The Worst Kept Secret
Joe Biden’s selection yesterday of U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his running mate was the worst kept secret on the planet. She was the most obvious choice…nothing wrong with that, of course…and there was that posting by Politico a couple weeks ago which either turned out to be prescient or premature, delaying the actual announcement as a cover.
Oh, and the fact that the DNC released a list of prime time convention speakers the day before…and her name was listed as speaking on the final night.
I’ll leave it to others to talk about the differences Harris and Biden have had…apparently it’s a law that certain cable channels must run that clip of her verbally smacking him about busing during a debate at least once an hour. There are always differences between the presidential and vice presidential nominees that have to be reconciled, typically with the views of the presidential nominee winning out…although given how much Biden’s stances have changed even since he secured the nomination, it seems everything is up for grabs.
What is interesting is that Harris failed to secure support during her run for the presidency, to such a degree that she dropped out even before our Iowa Caucuses. She announced her candidacy with great fanfare and a sense almost of inevitability…had a high point during that first debate…and then cratered. She was taken to school on her record as a prosecutor by fellow candidate, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard during another debate. Her campaign was riddled with reports of mistreatment of staff members. The money ran out, in part because of claims of extravagant spending not related closely to building a deep campaign. And above all, she did not seem to relate to, or personally connect with, voters. In places like Iowa, that’s key…and her campaign kept her away from one-on-one interviews and any personal appearances that weren’t tightly controlled and tightly scripted.
It’s hardly like 1980, when Ronald Reagan picked the person with the next highest votes, George H.W. Bush, to be his running mate. It’s far more like 2008, when a failed candidate was elevated to the national ticket to shore up weaknesses the presidential choice had. So obviously, that’s where Joe Biden’s team got the idea…because it’s how he got his job.
But this is different for a whole number of mortality reasons…and why some are saying Harris should not be compared against Mike Pence…but rather against Donald Trump. More on that tomorrow.News/Talk 1540 KXEL · Iowa Politics — Wed. Aug. 12, 2020
