During Sunday night’s Democratic debate, it was just two old white guys to choose from, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. It’s sort of depressing. I’ve made my peace with voting for Joe Biden – I’ve been open with how I find him problematic in the past, but I also recognize that he’s a trustworthy Democrat who is widely loved by a lot of demographics within the party. One of the best things going for Biden right now is his pledge, in Sunday’s debate, to choose a female running mate. Biden’s pick has the potential to re-energize the race and shake things up in a major way. I’m obviously looking for Biden to choose one of the women I supported during the primaries, Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren. Both women are amazing, and they would do amazing things as vice-president. But this is a rumor going around:
Hearing insider rumors that Amy Klobuchar is front-runner for Biden VP pick. If that were to happen, it would be Tim Kaine 2.0—doing nothing to unify the party, bringing no new demographics to the ticket. It would be (once again) a disaster.
— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) March 16, 2020
First of all, I disagree on Tim Kaine, who is one of my senators here in Virginia. Kaine was and is a lovely person, a stable, wonky, and profoundly decent man. I think Kaine was also notable for NOT being a toxic bro, for being empathetic and just an old-school hand-shaking, baby-kissing, happy-warrior pol. But yeah, he didn’t “excite” the Democratic base in 2016, nor did he do anything major with the demographics (he did help Hillary Clinton win Virginia, for what it’s worth). I will not stand for Kaine slander though.
As for Amy Klobuchar… like, I didn’t care for her. I never considered voting for her in the primary, and she always seemed very fake to me. Maybe that’s a gendered criticism, but it is what it is – she just seems profoundly inauthentic, and I’m not alone in feeling that way about her (fwiw, I also found Mayor Pete very inauthentic, so maybe I just take issue with Midwesterners?). I agree with the idea that, perhaps like Kaine, Klobuchar wouldn’t add anything to the demographics come November. She would be a “safe,” do-no-harm choice, unlike Sen. Harris or Sen. Warren, who would be the choices to shake up everything. That being said, I’m open to the idea that Klobuchar would actually hurt the ticket. That was my immediate reaction – oh, that’s such a bad choice, she would actually discourage voters from coming out.
Anyway, I hope this was just some idea which was floated because Biden’s staffers wanted to see the reaction. This is the reaction: a yawn and a grimace.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I would prefer he pick Harris, she’s such a badass. I would have loved Warren, but I read somewhere (I think in the comments here yesterday) that if he chose Warren then a the republican governor would choose her interim replacement and that would be a mess for sure…
There’s a reason she dropped out. Face the reality here, we need a UNITER who those who are NOT Far Left will still vote for, and a VP who they can live with.
What some don’t seem to get is, sometimes you have to campaign in the primary like a Centrist so that you can win like a Moderate and then you bring Social Security / Obamacare / and other programs called “extreme” and get them passed by Congress.
And then they become “mainstream” and your grandma and parents DEPEND ON THEM. Because you don’t want to support them, do you?
They LOOOOVE their SS check and their Medicare. Thanks, Democrats, Thanks Liberals. Thanks “EXTREME” Progressives! That’s where those ideas come from.
Hopefully not. I’m rooting for Kamala or Elizabeth.
Totally agree. I also love Stacey Abrams.
+1000
Abrams or Amy are both good.
Why would Malitsos say Amy, a female, would NOT “bring a new demo”? A female VP is a new demo. Not the first to run but first to win!
Amy is a great US Sen. and voters love her work.
She has more of a record than Abrams, too.
This would be disastrous. I don’t know how Biden doesn’t nominate Harris, maybe Abrams or Rice. He’s gotta being in young, progressive POC voters and Klobuchar doesn’t cut it.
The VP needs to be someone known to the base so Biden doesn’t need to waste time introducing her, can appeal to Latinx voters, and can raise money. Klobuchar only meets the first criteria. If the Dems take back the Senate, Warren will be in a very powerful position so I don’t think she is a good choice. Abrams doesn’t have the experience. Harris seems to me to be the obvious pick.
Biden definitely needs to pick someone bold, intelligent, and worthy of the role. It’s important to remember that the VP is just one heartbeat away from the presidency. There is also a rumor floating that Trump is going to dump Pence and chose Nikki Haley as his running mate. Biden should not just pick any woman to check a box; he needs to go big or he will end up going home. Trump maybe F**king up (as usual) right now, but if he can stabilize the markets his base will roar back to him by the time to vote. Biden cannot coast to the win and he shouldn’t take it for granted either. He may be focusing on Electoral College votes which is wise. Hillary won the popular vote, but lost the presidency because she lost the Electoral College vote.
Disaster! She is Hilary Clinton with none of the charm or experience…..
agreed, he needs a well respected WOC.
What would be disastrous is that Bernie wouldn’t even agree to HAVE a female VP. Who’s HE thinking of?
W/his huge ego he probably doesn’t even THINK about a running mate. Has he ever even mentioned it? It’s all about HIM.
Actually, the “young voters” didn’t show up — if they did, Bernie would have won, and he hasn’t. And won’t. He promised them and they ghosted.
The older voters who might’ve gone for DJT will vote for Joe and we can spend one term getting our act together. Biden can reverse DJT’s reversal of Obama’s Exec. Orders and form a solid, competent admin. Rejoin the Paris Accord to save the planet. We’ll have time to shore up Obamacare and plan future universal healthcare, a huge hugely expensive deal we need to get right.
Because Bernie and Liz aren’t wrong, they just acted like they could do all this Jan. 2021 and they can’t. No one can. Congress would not vote for most of her plans, and Bernie HAS NO PLANS, he’s just a Motivational Speaker w/speeches.
And we’ll be ready for 2024. Kamala will have repaired her tattered image, etc.
Huh, I thought Klobuchar would be a good choice.
I thought so as well. I like her.
Me too. She’s not as celebrity-like as the others, but when the economy tanks from this virus, she’ll do a good job getting things going again.
@Astrid and Kate, are you all white, because no? People of color aren’t excited about Klobuchar in the slightest, and her prosecution of a likely innocent black teen for murder wouldn’t help things. Woke Twitter doesn’t like Kamala for being a prosecutor either, but she’s a double minority and a woman with ties to the Latino community, and would get a lot more excitement than Klobuchar. Even Warren would excite many people, but definitely not Klobuchar. I sincerely hope he doesn’t select her.
We have never had a woman vice presidential nominee win. If you are in any way down with voting for Biden, then follow your own got darned logic. White working class men who like Biden know he is old and they are not about to put Kamala Harris in the White House as the first woman–A HUGE HUGE HUGE leap–in the White House. No woman has ever won ever ever in this position. Ever.
If white voters are going to make this leap, she will be a white woman who has *actually* killed black or brown people in the military or has *actually* jailed black or brown people, innocence notwithstanding. Amy has shown her symbolic allegiance to white people in her prosecution of a likely innocent black teen who was sentenced to life in prison. (She wants to revisit it now because black people & their allies don’t like this.)
Although Obama’s denunciation of his black pastor, or Clinton’s execution of a black man during his first presidential campaign are not on the same level at all–they were both viewed by the white electorate as at least symbolic expressions of anti blackness. Had Kamala not critiqued Biden’s segregationist loving past, she would have been a viable vice presidential nominee. She could have run as the woman who threatened to jail black parents for their children’s truancy, especially when combined with *actually* putting black and brown people in jail. Instead she talked about immigrant rights and black humanity and women’s power. The majority of white voters, studies show–do not like that. This leads to *negative racial polarization.*
So, if you can vote for Joe, you can vote for Amy, who actually has some great incremental policies and truly superb ideas on mental health and addiction. The black teen she stepped on to achieve political power will help her with white voters just as Biden’s perforative love of segregationists will help him. The calculus is that BIPOC votes have no fu*&ing choice.
Wisca, it will really be minority turnout that influences the election. Democrat policy does not reach out to the voters that you speak of in general, and a white female VP is not going too much for them if anything.
We need to make sure that the POC turnout is high, which Klobuchar stands no chance of doing at all.
But you can’t just throw any ole black person or person of color in front of black people and say “here’s your meal; eat it.” It doesn’t work like that. That argument aside, old Uncle Joe is getting up there in age and I don’t know how lucid he is at all times. We’ve seen this time and time again in the campaign and in debates. He may not make it the full 4. He needs a strong VP.
Chelle, I’m a Khive girl and fully agree that the person must have the qualifications as well, and I obviously prefer Harris for VP (but she should do what she really wants). I was just focusing on “We need a white person” narrative, which I think helps us not at all. If it was that powerful, Bernie would be doing better than he is.
@ Kacy, my comment was just made in general and not necessarily at you. I just get so tired of people thinking that because a person is black or of color that black folks will rollover. Examples are Alan Keyes, Clarence Thomas, or Ben Carson–and it’s not because they are republicans. It’s because they are assholes with asshole policy/position ideas. I mean, as you know, it doesn’t matter the color. Certain candidates just don’t have universal appeal. Look at Mayor Pete.
I really haven’t followed her career while she’s been in the Senate but as a fellow moderate she really doesn’t add much to the ticket. I think Warren would add the needed counterbalance to Biden. Kamala could be placed elsewhere in the cabinet, e.g, attorney general, if he must.
I disagree with the logic that you need a progressive to balance off the ticket in the General election. Joe risks veering too far left and being seen as pandering to the woke liberals when he needs to keep working class and non college educated voters who are critical to winning the election. For instance his latest stance on immigration is definitely going to hurt him against Trump in the general election. Joe is already compromising so much, saying he agrees with Warren’s bankruptcy plan and universal college.
For us folks on the left, we’re still waiting for Biden to veer considerably to the left. He’s just out there on the campaign trail pandering to the Bernie and Warren voters–afraid that we won’t come out to vote. I think Joe does appeal to those voters you mentioned.
The democratic party, itself, has a problem. It has served the upper-upper middle and onward fiscally for so long that it’s lost sight of the middle-middle and lower for decades. The former group is the only group that has really benefited financially from neo-liberal economic policies. The national party speaks to the left culturally but not economically. On that, it basically follows the right. Just ask labor unions, etc. My point, IMHO, is that the national party needs to do something to unit both wings of the party. It can’t keep hobbling along like this into the future. We won’t always have a Trump acting as a boogie man.
He could be saving Harris for Attorney General. Where she really could be a bad bitch & we need one there after all of Barr’s crimes
As for Amy I think there would be a better slot for her BUT she did deliver Minnesota in the primary.
I like the idea of Susan Rice as Secretary of State
That’s my thought. I’m okay with that.
Would he put Harris on the Supreme Court? He may have tapped her for that? I’m
Wondering if he could choose abrams
For VP!
Love, love Stacey, as I was able to see her gubernatorial campaign get going firsthand. She is amazingly smart, articulate, and well-educated…BUT she is still so green with respect to governing experience. It’s like you’d have Joe Biden on one end of the experience spectrum and Stacey on the other. Plus, she is doing such important work with the Fair Fight organization. I’ll be voting for Joe, regardless of who he picks as VP, but I’m hoping for either Kamala or Amy.
For the last time people! Kamala turned down Obama TWICE when he offered her AG
And for all of you centering white people and specifically white males.
Those aren’t the people who gave us the last democratic president. White working class male voters are always centred but the fact of the matter is they have been deserting the democrats for 30 years.
Women voters and POC are the ones you need to excite to drive up the vote. Even GOP strategists say that if democrats really drive up the black and brown vote they will win. As exemplified by mid term elections. As for kamala or a personable black candidate being unelectable in the mid west. Kamala polled better than klobuchar when she was running in places like Iowa and New Hampshire and Ohio so I don’t see klobuchar who is solid but lacks the ability to excite people being that much of an advantage given that joe can appeals to the Midwest anyway. Klobuchar should be Secretary of State or something along those lines.
It would be a pragmatic choice based on the electoral college and where votes are needed. California and Massachusetts aren’t going to Trump. A Midwesterner might help deliver Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio. It’s not a choice I like but I understand it and Harris and Warren would remain as forces in the Senate. It would lose the strident Bernie Bros but many of them are lost as it is.
Yeah Bernie Bros. aren’t gonna want Harris or Warren. Warren would actually be worse with them cause they’d say she betrayed Bernie.
Their mantra is they don’t owe Biden their vote but they have no problem insisting Warren should have minimized herself to his benefit. UGH.
Good God, they’re the worst. She’s inconsequential, but HOW DARE SHE NOT ENDORSE BERNIE! Does she matter or not? Make up your damn minds. A bunch of toxic misogynists.
I agree that Amy is an option because she’s from Minnesota, but she is the Tim Kaine boring option that won’t really energize anyone. I think I said it on another post yesterday but if he wants a midwesterner (which is a good idea because the Dems need at least a couple of these states) then why not Tammy Duckworth? I think she’d be a great option and really exciting.
I’d be thrilled if he picked her. Whether you connect with her manner or not, the lady is badass and seriously good at getting stuff done with bilateral support. I think she would be a choice that was reassuring to never-Trump-again Republicans. I’d like Kamala as well, but not as much as Amy.
Hi Nuzzybear, Thanks for that info. I know one of the reasons Obama picked Biden was his knowledge of Congress and his ability to work across the aisle. As we seem to loose the art of compromise on anything with each passing day, someone who can work bilaterally with Congress would indeed be a strength.
Amy helps with the Midwest swing states and she is also known to be a very good bipartisan legislator in the Senate. Her credentials are stellar and stand for themselves, in my opinion above many of the other women who have been floated. It is sad that she would be overlooked because she does not fill the necessary minority check box. And I say this believing that Kamala already has the VP position locked down because there was a reason she left the race so early.
I hope he picks Amy. She can work across the aisle and that’s what we need to get anything done. She’s a moderate.
I strongly dislike Klobuchar. It infuriated me that Kamala got all of the Kamala is a cop criticism early in the race while Klobuchar somehow sidestepped it until quite late. Beyond that, her stump speech in which she dismissed the possibility of universal access to higher education struck me as the most condescending way of opposing it. I really hope she isn’t his pick. Picking at least a slightly more progressive running mate seems like it would have been useful.
Ugh. I hate this election. I miss Warren and I miss Gillibrand.
Gillibrand is dead to me after being the first and loudest voice to call for Franken’s resignation.
@Betsy. Right there with you on Gillibrand. Her behavior w/regard to Franken was it for me.
@Betsy: yep. Her showboating about Franken was awful. Amy went to him privately and encouraged the same thing, but without the hay-making. Another reason I like her.
Oh! I love and respect her for that. He needed to go, and she spoke out. I’m very proud that she’s my senator.
I think Klobuchar is condescending in general. I find her very off-putting, with no warmth or sense of humor. I love both Harris and Warren, would love either for vp.
Amy has repeatedly said she gets support from “rural” and “suburban,” i.e. white voters. Choosing her would do nothing to help him excited POC Democrats.
I am in Minnesota and if Biden goes w/Amy K. he can kiss the election goodbye.
Amy is not that effective in her job here in MN, no way could she handle VP.
I am serious.
I am a life long Dem but AK will cost him the POTUS, even now in a time desperate to be rid of Trump, she would be Bidens Sarah Palin.
Team Biden has got to realize if he wants female VP, he better find someone more qualified.
Am I dreaming, or would HRC, or Michelle consider VP?
Co-VP? Is that possible? Lordy, how sweet would that be if either of them got back into the WH? 🙂
Ineffective as Attorney General or as Senator? I think she’s done an amazing job at both. Then again, I’m a moderate.
Yeah, I’m in Minnesota, too and as a senator, she’s just a D in the seat. She hasn’t been responsive on issues, she hasn’t led on any of Ding Don’s crimes… i don’t think she’s inauthentic in any exceptional way, just not a great senator.
She’s gotten 30+ bills passed in her time in the Senate. Bernie passed about 6 in the same time – most about naming post offices. I really don’t get where the ineffective talk comes from. No one has been particularly effective under Trump – they’re all D’s in seats. What were you hoping she would do? (sincerely – not sarcasm)
She was great on the Judiciary Committee with Justice Frat Boy, but no one was going to stop his appointment. She did very well in Iowa – and she’ll do well in every purple state – because she’s moderate. If Biden goes with her, it might just work: because the DNC would’ve stopped trying to make everyone happy and just chosen an identity for the ticket.
When the world is going to hell in a handbasket, give me boring respectful sensible moderates to put things back together.
I don’t think Amy or Pete are inauthentic. I think they prepared for the debates a lot, which can make them sound too polished, or rehearsed, at times, but I appreciate them doing their homework for the debates. I’ve seen Amy and Pete up close and in person, and they seem the same off-screen as they do on screen. I guess I would say that Pete’s humanity shines through a bit more in person. I managed to make him smile. As for Amy, the only time I find her insincere is when she talks about her grandfather (or whoever) saving money in a coffee can and tries to act like being raised by a teacher and a newsman made her poor, when those are middle-class professions. Hillary Clinton’s mom was a maid, and she hardly mentioned it.
@nuzzybear – Bernie basically shaped the entire democratic platform. There’s more than one way to get things done.
What about Amy having ties to mining companies polluting? True or false?
Eh, I don’t like her but it’s a bit unfair to compare her to Palin.
Also a Minnesota but my experience is quite different.
For the most part people around me are “independents”/ moderately conservation/ moderately liberal i.e. they hate Trump and all he stands for but also hate the progressives trying to take over the democratic party.
She is very well liked among that crowd.
Additionally, my job also puts me around a lot of agricultural professional/farmers and she is well liked among them as well – being a moderate is KEY. Notably, there was a major rumor that Clinton was going to tap her as Ag Secretary when she won the election and people were estatic about that…
Right now, I think he’ll definitely choose Amy. I said it in the last post on this. Will it piss of POC voters? Probably, but most of them dislike Harris as a “cop” and I can’t see Liz being all that dynamic for POC voters either. Might as well be Amy with the bad hair, lol.
There was a significant number of African Americans who really liked Warren and she had some strong support among that group. I don’t fault the group for voting for who they saw as the strongest and safest candidate, but from what I read, Warren was actually pretty sturdy among AAs. I don’t know about her support among Asian Americans or Latinx Americans.
I’m sorry, but most African Americans do not dislike Kamala Harris. Woke black Twitter is not representative of African Americans as a whole. Woke black Twitter is completely out of touch with African American voters. How many of them supported Biden, who the black electorate has supported in droves. Most of woke Twitter supported Bernie and Liz, two candidates who struggled to get black support in real life. Please don’t take your cues about who black people like from social media, where most of the black people are writers, academics, and much more elite than ordinary black (or white) Americans.
This! White people claim black people don’t like kamala based on some black blue checks who decided to back warren or sanders.
Fact is kamala was the one who polled the best with POC bar Biden. She also landed more endorsements from POC orgs than anyone.
Beto is another one that has a strong following in minority communities. Even Sanders did much better than warren especially with latinx. Warren, klobuchar and Pete did pretty poorly with POC.
Kamala is also ( despite what Bernie bros would have you think) significantly to
Klobuchar left. So if you are looking for someone who can appeal not just to centrist ( which Biden already does) but also centre left and is a POC you are really looking at kamala or Abrams.
I like Amy but this would be a horrible choice. She’s a female version of Joe Biden, this pick isn’t going expand his coalition whatsoever. He needs to pick someone who does. Harris or Warren or Stacey Abrams or someone like that.
There are also rumors that he’s considering Kamala Harris, Stacey Abrams, Elizabeth Warren, and a list of other women who are all quite capable, so? At least we know he will choose a woman.
Yeah, with all the various rumors about who Biden is going to choose, I’m not going to get too worked up about it until he actually chooses someone. I don’t love Harris (calling ICE on children is hard to look past), but I’d have no problem voting for that ticket. I’d also have no problem voting for Biden/Klobuchar or Warren or Katie Porter or Tammy Duckworth or Stacey Abrams.
Honestly, the various issues I have with any of the women whose names are rumored to be in consideration are less than the problems I have with Biden himself. But here we are…
I hadn’t thought about that last part but now I think that’s a good take on how I feel as well.
I hadn’t thought about that last part but now I think that’s a good take on how I feel as well.
Why commit to a woman VP at all? Voters had more female options than ever before and it ended up coming down to two men. What demographic is on the fence that is going to be swayed by him picking a woman VP?
I don’t think this is about expanding the base because she’s a woman; it seems more about addressing women’s fatigue on under-representation after 200+ years.
picking AK strengthens his call towards independents and never-Trump R’s in a way that LW or KH can do. Given his age, you have to look seriously at the VP position (true for all 3).
Where do D’s need votes (ie where did HRC lose 2016)? Industrial Midwest. Who’s a better VP candidate for that region?
Personally I do like AK – I’ve seen her live 3 years ago in a room with 50 people — she has a wicked sense of humor and will make a good VP and eventually our first female President.
I agree about the fatigue. I’ve been saying if he doesn’t select a woman, a lot of women are going to be PISSED. It’s time, and he has excellent options to choose from.
Biden needs to deliver the swing states. OH, MI, PA, WI, MN, FL, maybe NC.
I feel like CO and VA are safer bets now. Not safe but safer. VA has swung dramatically blue and Hickenlooper’s Senate run will bring out the Democrats in CO.
Who will bring out voters in the swing states? Warren didn’t in her run. Klobuchar delivered Minnesota on Super Tuesday, sure, but she lacks the name recognition in the other states (and by the comments above, is she loved enough in MN? Maybe not). Harris… I don’t know. He doesn’t need bolstering in CA.
Abrams? Rice? WHO?
I’m a moderate in Colorado. Unless there’s an unforeseen disaster, Colorado goes for Biden. I don’t see Democrats turning out solely or even enthusiastically for Hickenlooper. Like, sure, they’ll vote for him, but no one is chomping at the bit for him.
FWIW, Klobuchar would be fine from where I stand. She’s sort of boring, but she’s not Mike Pence. That’s all it takes this go-round.
Nice…I’m a Midwesterner from a lovely liberal town…we’re not all un-likeable.
This.
I’m pretty sure she was joking.
Of course not; a lot of us were mildly insulted with Amy & Pete shoving “midwest values” down our throats. What does that even mean? Such a cliche
I like Amy just fine, but she brings nothing to the ticket & won’t excite the base
Stacey Abrams is wonderful but chances of her being chosen don’t seem probable. The DNC seems to be going with establishment Dems.
Klobuchar is a charisma vacuum and a potential mistake. (Can’t be compared to Kaine who was immensely likeable/came across as principled)
Harris challenged Biden directly so I’m not sure his ego can stomach picking her as VP.
I’m not holding my breath that Biden would exercise good judgement but if he moves on a no-poc 2020 ticket, boy would that be such a massive missed opportunity.
I was (okay, am) a Warren voter and I would really love to see her on the ticket, but a huge part of me is just like… argh. We canNOT have an all white ticket in 20damn20.
What’s with the dig at Midwesterners?
Also, what’s with this belief that we need to represent certain states by candidates’ geographic origins? Why would we think Klobuchar brings in the Midwest when she wasn’t doing very well among the midwestern states? Are voters really so stupid that they’ll vote for anyone from their states? We need Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida to vote so strongly blue that Putin can’t give Donald another 2016 special. And that’s driven by turnout, and Warren excited more Democratic voters than anyone. She can’t help that people are still skittish after what happened to Hillary in 2016 at the hands of the sexist.
Yeah, I’m from the Midwest, and proud to be from fly-over country. But it’s not like I had to vote for Pete because I grew up one state over or vote for Amy because I used to live in Minnesota. If I have any sense of bond with Pete, it’s because we’re both left-handed nerds.
I realize everyone needs to sell their “story”, but so many candidates go into overkill. I just need to see enough of their story, whatever it is, to know that they aren’t an entitled, unempathetic asshat.
Amy had a slip of the tongue when she joined Joe on the campaign trail — she said she was so honored to “joined the ticket….and then switched to joined the campaign…” to walk it back. https://www.dailywire.com/news/amy-klobuchar-accidentally-tells-campaign-crowd-shell-be-bidens-vp-receives-applause
According to Amanda Golden of NBC News, Klobuchar had a “bit of a Freudian slip” when the former Democratic presidential candidate said she “couldn’t think of a better way to end my candidacy than join the ticket.”
Arghhhhh that’s depressing. But is it a Freudian slip about what’s really happening or what she wishes.
God I hope it’s about what she wishes.
~ can’t wait for the official announcement of the Malarkey Party ticket ~
really exciting, i am sure people will turn out in droves to vote for the person who told them they’re whiners who need to just shut up and die of their crushing debt already!
I think she is certainly capable of stepping into the job if needed, but personally I would like to see and pick someone a bit more progressive.
Whoever it is, they have my vote, but I’m hoping it’s a choice that makes me excited to do so.
I can’t wait for all the aw shucks gee golly malarkey coming our way 🤣
As a former legislative staffer, she’s a big no-thanks for me after reading how she treated her staff. It’s a hard, often thankless job for very low pay. Adding in an a-hole boss is just not necessary.
I was shocked that never got the coverage in debates that it should have. Those accounts by former staffers were disqualifying for me. Not just the crazy comb stuff, but the story how she heard a staffer was looking for another job so Klobuchar called the new employer and told them not to hire the staffer. Imagine sabotaging a person’s livelihood like that. And her defenders saying that she was being held to a higher standard because she’s a woman? Nonsense. Any man who did that would be criticized too.
RIght–having been a US Senate staffer, I was disheartened to read the coverage of how she treats her staff, I’ve always believed that how you treat your staff, or people under you, speaks volumes about who you really are.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/us/politics/amy-klobuchar-staff.html
She had the highest staff turnover in Congress. She hit a staffer with a binder. And if people thought Hillary was grating, I can’t imagine how they’d represent her.
Why can we not have a Black woman take the lead?! Why does it have to be all white, all the time? People are putting up every excuse in the book here, well, enough! It’s time! Way beyond time. Have some courage, and let’s do the right thing. Obama showed it’s possible. We know it’s possible!
Kamala would be perfect as she has already endorsed him and has a significant national profile and great experience. Plus I love her, LOL.
There are a lot of excellent Black women out there to nominate. It is time!
This! As support staff myself, I cannot abide a kiss-up kick-down type of person. I’ll vote for her if I absolutely have to, but she brings nothing to the ticket. And don’t try to give me that whole she’s being singled out because she’s a woman argument. Correct me if I’m wrong, but HRC was known to be treat her staff well, no? If a ballbuster like that lady can be good to her staff, then she can too. I listened to her interview on Pod Save America and she was being braggy about how her fellow senators thought she was so funny. If you have to make a comment like that about yourself, then yeah, you’re not funny, lady. She put me off during the debates as well, with all the surliness she directed at Pete.
Please let it be Kamala or Stacey.
Speaking as a Californian, Kamala has far too much intellectual wisdom to take a second slot. VP’s generally are little more than back-up. The consideration in accepting as VP nominee would be Biden’s age for some, and the thought one may need to step up to the number one position. Klobuchar is moderate, mid-west and would appeal to most Americans based on moderate appeal.
I was thinking Kamala for Attorney General.
Are people STILL not aware that kamala turned down AG TWICE under Obama?
Just like Michelle Obama doesn’t want to be prez or Veep Kamala doesn’t see her future as AG so I think people need to stop suggesting it.
Also if he runs an all white ticket he’s learned nothing and I don’t wanna hear about how he’s gonna reignite the Obama coalition.
I think the doors are going to be wide and open to women in a Biden administration. I can’t think of one who isn’t a skilled negotiator.
Kamala may have changed her mind about AG, given the current state of the DOJ. But we’ll see what she does.
I think the VP position depends on the the POTUS and the VP themselves. Cheney was hardly just a back up, unfortunately, and Biden was involved in a lot of different things during his terms. And given Biden’s age, if whoever it is does well and wants to be POTUS, they’re pretty much a lock for the 2024 nomination.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan is being talked about, although she keeps denying it.
If he chooses klobuchar that’s a disaster. He doesn’t need the white moderate wing to be happy. If he does, my god, I will be furious.
It’s not about the moderate wing of the (D) party. It’s about the appealing to the crossover votes from the moderates in R wing. That’s what she delivers. And AK is right, what we need – a BIG vote so that there’s not a dispute on legitimacy as there has been for the last 3-4 presidents. I think it’s particularly a risk with the current occupant.
Yup – Duch is right. Amy is an appeal to the GOP that can’t take Trump anymore. There’s a lot more of those than there are of women, POC or Bernie Bros that will refuse to vote for Biden if he doesn’t represent them precisely.
Biden is already that crossover compromise. Biden has consolidated her base, so nominating her is redundant and a slap in the face to the very large group of voters he needs to energize. He needs to expand his base and build a coalition. That means young progressives, not imaginary Republicans who we keep waiting to come to their senses. He already has her voters. Nominating her will ensure we lose.
I’m with Silver Charm.
To any disaffected Republican who can frigging pull for Biden plus whoever? Grow up and own your terribleness. Gore, Kerry, Obama, Biden – none of these men was my first choice.
And we’ve tried a milquetoast/milquetoast ticket, remember? Gore Lieberman was supposed to be appealing across the party divide. Other than cheating, one of the reasons the GOP keeps winning is because a) they’re good soliders and they go vote and b) they play to their base. JUST ONCE I would like to see the Democrats play to their base instead of crapping on us.
He is the white moderate wing. He needs someone who can rope in progressives and Bernie voters.
Given that voters of color pulled Biden’s chestnuts from the fire in the most spectacular fashion imaginable on Super Tuesday, it would be outrageous for him not to choose a VP who acknowledges that service and support from a community that is getting pretty damn tired of being taken for granted by the Dems. Someone who represents the great diversity the Dem party (theoretically) represents. Of course, speaking as a former field staff member for several campaigns back in the day, when the East coast power boys—95 percent Ivy League—get together in a room to sort this stuff, it’s astonishing what they can talk themselves and the candidate into. (My v first campaign, I was standing at the back of the room when they talked Dukakis into the tank photo op. To the Governor’s credit, he really *really* didn’t want to do it. Lol). I’ve always thought this gendered and regional elite insularity explains how the Dems end up blowing it so often. Yes, there are typically women in the power circle, but one or two at most, who get neutralized when the ego fanning starts. Sigh. It’s my impression that this hasn’t changed a lot. The guys in the power circle are a group of dudes who individually were the smartest guy in their class at Harvard, Stanford, Penn, Dartmouth. Listening to others isn’t usually their strong suit.
Noooooooooooooooooo. She rubbed me the wrong way.
This pisses me off. Why can’t a person of color be on the ticket? More effing white people. Can we not have someone who looks like us?
A friend of mine said she’d read that Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s (Illinois) name was being considered, but I don’t know if she meant considered by campaigns or just people on the internet.
I would prefer Tammy over Amy. The woman is a freaking war hero. Amy is blah white bread, and I say that as a blah white bread lady.
Tammy would be great. She’s incredible.
StephB below, I liked Tim Kaine too – he wasn’t exciting or anything, but everyone who spoke of him spoke very highly, and he seemed to be a competent, steady choice. Given where we are today, that’s a dream.
I really enjoyed this article. I love Tim and pointing out his decency reminds me of just how crazy things have gotten. Like why is decency and honor and kindness so unsexy? A Harris/Warren ticket was my dream but alas women were ignored and shut out. They got more mainstream media attention by dropping out than during their campaigns.
He might as well not run if he chooses her. I would prefer Stacy Abrams.
“A survey conducted by Emerson Polling in mid-February showed that 20 percent of respondents thought Harris would make the best vice president. Entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who also ran for president, was a close second, with support from 18 percent of respondents. Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in 2016, came in third with 16 percent support, while former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who has said she’d like to be vice president, placed fourth with support from 8 percent of respondents.”
https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris-would-make-best-vice-presidential-candidate-voters-say-poll-1492501
Things have changed so much in the D race since mid-Feb (debates, consolidation, the primaries). Pretty sure mid-Feb was before Amy started making a name for herself. I’d want to see fresher data.
Wish me luck, CBers. I’m going out to vote for Biden in the primary here in FL. My small town has two cases confirmed of COVID-19. I’m going in and getting out!
Go Florida! We’re with you.
Good luck and stay safe!
Good luck, and thank you!
Good luck! Be well!
I think it will be Klobuchar for VP and Kamala Harris for SCOTUS. I know a Klobuchar staffer who has never said one bad word about working for Klobuchar, so I tend not to believe the stories about her treating her staff badly. Maybe my contact is just being discreet or something but I don’t think so. I hope if it’s not Harris for SCOTUS, it’s Michelle Obama, mainly b/c the white right-wing would cry and cry and I would love to see that.
Whatever they’re doing, I really hope they are doing polling to back it up. If Biden is the nominee, he needs to win.
I’m just disgusted. Permanently now, it seems, thanks to tyrannical toddler cheese fart. Do I expect campaign teams to sit in nonstop brainstorming sessions throwing every scenario and possible outcome on the table regarding each and every conceivable candidate? Yes. Do I think they will? No. I expect every professional politician to be up late every single night mapping out strategies and tactics for upending what is NOW and setting it on fire. Are they? Have detailed, complicated layers of plans been set in motion to take back our democracy? Until I see actual flames and heat-seeking missiles emerge from conference rooms in DC, and every state’s capital, I’m getting the normal everyday wtf feeling I’ve had since 2016. Nobody is kicking ass. Nobody is angry enough imo to take on this fuckery. Enough daisies and ticking off talking points. Get asses on stage and burn the fucker down with a plan.
Picking Amy would cement my position….. to write in Bernie.
Then just vote for Trump @Gen.
I’m looking at the big picture. Biden was not my first choice. He wasn’t my second choice either – that was Warren. At this point, I will vote for Daffy Duck if he is the democratic nominee. Four more years of Trump equals four more years of nonsense tweeting and incompetence during a crisis.
Start your “revolution” when there isn’t a global pandemic and when we don’t have an idiot toddler in charge.
Preach!!! These whiners who claim to be adults, but want to act like 5 year olds who take their ball and go home when their own personal choice doesn’t win, are the reason we got Trump in the first place!
Don’t want her to be Veep. Hope that was leaked to make sure it’s not her. Just doesn’t do anything for the ticket. Like Harris and Warren, but wouldn’t be surprised if someone off the radar. This is not a done deal and primary voting being disrupted and pushed out.
I thought the myth about vice-presidential nominees adding anything to a ticket had long been debunked. They don’t. However, they can harm a ticket.
Amy Klobuchar wouldn’t harm Joe Biden’s chances in the slightest.
Stacey Abrams, Stacey Abrams, STACEY ABRAMS!!!!
For the love of God! It’s a no-brainer. I find Klobuchar fake as hell. The way you treat staff is a big clue to what you are like as a human being. Having Stacey as VP would reinforce the idea that the grown-ups are in charge. She’s incredibly smart, calm, rational and fierce. Having her as VP would lower my blood pressure considerably!
All I have to say is – Amy Klobuchar was my babysitter when I was a kid and I wouldn’t want her running my country some day 🙂
For real?
Did she throw staplers?
Klobuchar didn’t know who the president of Mexico was.
Has he never heard of Sarah Palin?
Ugh, and Ugh! I’m hoping for Harris or Abrams. Warren or even gasp! Clinton.
Harris? You might want to revisit the ass kicking Tulsi Gabbard gave her and more importantly the points she made about Harris’ appalling record.
https://youtu.be/o1-CRrMDSLs
Minnesotan here – love Amy. I would not vote Biden if he all of a sudden goes progressive. Won’t vote Trump but I believe we need moderates. No was disappointed I didn’t get the chance to vote for Amy in the primaries.
God no! Klobuchar couldn’t even win her own state in the Primary! Black women in South Carolina literally saved Joe Biden’s campaign, he HAS to choose a woman of color and there are so many great ones to choose from: Stacey Abrams, Kamala Harris, Susan Rice, Val Demmings…take your pick, they would all rock as VP.