Kamala Harris. Official Senate photo.
Joe Biden has picked California senator Kamala Harris as his choice for Vice President. The Hill. Harris is the first woman of color to be nominated on a big party ticket for Vice President as Harris is half Jamaican and half Indian. Harris was picked over other big name Democrats including Susan Rice, Elizabeth Warren and Gretchen Whitmer. Harris also ran for President but dropped out. Before she did so she was extremely critical of Joe Biden, calling him racist and that he believed his sexual assault accusers.
My Comment:
I have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand I am thrilled as a Republican as I don't think it was possible for Joe Biden to pick anyone worse than Harris, other than possibly Stacey Abrams. I think this has probably clinched the election for President Trump and changed what was likely a close race into a possible landslide victory.
On the other, should the unthinkable happen and Biden actually win, Harris will be President, likely from day one. Even if Biden manages to hold on past inauguration day, he will be a shell of his former self and given Harris' policy and outright hostility to people like me it would not be good for this country to say the least.
This pick is beyond baffling to me. For one thing, it's traditional to pick a VP from a state where the Presidential candidate is having trouble with. In this election picking a candidate from a swing state like Wisconsin, Minnesota or Michigan might have helped Biden win. But a candidate from California? Unless the polling is REALLY wrong there is no way that California is in play. I have seen a few progressives suggest that it is now because Harris is so disliked there, but that's not realistic.
Speaking of progressives, they really do hate Harris. They generally think she's everything wrong with the Democratic Party and I can't really argue with that. Her performance as Attorney General was controversial, to say the least. And I find it utterly insane that the Democrats, who have been allied with Black Lives Matter, would pick someone who goes against everything that the group believes in. I think Tusli Gabbard had it right when she killed Harris' campaign by pointing out that Harris was far from an ally to the black community.
I also find it hard to believe that Joe Biden would pick a woman that called him a racist in front of the entire country. Harris famously said that Biden was a racist because of busing, an accusation that made zero sense in the first place. The attack didn't land for me as Biden was Obama's VP and if he really was racist on that issue. She also said that she believed Joe Biden's sexual assault accusers. The attack adds write themselves.
Personally I find Harris to be extremely unlikable. She's got a grating nasally voice and an extremely arrogant way of speaking. Her latest makeover was ghoulish and I just can't stand her as a person. Politics aside, I think a lot of people have the same kind of visceral disgust with her that was so common against Hillary Clinton in 2016. I think that, along with the fact that Tusli Gabbard utterly destroyed her at the debates, are why she did so poorly in the primary race.
I also don't see Harris appealing to moderates. With Joe Biden unlikely to make it through to inauguration day, let alone four years of a presidency, you need a pick that won't alienate political moderates. I don't see Harris as that pick as she's very far to the left. She's also woke, though not as woke as she could be and I think people are sick and tired of racial hucksters, especially one as inauthentic as Harris. Why Biden didn't pick someone like Pete Buttgeig or Tusli Gabbard, who might appeal to more conservative moderates, is beyond me.
Harris also has a major scandal that could potentially hurt the ticket. Far from being a self made woman, Harris slept her way to the top. Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. Brown admits that his relationship with her helped her career. Brown assigned her to state commissions when he was the speaker of the Assembly and helped her win the race for District Attorney when he was Mayor. This shows that Harris needed a man to succeed.
Of course I don't know if the Trump campaign is going to focus on that or not. If he does he will be called sexist, though that would happen regardless. Plus it might alienate other women who might otherwise vote for him. I think it's a valid issue but I don't know if it will be brought up or not.
I think the biggest issue with Kamala Harris is that the people have already said they don't want her as president. Harris never even made it to the voting stage of the primaries and was roundly rejected by the Democratic Party. Even given the field, Harris' collapse was remarkable given how big of a push she got from the media.
Race is going to be a big factor as well. A lot of people will probably be uncomfortable at best with a black woman President, fairly or not. Some of those people would have voted for Biden and a generic person as VP, but with Harris in there I don't see a lot of them holding their nose that much.
But I also think that the black community is going to reject Harris as well. Though Harris is black I don't think she's Black (or African American). She's half Indian, Jamaican and grew up in Berkeley. Plus she's seen as a cop, which aren't exactly popular among political blacks right now. Those votes might not go to President Trump but I can't see the black community getting excited about this pick. Many of them could stay home.
Harris is likely to be destroyed in her debate against Mike Pence. Pence is a decent debater himself but Harris is a terrible one. It's very clear that she gets flustered when she gets attacked and I doubt all the debate practice in the world will help her there.
And I think that President Trump is going to have a field day with her. Trump hasn't been effective in attacking Joe Biden, largely because it's so obvious that he's not all there mentally anymore. Picking on him felt somewhat obscene as there was an element of pity there. Trump won't have to hold back against Harris, especially since she's the defacto nominee. Given how effective Trump has been at destroying politicians I think it's very bad news for the Joe Biden campaign.
Future historians are going to look at this VP pick as the deciding moment of the 2020 race. Kids might ask "how did President Trump win despite the Coronavirus pandemic" and the historians will answer "Joe Biden picked Harris as his VP" and the kids will go "oh yeah, that makes sense". It's a terrible pick, right up there with John McCain picking Sarah Palin. I'm convinced that more than anything else it will help President Trump get reelected.
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