. Morden]

Some insights into Biden's thinking from Edward-Isaac Dovere, and how it could be Bas (although to be fair, he's written puff pieces about Warren, Susan Rice, Duckworth, and Kamala already)

Now, much to Bass’s—and pretty much everyone else’s—surprise, Biden’s team is taking her seriously as a potential vice-presidential running mate. One theory is that she’s being vetted to help Biden win favor with the Congressional Black Caucus, which she chairs. Another is that Biden is trying to use the process to elevate as many black women as he can. Yet another is that he’s looking to distract people from speculating about some of the more likely choices. But inside the Biden campaign is another consideration: Over the next month, he’s effectively going to decide whether there will be a competitive Democratic primary in 2024 (or maybe 2028, if he wins and tries to serve until he’s 86 years old). He’s the leader of the party now. Will he decide its future by anointing a successor, or pick someone, like Bass, who’s less likely to run for president?

Biden has wanted to be president for almost 40 years. Now that the White House finally seems within reach, he does not want to be outshone, according to people who know him. He wants to win, but he wants the win to be about him, not his running mate.

The Biden campaign has been trying to decide whether to pick a running mate who satisfies the left or one who represents the racial and ethnic diversity of his party, since Biden himself does neither. Here’s where another argument for Bass kicks in: She shows that Biden doesn’t have to choose. Although Bass doesn’t have much of a relationship with Bernie Sanders, she hasn’t attracted the disdain of his most vocal and committed supporters. That helps explain the satisfaction among Bass’s Sanders-aligned House colleagues when she was named the head of the Biden campaign’s Biden-Sanders unity task force on the economy. Several top Sanders allies told me they were eager to see Bass picked—so much so that they wouldn’t go on the record, out of fear that making her look too aligned with the senator from Vermont could backfire and hurt her chances.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/07/karen-bass-joe-biden-running-mate/613975/?utm_medium=social&utm_term=2020-07-13T09%3A00%3A31&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=edit-promo

Also notable is this part:

I asked Bass whether she’d see the vice presidency as the culmination of her career or a stepping-stone to the presidency. She started with a long answer about wanting to focus on the work in front of her, and mentor the younger political generation, which has inspired her. “The vice president has considered himself like a transitional leader. That’s how I view it, because I envision a next stage of my life, whenever that comes,” she said.

I stopped her: If there were an open race for the presidency in 2024 or 2028 and she was Vice President Bass, would she run?

“I cannot envision that. That’s the best I can say. I mean, I’m 66. I can’t see that,” she said.

“Joe Biden is going to be 78,” I pointed out.

She paused. “Well. I don’t know how much time I have.”

[Mr. Morden]

The Daily Beast has a brief recap of Harris’s friendship with Beau Biden:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/kamala-harris-was-in-biden-circle-of-trust-then-came-debate-night

“Short of personal friendship with Dr. [Jill] Biden, there is no bigger credit that you can have with the vice president than a relationship with Beau,” said one source close to the Bidens, who told The Daily Beast that the family, marked by tragedy and incredibly tight-knit after decades in the public eye, would naturally hold anyone with Beau’s stamp of approval in the highest esteem. “He was the heir.”

And then on the fallout from the “that little girl was me” debate moment:

But some in Biden’s circle, and in the Biden family, have been slower to warm to Harris after the “little girl” moment. A source close to the Bidens told The Daily Beast that Valerie Biden Owens, the vice president’s sister and longtime adviser, is still “chilly” on Harris, and that Dr. Jill Biden was privately flippant when Harris endorsed her husband in March.
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But those in a position to make their feelings on Harris’ potential as a running mate heard still point to the debate as potentially disqualifying—and note that both Dr. Biden and Valerie Biden Owens hold huge sway in any final decision on a running mate.

“I don’t think the emotions of Dr. Biden and Val have softened,” said one source familiar with the Biden family’s feelings on the matter, who allowed that polling on Harris’ utility as a running mate “and the persistent whispering of advisers trying to smooth things over” might change their opinions.

[Mr. Morden]

Nah. It’s relevant to you because you hate her. Y’all keep bringing it up when Joe Biden said MONTHS ago that he was over it.

Let me be clear that if he doesn’t pick her it is what it is. But the debate is a dumb ass reason and the people who keep bringing it up like she betrayed him are acting like he is a fragile ass child. He wasn’t above reproach for the praise he lavished on known segregationists. Period.

Wait, let's be clear here.  I brought it up because there's a news story about how people in Biden's personal / political orbit care about it, and therefore it's relevant to this thread.  I agree with you that it's an incredibly dumb thing for them to care about.  But that's what was reported, so that's why I posted it.  This is "Biden VP news megathread", not "Biden VP what I personally think the campaign should care about megathread".

[Mr. Morden]

The latest from Biden:

https://twitter.com/mviser/status/1283202214195068935

[Mr. Morden]

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/12/tammy-duckworth-vp-contention-357234

Top story on Politico right now is all about Duckworth, focusing on her being a veteran and the clash with Tucker Carlson.

Sorry, this was a couple of days ago, but just catching up on some of this now.  The relevant news on vetting from that story:

The attention hasn't escaped Biden's vetting team. It has stepped up information-gathering on Duckworth recently, scrutinizing her legislative record and talking to her colleagues, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

[Mr. Morden]

https://twitter.com/ShaneGoldmacher/status/1283809024035651585

[Mr. Morden]

https://wnyt.com/politics/biden-says-hes-getting-briefings-from-lawyers-on-vp-options/5800688/?cat=661

Democrat Joe Biden said Monday that he is getting extensive briefings from lawyers vetting candidates for vice president and plans to have "personal discussions" with his final choices for running mate.

The presumptive presidential nominee said on MSNBC's "The ReidOut" that he is getting a "two-hour vetting report" on his VP contenders. He said they've gone through "about four candidates" so far.

He said once the vetting is done, he will narrow the list and then have a conversation with each of the remaining candidates before making his decision.

[Mr. Morden]

https://twitter.com/mikememoli/status/1285613479987154944

[Mr. Morden]

Biden publicly confirms that Whitmer is still in the running:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/biden-says-whitmer-still-in-contention-for-vp-pick/ar-BB171PbC?li=BBnbcA1

"Incredibly and yes," Biden told Wood TV Tuesday when asked how important Michigan is in the presidential race and if Whitmer was still in contention for the vice presidential nomination.

[Mr. Morden]

Bass won't comment on whether she's been interviewed or vetted, also says she doesn't plan to run for president in 2024, even if she's sitting VP:

https://twitter.com/joshjame/status/1286006214674055168

[Mr. Morden]

Biden publicly confirms that Whitmer is still in the running:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/biden-says-whitmer-still-in-contention-for-vp-pick/ar-BB171PbC?li=BBnbcA1

"Incredibly and yes," Biden told Wood TV Tuesday when asked how important Michigan is in the presidential race and if Whitmer was still in contention for the vice presidential nomination.

What's he going to say, though?  "Nah, she's not in the running anymore, we decided to go in a different direction."  No, he's not going to say that publicly.  This doesn't prove much.

He could just not comment on who is or isn't in the running, like nearly every presumptive presidential nominee has done in recent history.

[Mr. Morden]

https://twitter.com/politico/status/1286624753026039808

The relevant excerpts from that article on Bass, and her standing the VP vetting process:

Her standing in the VP search has improved based on private assessments shared with Biden’s team.

And then:

She’s already undergone intense scrutiny from the campaign — including a half-day interview with Biden representatives that a friend described as “invasive” — and has advanced deep into the vice presidential process, according to three people familiar with the vetting.
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Bass is stepping up her presence in the Biden campaign. On July 30, she's scheduled to take part in a campaign event alongside Biden, Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and Rep. Cedric Richmond. An invitation to the event shows Bass will help Biden launch the African American Leadership Finance Council.

[Mr. Morden]

Biden's people aren't leaking anything, this is all speculation.

I'm not sure what you mean by "aren't leaking anything".  There have been several leaks about who is being vetted.  E.g., the Politico story I referred to in my last post describes the vetting of Karen Bass, and gives as a source: "according to three people familiar with the vetting."  There's then the separate issue of, among those being vetted, who is the favorite to be picked?  For that, the sourcing seems more uncertain.  The story in The Hill cites "a Biden confidante", but that seems pretty vague, so not sure how much stock to put in that.

[Mr. Morden]

https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1287390619380391938

[Mr. Morden]

It’s 6 days until August 1. Can’t tell if that’s inside information or just him thinking August 1 is the day. 

It seems clear that this is the latter.  If it were really the case that Biden had definitively settled on an Aug. 1st announcement, *and* that his people were openly saying that to peeps like this, then we would have already heard this from other sources as well.

[Mr. Morden]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/27/politics/joe-biden-running-mate/index.html

Apparently "around" August 1st.

There's also this comment from Perez in June, where he said "late July to early August":

Perez on Biden's timeline:

https://www.witn.com/content/news/DNC-Chair-Tom-Perez-discusses-Joe-Bidens-vice-presidential-pick-571018761.html

Perez said the former vice president plans to make a decision on his vice president in late July to early August.

And then, more recently, on July 14th, this is what Biden himself said about the remaining work to do:

https://twitter.com/mviser/status/1283202214195068935

We haven't heard anything about those final interviews taking place yet.  However, campaigns are sometimes able to keep those totally secret.

[Mr. Morden]

The convention starts on Aug. 17th, so if he does announce the pick by the end of next week, it'll continue the recent pattern of nominees announcing their running mate more than a week before the convention when they're the challenger running against an incumbent president....whereas in years with an open seat, like 2008 and 2016, the nominees announce their picks right on the eve of the convention.

So yes, the last two nominees to announce their picks more than a week before the convention were Kerry announcing Edwards in '04 and Romney announcing Ryan in '12.  Kerry did it on a Tuesday, while Romney did it on a Saturday, so not sure there's any consensus on what time of week is optimal.

Usually, the identity of the pick leaks at least a few hours before the formal announcement.  This is especially true when, as has happened in each case the last few cycles, the pick is announced in person, with the presidential and vice presidential nominees to be stand on the same stage.  Kerry didn't do this in '04 though.  He announced Edwards remotely, from a different state from where Edwards was speaking, in order to help preserve secrecy about who the pick was (though it was still leaked by someone whose job it was to repaint the campaign plane with "Kerry / Edwards").

Will be interesting to see if Biden does the announcement in person or not, given coronavirus concerns.  I still suspect he might do so, coronavirus be damned.  Wouldn't be surprised to see them stand on the same stage next week, as long as they're 6 feet apart.

[Mr. Morden]

Palin summarized her foreign policy experience in the famous phrase "I can see Russia from my house".

That was Tina Fey.

[Mr. Morden]

I'm not sure if this morning's story from The Hill has been posted in the thread yet, since the last 5 pages have been people debating their own VP preferences rather than VP news, and there's too much to wade through to find the news, but it mentions that Harris is doing some behind the scenes maneuvering:

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/509483-vp-hopefuls-jockey-for-position-as-bidens-final-decision-nears

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who has been seen as the front-runner, has been working the phones behind the scenes to underscore her desire to get the job, sources say, even as she has played it cool in front of television cameras.

Also:

Harris, Bass, Rice and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) remain in the top tier of the pool of candidates, sources say, but there remains a certain fluidity in the process and a certain guessing game — even for the contenders themselves.