Biden Selects Harris

Not a big surprise there. Was the choice a statement of political strength? Or was the selection made to appease the party? Do you left leaning guys find it to be a strong ticket?

 

My opinion is that he was sort of cornered without a great pick.

Most of the women I've discussed Biden's VP candidates with think Harris is bitchy. The only ones they didn't have anything bad to say about were the ones they didn't know anything about.

 

I like Harris. I think she would have made a better top of the ticket choice over Biden. I like that Biden is handing the party over to the new generation of Democrats by picking Harris. She will grow a lot in the next 4 years as she learns the job. She'll have a great relationship and understanding of congress as a Senator.

It really doesn't matter who Biden picks, the Republicans will level the same nonsense at her that they would have leveled at any VP choice.

 

How sexist you are. Still beating your wife Mike?

 

Not a strong ticket for younger people. It's not going to make Biden lose my vote by any means, but I was hoping for anyone but Harris. I've heard many others on the left around my age (mid-late 20s) are not excited either.

We're currently undergoing a movement against racial bias in policing, corruption, and use of force. So they go and choose the notoriously harsh D.A. of San Francisco and Attorney General of California. Worst off, she was caught covering up (by inaction) a technician stealing drug evidence in their laboratory, which could have had an impact on 600+ cases.

 

This is interesting to me. I mistakenly thought that Harris would be a choice that would be appealing to younger folks. Is she not more closely aligned with the platforms that are appealing to younger folks?

 

Of the options left, she's pretty close on most issues. That's why I don't rule her out necessarily. But her stance on issues like healthcare, death penalty, and marijuana seem to fluctuate unpredictably.

The real issue is how touchy the police thing is right now. It seems like it's too easy of a target for progressives to tear each other apart on. I suppose it does undercut Trump's strategy of being the "law and order" candidate though. She can also hardly be called a member of the "radical left" so I can see the political strategy in picking her.

 

I think she projects a strength that Biden is lacking in. And I rather suspect the choice was somewhat forced upon Biden.

 

Does anybody really care about the VP choice? Has it ever mattered that much to anyone on either side? Not so much.

 

I really appreciate that Biden wanted someone who would challenge him on race, and she's already shown herself ready and willing to do that on the national stage during the debates. Speaking of debates, Harris v. Pence should be a good one.

 

Not really. Dan Quayle come to mind. A choice should consider the negative qualities of the presidential candidate and be one that selects a person the balances that with their strengths. I believe Trumps VP choice was a perfect example of that..... I have nothing to base this comment on but I cannot help feeling that Harris was a choice forced upon Biden by the party.

 

So, do you all think the fact Trump and Ivanka have donated substantially to Harris' attorney general re-election campaigns as recently as 2014 is worse for Harris or Trump?

Edit: I'm going worse for Trump since she decided to instead to donate that money to a non-profit charity for civil rights in central america.

 

I guess there must be a reason the Trumps ceased donating to Harris' campaigns some 6 years before she became competition. They were either extraordinarily prescient, or learned something new about her that changed their minds.

 

Probably the former. He and many other wealthy people donate to tons of campaigns that are both Dem and Rep. Doesn't matter who's in power if you play both sides!

 

Not to mention he decided to play hardcore Republican in 2016 (the next time she was in a campaign). So he donated to her right up until he ran too.

 

She has been called that, is being called that, and will be called that. There are people who fully believe it already, and those who've probably never heard of her before now who will assume it and have it confirmed for them by whatever source they bother to check.

Biden isn't fooling any devout Trumpists, that's certain--they know he's part of the vast left wing conspiracy, and whoever he was going to pick was going to be even deeper in it--Radical Leftists Who Want to Impose Socialism and Destroy America!!!

 

I almost included that point too, it wouldn't matter if he named the ghost of Ronald Reagan as his VP, they're definitely going to be called "radical left." Perhaps naively, I'm just somewhat optimistic her record will help at least some people see through it.

 

The right wing agitprop outlets have a powerful meme to conjure with that will strike just the right note: San Francisco Democrat. That alone is enough for most red-blooded Real Americans™.

 

Another interesting thing to consider with regards to the devout followers is the concept of the "floor"

In the modern era (when there were only 2 serious candidates running) no candidate has received less than ~40% of the popular vote. Clearly the popular vote doesn't mean what it used to, but it's still a decent indicator.



We can at least feel pretty good that in that regard seeing Trump is currently polling pretty close to that floor



Not to mention the only 3rd party candidate receiving serious attention in polls right now is the libertarian Jorgenson.

 

McGovern in '72: 37.5%

A solid lesson from the 2016 election is that nobody should believe the polls when it comes to Trump voters, and the level of support Trump has. There are a number of possible reasons for this (the "shy" voter and the tendency of Trump voters to refuse to participate in polls are a couple, but there are plenty of analyses available) and maybe at least some pollsters have tried to change their methodology to get a more accurate reading, but I expect the same confounding factors are still in play.