Do you think Kamala Harris helped the Biden ticket in the end?

[Bootes Void]

I remember reading that some people were fine with Biden but didn't like Kamala. They thought that she was too liberal and was basically going to take over the Biden presidency when Biden is cast aside. They didn't like Kamala was going anointed by the established despite the fact very few people in the primary even liked her.

What do you guys think? or should have Biden gone with someone else in retrospect?

[mark_twain]

Before Biden made the pick, I looked at the list of top contenders and thought that Val Demings would have been the best choice.

The law and order background might have been useful to sway independents fearful of BLM.

Also, Val Demings is a full black, unlike Kamala Harris.
 

[GP270watch]

 No, she doesn't have any real base.

[mileslunn]

Probably awash.  I think her being more liberal might have hurt her with some moderates who were fine with Biden, but probably helped turnout more millennials and African-Americans.  She probably did hurt down ballot as many expect her due to age to secede Biden so they wanted the GOP to act as a check against her.

[Bootes Void]

Before Biden made the pick, I looked at the list of top contenders and thought that Val Demings would have been the best choice.

The law and order background might have been useful to sway independents fearful of BLM.

Also, Val Demings is a full black, unlike Kamala Harris.
 

In retrospect Val Demings would have been a good VP pick, she would help keep Florida more competivie(especially central florida) and she is a married woman with children so she can appeal to more voters who are supportive of gender roles. Kamala doesnt have any children and is from California so I wonder if she may hurt him

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

Electorally, I really don't think the VP makes a difference in many places unless the margin is unbelievably close. To that end, she probably moved the needle enough in Georgia. More importantly though, she was an phenomenal fundraiser. For that reason alone, Yes (D).

[Horus]

Before Biden made the pick, I looked at the list of top contenders and thought that Val Demings would have been the best choice.

The law and order background might have been useful to sway independents fearful of BLM.

Also, Val Demings is a full black, unlike Kamala Harris.
 

In retrospect Val Demings would have been a good VP pick, she would help keep Florida more competivie(especially central florida) and she is a married woman with children so she can appeal to more voters who are supportive of gender roles. Kamala doesnt have any children and is from California so I wonder if she may hurt him

As I said during the VP selection, if "Kamala is a cop" became a meme there would've been outright revolt among the left if an actual cop was the pick.

Demings wouldn't have won Biden Florida either, she's a non factor in the SoFlo corridor.

[Asta]

Harris probably helped turn out black voters enough to flip GA. And for those emphasizing racial relations, picking her was the right start. She has Asian and black heritage which Biden must have thought would help turn out minority voters.

If he wanted a bit of upside with his weakness with Latinos, picking Beto might have been better option for stopping the bleeding.

Harris is also less vulnerable to attacks like Sanders or Warren, who are vulnerable to socialism or Pocahontas label. She may not have been the best pick per se, but I can't imagine anyone else being a much better candidate than her.

[wbrocks67]

Yes. In terms of the coalition that Biden built, she was the perfect choice. Especially to supercharge turnout in very blue areas in PA, GA, MI, etc

Her history made it impossible for the right to define her in negative terms. Most of the other candidates would've been a lot more easily defined negatively for the broader public, for better or for worse

Also, according to the exit poll, she has a higher net favorability rating than even Biden (+8 vs +6) so... yes, it appears she was.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Yes.  She was a solid pick whose weaknesses ended up not mattering much, she turbocharged fundraising and helped with some demographic turnout, held her own in the debate with Pence and ended up having higher favorables than even Biden himself.  Biden doesn't win GA without Kamala.  The only question left is whether she'll be an effective VP and heir apparent.

[prag_prog]

I don't think she had much effect either way. I always saw Harris as a safe pick, considering Biden was in the decent lead in polls at that point of time.

[morgieb]

Nah, but I don't think she really hurt either. Whereas some other VP picks.....


(maybe she might be the difference in Georgia?)

[jaymichaud]

Amy would have probably got him bigger win margins in the midwest but Kamala did a good job

[iceman]

No, she has the same charisma as a sea sponge.

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

No, Vice Presidents have negligible impact unless they are disasters.

I think it was a bad pick because he was effectively choosing the 2028 or possibly 2024 candidate and Kamala was a non-factor in the primary and generally would be a poor choice as the party standard bearer.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Harris probably helped turn out black voters enough to flip GA. And for those emphasizing racial relations, picking her was the right start. She has Asian and black heritage which Biden must have thought would help turn out minority voters.

Trump may have gotten the best Republican performance amongst black voters since 1960 while facing Obama's VP who himself was picked by black voters over her in the primary. Descriptive representation doesn't seem what it's cracked up to be...

If he wanted a bit of upside with his weakness with Latinos, picking Beto might have been better option for stopping the bleeding.

...but it's probably still better than picking a guy who pandered incompetently to that demographic at the Democratic debate.

Harris is also less vulnerable to attacks like Sanders or Warren, who are vulnerable to socialism or Pocahontas label. She may not have been the best pick per se, but I can't imagine anyone else being a much better candidate than her.

I'll start: Duckworth, Baldwin, Whitmer, Hilda Solis, probably Abrams when it comes to actually turning out black voters although she'd have her own downsides, to name just a few and limit the pool to female characters according to Biden's original promise.

[Asta]

Trump may have gotten the best Republican performance amongst black voters since 1960 while facing Obama's VP who himself was picked by black voters over her in the primary. Descriptive representation doesn't seem what it's cracked up to be...

I agree. Researches show VP picks hardly matter. But without her, Biden might have lost even more black voters. It still couldn't have hurt to send Harris to GA. And Biden did not do that horribly with black voters. Polls were showing as much as 15-18% of black voters going to Trump but it seems like that did not materialize in the end.

...but it's probably still better than picking a guy who pandered incompetently to that demographic at the Democratic debate.

I didn't want Beto. His strength is far too geared toward Millennials and progressives.

I'll start: Duckworth, Baldwin, Whitmer, Hilda Solis, probably Abrams when it comes to actually turning out black voters although she'd have her own downsides, to name just a few and limit the pool to female characters according to Biden's original promise.

It's about combination of demographics and name recognition. My anecdotal observation in some house races in NJ/NY is that non-white voters are significantly more likely to turn out for a candidate if they share the ancestry/race. White voters are indifferent to the race of their candidates.

Abrams would have been a good fit for GA only but I doubt she is viewed positively in Midwest. Hilda Solis lacks name recognition. Baldwin hurts Biden with her status as LGBT in the south. I'll give you Duckworth and Whitmer, but I doubt Biden would have won GA with them, given how close the state is. Given that Duckworth and Harris are both half-Asians, I'd rather take Harris and gain more Indian voters.

[Hermit For Peace]

She is a woman first and it is time that a woman held a higher office.

I'll bet lots of females voted for her simply for that reason. (Deal with it you naysayers.)

You guys don't realize what it's like to be shut completely out of the position of President and Vice President for all of our entire country's history just because of our gender.

My opinion is that Biden couldn't have picked a better VP. Multi cultural, and female, and very very smart.

Finally.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Trump's support with black women doubled from 4 years ago.

[ملكة كرينجيتوك]

Trump's support with black women doubled from 4 years ago.

Republican gains with black voters are pretty much inevitable, especially post-Obama.

[Rookie Yinzer]

Yes.

It’s funny looking back at all the fake metrics y’all made up as to why she wouldn’t be the pick or why she would sink the ticket and here she is: Madam VP-Elect.

[wbrocks67]

Harris probably helped turn out black voters enough to flip GA. And for those emphasizing racial relations, picking her was the right start. She has Asian and black heritage which Biden must have thought would help turn out minority voters.

Trump may have gotten the best Republican performance amongst black voters since 1960 while facing Obama's VP who himself was picked by black voters over her in the primary. Descriptive representation doesn't seem what it's cracked up to be...

If he wanted a bit of upside with his weakness with Latinos, picking Beto might have been better option for stopping the bleeding.

...but it's probably still better than picking a guy who pandered incompetently to that demographic at the Democratic debate.

Harris is also less vulnerable to attacks like Sanders or Warren, who are vulnerable to socialism or Pocahontas label. She may not have been the best pick per se, but I can't imagine anyone else being a much better candidate than her.

I'll start: Duckworth, Baldwin, Whitmer, Hilda Solis, probably Abrams when it comes to actually turning out black voters although she'd have her own downsides, to name just a few and limit the pool to female characters according to Biden's original promise.

The narrative around black voters isn't completely true, though. It's very situational and contextual. Some states did have better black #s for the GOP, or like in TX and FL where GOP did better with Hispanics than normal.

However, take PA. Trump somehow did *worse* among black voters (and Latino voters) in Pennsylvania. He got 7% in 2016 and he went down a pt to 6% this year.

[TDAS04]

Before Biden made the pick, I looked at the list of top contenders and thought that Val Demings would have been the best choice.

The law and order background might have been useful to sway independents fearful of BLM.

Also, Val Demings is a full black, unlike Kamala Harris.

So?  Obama is also half black.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Considering the reception to her historical accomplishment by many black, mixed, and South Asian women I think she may have played some part in driving up enthusiasm among those demographics to vote for the ticket. Actually that may have been the case for women of all backgrounds too.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Yes, she is a great asset as Veep, but she will lose Erie, Kent, Kenosha Counties that Biden won back from a disasterius Hillary loss.

Biden is close friends with Bob Casey Jr and he already told Biden not to retire, due to keeping Erie County PA that went red in 2016, due yo Hillary s disasterius loss.  Cruz/Haley would pick all of those counties up again

She is a great motivator in the GOTV EFFORTS IN GA

I wanted Joe Kennedy so he can compete with Harris in 2028, he still can run in 2022 against Pressley when Warren vacates her seat and D's have a substaining majority to absorb a MA special


AOC leadership challenge went up in smoke after she endorsed Market, purposely misspelled😃😃 ha, ha