it's excellent - straight to the point. needs updating now he's an actual sex-crime felon, not just a predator.
I think it’ll be a governor, but that’s just my opinion. I’m just don’t think the Democrats can afford to sacrifice a high profile Senator or Representative in this age of knife edge majorities in the House and Senate. Usually the VP pick, like the debates and convention speeches mean very, very little and barely move the needle. This is one time however when all of the above are suddenly a lot more important. The VP pick will be a white male simply because Harris ticks both the black and female boxes and parachuting her in at this late stage is so fraught with danger, the Democrats will want to now appear as “normal” (read: mainstream) as possible and try to cover as many bases as possible. So geography comes into play when it ordinarily might not. Unlikely to be Newsome, then. More likely an eastern (ex)governor. Whitmer is out as a female, Beshear of Kentucky probably doesn’t bring enough oomph and the GOP is going to win Kentucky anyway. Shapiro of Pennsylvania? Strong shout, a shoo-in in my book if he were Christian (yes, I know). This isn’t anti-Semitic, it’s realpolitik. Shapiro would make a good choice for Biden of Clinton in 2016, but I really believe the pick is going to be squeaky American clean. Black and female is enough “other” in the ticket, the VP will not be ticking any of those “other” boxes. But Shapiro remains a very strong pick for another reason: Pennsylvania and its 20 EC votes is in play. If Whitmer were male, she’d be in the frame for similar reasons. Tony Evers of Wisconsin must be on the shortlist, for all of the Shapiro reasons. Not sure Pritzker brings enough to the table as Illinois will be voting for Harris anyway. Cooper of N Carolina might be a good dark horse shout. A complete waaaaay out of left field pick which is not happening but might get consideration is Larry Hogan. Strong never-Lumpy GOPer who is well regarded on all sides of the political divide. Plus it would remove him from the Maryland senatorial race which he’s probably going to win. The next few weeks are going to be driving Lumpy nuts. The cameras won’t be on him, the guessing game of all the TV chattering classes will all be about the VP pick and not Vance. Biden didn’t pick today purely by accident. This was carefully orchestrated to ensure Lumpy (and Vance) get as little post-convention bounce as possible. We should be discussing Vance, Lumpy’s speech, the GOP convention. Not anymore.
the Dems need to throw every recent Repub line about "he's too old .... to fragile ... losing it" right back in their faces now. and refer to him as a felon every damn day, in every damn way.
Mark Kelly, Josh Shapiro, Andy Bashear, and Roy Cooper are the four people being vetted for VP so far.
Do you think they would be doing this if there wasn't widespread concern about Biden after his debate performance and then during the series of interviews and speeches afterwards? And when I say widespread concern, not just in the "elites" but backed up by lots of polling data. What should they have done instead, gone ahead and just let him run (and possibly win) when it was increasingly obvious that he was having increasing trouble managing? This complaining about switching candidates now is just sour grapes from people of a particular political persuasion. This development is likely much better for the country as a whole, and I wish people would take their partisan eyeglasses off for a moment and realize this. Better to do this now so that the electorate can pass judgement during the election. Best would have been for his family and inner circle to have dissuaded him from deciding to run for a second term, but that's something that can't be changed anymore. Those folks should justifiably be taken to task for not stepping up and being clear with Biden about what was going on with him and what would happen when he got into the heat of the re-election campaign with all the attendant public appearances and attention. But at the same time I have some slight sympathy for them. There are certainly national security concerns associated with broadcasting exactly how a President's health is changing. Additionally, when you are around someone every day it can be hard to see changes. I still blame them a lot for putting Biden in the position they did, but that may be as much his own fault as anyone else's... I think everyone who has experienced aging family/friends (or possibly have experienced it themselves) knows that age-related decline is not a steady process. It comes and goes in episodes that increasingly become more prevalent. My guess is this has been going on for quite a while with Biden and is probably why his inner circle have been carefully controlling his schedule and public appearances. In a conspiratorial view, the sudden request for an early debate by the Biden campaign may have been done as much to demonstrate to Biden, his closest supporters, and everyone else exactly what was going on - with the expectation that this would precipitate a change at the top of the Democratic Presidential ticket.
If there was one thing I absolutely did not anticipate it’s the completely unhinged reaction of the GOP, Lumpy and the MAGAheads. The best ones so far: 1. Lumpy wants the Democrats to refund him for all the money he has poured into attacking Biden. 2. The Heritage Foundation is suing in anywhere up to 29, but probably 3, states claiming that the Democrats cannot replace Biden on the ballot. 3. It’s stunning and heartwarming to discover so many GOPers and right wingers now care so much about voter intent, democracy and the role of dark money and deep pocketed individuals in the presidential race. It’s a real “awwwwww…” moment, it really is. Also, who knew so many GOPers cared so deeply about all those Democratic primary voters? 4. Lumpy is now claiming Biden’s looking to start WW3 because he has no obligations. 5. Stephen Miller had a very shouty breakdown on Fox about how unfair this is to Lumpy and Democratic primary voters. (Again, who knew he cared so deeply?). 6. Apparently Biden exiting like this is an actual, honest to god, Coup d’etat. (To be fair, Coup d’etats are something the GOP has become rather proficient at since January 6th 2021). 7. Some in the right wing media are pushing the totally believable FACT that Biden didn’t sign the exit letter. 8. Lumpy wants to change the rules for the second debate. And so on. All of these unhinged reactions lead me to believe that irony is dead. My guess is that Lumpy is already regretting Vance. Some of his positions, especially around women, are so extreme that there was no way he was picked for campaigning, he was picked for governing, for liaising with the Heritage Foundation on P2025. My guess is that he thought he had the election wrapped up. The pick (to be confirmed) of Harris has upended all those plans, he’s in a horse race and Vance is not who or what you need on the campaign trail. This is a game changer, though it’s still entirely possible he wins in November.
the fume is wonderful isn't it. The Heritage Foundation is suing in anywhere up to 29, but probably 3, states claiming that the Democrats cannot replace Biden on the ballot. good luck with that. if I'm understanding correctly, Biden wasn't even the official Dem nominee, since he hadn't gone through the formal process of being nominated and accepting it. is that accurate?
Well, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, John Roberts and Neil Gorsuch have already said the Heritage Foundation always tells the truth, so that’s good enough for them and whatever the Heritage Foundation says, goes. And they’re most upset, so they’re going to ban the Democrats for being so naughty.
Much as I couldn't fathom why the dems picked Harris to be VP, Vance's selection is up there in the same territory. No attempt whatsoever to reach for voters outside the Trumpian box, a hard core social conservative who will in no way broaden the party's appeal.
one of the keys for Harris is not to fall into the trap of wading in when Trump does his usual "flood the zone" strategy i.e. talking nonsense about (just about) everything. imo that's where Hilary and (last month) Biden got stuck - trying to respond in a "rational" way and getting into too many policy details. and confusing voters along the way. just come armed with 10-20 string "screw you" attack points on things people have shown they care about and hit him over and over again until he's the one doing the responding. (this debate prep stuff is SO easy!! )
it may well come back to bite the Rs in the ass, he is extreme even by Magat standards. the VP debate is gonna be fascinating if Harris' running mate can lay it all out for those who haven't been paying attention to his view eg P2025.
The rumor was that Lumpy had picked the N Dakota governor Burgum, but was persuaded by the expert election consultants Little and Littler Lumpy that Vance was the pick. Which of course made no sense. It’s not like Lumpy needs an outreach candidate to MAGA nation. Plus Vance being a never-Trumper and calling him Hitler should show the depth of his principles.
He’s already trying to change the agreed upon terms. I think there’s a less than 50/50 chance at the moment.
Samarkand is going to be Kamala's VP. The mottos write themselves, "the know nothing and the know everything."
I saw that earlier. are the rules the same as for the June debate i.e. no notes. no interruptions, no audience? yep he'll just say she's a bogus candidate, the Dems broke every rule known to the human race, the world's never seen the likes of this, where's the military when you need them, he's gonna appeal to the SCOTUS, he won't lower himself, yada yada bullshit.