The case for Catherine Cortez-Masto as vice presidential pick

[President Johnson]

As I've gone through the various vice presidential picks, I think CCM is easily among the best choices, if the not the best. Particularly because there are no serious downsides to her being Joe Biden's running mate. Especially if he's focused on picking someone in line with his views (as he stated numerous times).

There are lots of pros with CCM: She's not just a female under the age of 60 from a Western state, she's also from the demographic Uncle Joe needs the most assistance. Amy Klobuchar would help in the Midwest, but I think Joe Biden can win enough states here on his own. Kamala Harris may help with the black community, though that has been put in question since she ran herself. The black community stuck with Joe Biden over African American candidates. Joe is fine with African Americans and they will turn out for him to get rid of Donald Trump. What would help him is African American surrogates on the trail, such as Cory Booker, Jim Clyburn, Stacey Abrams or Oprah Winfrey. That doesn't require them to be on the ticket. However, his performance among the Hispanic community could have been better. Considering the fact he needs robust numbers among them to flip Arizona and Florida (and may give Trump a run in Texas), having a Latina on the ticket would definitely help. Remember that Hispanics are the biggest minority voting bloc.

Furthermore, CCM doesn't put a senate seat at risk, as Democratic governor Steve Sisolak would name a replacement to serve on until the next regular election for her seat occurs in 2022. As senator and former attorney general, she has enough experience to take the job as vice president, and president if necessary. In addition, she's someone who could take the mantle of leading the party after Joe Biden retires. No matter whether it's one term or two.

And last but not least, it seems she doesn't have baggage that could make her selection controversial. The thing that might be minor issue is that she doesn't speak Spanish (though that's nowhere near a scandal). She's also a decent public speaker, has some charisma but doesn't overshadow the nominee himself.

While I like Kamala and think she'd be a great choice too, I think CCM offers some of the pros Harris does as well, but is less controversial, and not just among the left.

Thoughts?

[Tender Branson]

I fully agree.

She looks like a good choice.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

She and Tammy Duckworth are my top choices.

[Catalyst138]

I think CCM is a good choice. Like you said, Biden doesn’t need any help with black people and Harris is actually less popular with the black community than he is. What he needs is Hispanic support, and CCM fits that while also being fairly young, non-controversial (by politician standards) and from a lean-D state.

[Agonized-Statism]

Solid, experienced pick to lock up the hispanic vote. If I was Biden, she would top my list.

[GeneralMacArthur]

She won't make a dent in the hispanic vote.  She is white and doesn't speak Spanish.  She didn't have a relatable upbringing as her mother is Italian and she is third-generation; her grandfather immigrated here in the 1930s.

CCM could be a fine VP candidate on her own merits.  But we need to stop talking about her as though she will cover Biden's supposed weakness among hispanics.  She will not have any impact and it is frustrating to see this conversation keep happening.  Nobody is going to switch from Trump to Biden because they see a white, english-speaking, third-generation half-Italian woman out on the campaign trail with him.

[here2view]

She's my top choice.

[OneJ]

She won't make a dent in the hispanic vote.  She is white and doesn't speak Spanish.  She didn't have a relatable upbringing as her mother is Italian and she is third-generation; her grandfather immigrated here in the 1930s.

CCM could be a fine VP candidate on her own merits.  But we need to stop talking about her as though she will cover Biden's supposed weakness among hispanics.  She will not have any impact and it is frustrating to see this conversation keep happening.  Nobody is going to switch from Trump to Biden because they see a white, english-speaking, third-generation half-Italian woman out on the campaign trail with him.

Uh, plenty of Hispanics are "white." Hispanic/Latino isn't a race.

However, I do agree that CCM probably won't really help much, if at all, among Hispanic voters anyway. It's like saying Harris would be great for the Asian vote as she's part Asian.

[Agonized-Statism]

She won't make a dent in the hispanic vote.  She is white and doesn't speak Spanish.  She didn't have a relatable upbringing as her mother is Italian and she is third-generation; her grandfather immigrated here in the 1930s.

Although I'm not the biggest CCM fan, that doesn't take away her hispanic identity, nor her appeals to our interests. Try to disengage from Mexican-American stereotypes. We're a diverse group and our roots span continents. Not all of us speak Spanish and our native blood doesn't always dominate our phenotype.

[ShamDam]

She won't make a dent in the hispanic vote.  She is white and doesn't speak Spanish.  She didn't have a relatable upbringing as her mother is Italian and she is third-generation; her grandfather immigrated here in the 1930s.

Although I'm not the biggest CCM fan, that doesn't take away her hispanic identity, nor her appeals to our interests. Try to disengage from Mexican-American stereotypes. We're a diverse group and our roots span continents. Not all of us speak Spanish and our native blood doesn't always dominate our phenotype.

Sure -- but that's why it's a mistake to assume that CCM on the ticket will be helpful with the Hispanic/Latino vote writ large.

[Agonized-Statism]

She won't make a dent in the hispanic vote.  She is white and doesn't speak Spanish.  She didn't have a relatable upbringing as her mother is Italian and she is third-generation; her grandfather immigrated here in the 1930s.

Although I'm not the biggest CCM fan, that doesn't take away her hispanic identity, nor her appeals to our interests. Try to disengage from Mexican-American stereotypes. We're a diverse group and our roots span continents. Not all of us speak Spanish and our native blood doesn't always dominate our phenotype.

Sure -- but that's why it's a mistake to assume that CCM on the ticket will be helpful with the Hispanic/Latino vote writ large.

It's a mistake to assume a hispanic couldn't appeal to hispanics? If you're a latino/a, you don't hate her policies, and identity politics factor into your voting habits, she has appeal to you. That's not a negligible amount of people, and said people are concentrated in states that can make or break this election.

[ShamDam]

She won't make a dent in the hispanic vote.  She is white and doesn't speak Spanish.  She didn't have a relatable upbringing as her mother is Italian and she is third-generation; her grandfather immigrated here in the 1930s.

Although I'm not the biggest CCM fan, that doesn't take away her hispanic identity, nor her appeals to our interests. Try to disengage from Mexican-American stereotypes. We're a diverse group and our roots span continents. Not all of us speak Spanish and our native blood doesn't always dominate our phenotype.

Sure -- but that's why it's a mistake to assume that CCM on the ticket will be helpful with the Hispanic/Latino vote writ large.

It's a mistake to assume a hispanic couldn't appeal to hispanics? If you're a latino/a, you don't hate her policies, and identity politics factor into your voting habits, she has appeal to you. That's not a negligible amount of people, and said people are concentrated in states that can make or break this election.

Correct! Sarah Palin didn't appeal to women. Julian Castro didn't make any kind of dent in the Democratic primary among Latinos. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris gained no traction among Black voters.

And even if you believe identity politics makes a difference -- I think it can, on the margins, but it's not usually decisive -- I think it's perfectly valid to think of things through the frame of what will appeal to Mexican-American voters. They make up two-thirds of the Latino population in the US, and represent an even higher share of Latinos in the key states of Arizona and Texas. Someone being nominally Hispanic but not sharing a comparable experience to the vast majority of Latinos in the US might be a little helpful, but I fail to see how it would be more motivating than, say, Beto O'Rourke speaking Spanish and growing up in El Paso. The identification is no less tenuous.

[Agonized-Statism]

Correct! Sarah Palin didn't appeal to women.

False equivalence. While Palin was a woman, many feminists did not believe her to be an advocate for women's rights. This would be a little more comparable to Obama's strong performance in 2008 among black voters- underrepresented community gets excited about a candidate who either represents them in their specific issues or is portrayed by the media to be their advocate. As for Castro, primaries aren't general elections, and for Harris, I'm not even going to get into her issues with minorities.

And even if you believe identity politics makes a difference -- I think it can, on the margins, but it's not usually decisive -- I think it's perfectly valid to think of things through the frame of what will appeal to Mexican-American voters. They make up two-thirds of the Latino population in the US, and represent an even higher share of Latinos in the key states of Arizona and Texas. Someone being nominally Hispanic but not sharing a comparable experience to the vast majority of Latinos in the US might be a little helpful, but I fail to see how it would be more motivating than, say, Beto O'Rourke speaking Spanish and growing up in El Paso. The identification is no less tenuous.

Robert O'Rourke is not hispanic by ancestry or culture. Catherine Cortez-Masto is.

[Blue3]

1. She hasn't been vetted. We'll see what things might turn up for her.

2. She hasn't spoken on the national stage. How will can she speak before thousands?

3. She hasn't debated on the national stage. Can she hold her own against and beat down Mike Pence in a national debate?

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

She is chairperson of DSCC, she isnt gonna be Veep

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

I think trying to appeal to the "Latino vote" is trickier than most because the community is so non-homogeneous.

There are very few common interests between a white-passing Cuban-American businessman in a Miami suburb, a Spanish-speaking middle-aged union worker of Mexican descent in New Mexico, and a socialist 21-year-old Dominican-American student from Queens.

[RussFeingoldWasRobbed]

Not my first pick. But hey, at least this way someone competent can take over the dacc lol!

[Ogre Mage]

1. She hasn't been vetted. We'll see what things might turn up for her.

2. She hasn't spoken on the national stage. How will can she speak before thousands?

3. She hasn't debated on the national stage. Can she hold her own against and beat down Mike Pence in a national debate?

Yes.  I think Cortez Masto would be a strong pick but she has NOT been put under the media spotlight of a presidential campaign.  One major reason Biden is looking at Harris and Klobuchar so closely is because they have already undergone vetting by the national media and shown they can handle speaking in front of a national audience during their own presidential campaigns.  Biden himself was a failed 2008 presidential candidate before becoming VP.

We have not seen Cortez Masto's dirty laundry.  But that doesn't mean there is none.

[Rookie Yinzer]

I think CCM is a good choice. Like you said, Biden doesn’t need any help with black people and Harris is actually less popular with the black community than he is. What he needs is Hispanic support, and CCM fits that while also being fairly young, non-controversial (by politician standards) and from a lean-D state.

Was 2016 wiped from your memory? Hillary won more of the Black vote than Biden has up to this point and turnout still cratered. Hispanics are not even reliable voters, and this woman has no receipts being on the frontline on issues that disproportionately affect them. IDK why y'all think she would have lead this huge surge to the polls for a group that is way more unreliable than even the most unreliable bloc of Black votes.

Biden needs extraordinary turnout from Black voters. And all the potential VPs are "less popular" with Black voters than Biden because they are less known. Harris' favorability is within the margin of error with Warren and Abrams.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

She won't make a dent in the hispanic vote.  She is white and doesn't speak Spanish.  She didn't have a relatable upbringing as her mother is Italian and she is third-generation; her grandfather immigrated here in the 1930s.

Although I'm not the biggest CCM fan, that doesn't take away her hispanic identity, nor her appeals to our interests. Try to disengage from Mexican-American stereotypes. We're a diverse group and our roots span continents. Not all of us speak Spanish and our native blood doesn't always dominate our phenotype.

I agree with everything you said.

However, there is a difference between non-Hispanic White people and White Hispanics.

It's like the difference between African-Americans and Afro-Caribbeans. Yeah, both are Black but have a completely different culture and upbringing and history.

Additionally, the racial term "White" in this country is usually associated with people who are predominantly of North and Western European descent (British, French, German, Dutch, Nordic, Irish). Most Latinos have Southern European ancestry (Spanish or Portuguese).

[henster]

Her performance wasn't impressive at all, like someone mentioned above she ran behind Hillary, losing Washoe. I also believe she only won because Heck abandoned Trump after the Access Hollywood tape, one of the only Senate Rs running to do so. Heck led her all throughout September until he tried to distance himself from Trump.