Biden chose Kamala Harris as his VP

[Jennjenn]

This chose is so exiting. I feel now 1000% better about voting for him. 
This decision injected lots of energy into his campaign imo. If his selection was made to appeal millennials and gen z voters, he did an excelente job.

[Opo]

What's good about her? I know only the bad stuff.

[Leo Gura]

@Jennjenn Watch out for that token liberalism. Just because she's a black woman doesn't make her any more progressive than Biden himself.

She and Biden have a very similar neoliberal worldview.

[Lyubov]

I'm glad he chose her. Will help the vote. 

[Apparition of Jack]

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, she’s like the only non-geriatric person in a position to be President within the next four years (who isn’t also an evangelical wingnut like Pence is.) Plus, she has that generic “Yass Queen” energy that appeals to many undecided normies who might like the fact that she’s an outspoken woman.

On the other hand, I get a really bad vibe from her when I listen to her speak and I 100% believe she’s going to be as stubbornly status quo as possible, a few minor platitudes aside. Even Biden seems to be more genuinely progressive than she does these days. Plus, unlike dementia-patient Biden she has the mental fortitude to put up resistance to progressive policies.

I’m still hoping Biden wins, but it means that when she inevitably takes over from him when he gets too old, it’ll mean progressives really have to hold her feet to the fire and push her to be as radical on climate change, lobbying reform, healthcare etc as possible. We can’t let her be Hillary Clinton 2.0 just because she happened to be in the right place at the right time. 

[Consilience]

@Lyubov @Jennjenn ??

Have either of you researched her history as a prosecutor in California? How is this a good decision? 

[fridjonk]

@Leo Gura @Consilience  Do you guys want to beat Trump or not? 

[Lyubov]

24 minutes ago, Consilience said:

@Lyubov @Jennjenn ??

Have either of you researched her history as a prosecutor in California? How is this a good decision? 

Yeah she is a total narc and police but the average voter doesn't look into stuff like this. They will see a woman and diverse ticket and it will hopefully boost Biden's image against Trump. I wanted Elizabeth Warren.

Edited August 12, 2020 by Lyubov

[Arthur]

[Forestluv]

I think it's a good choice in terms of electoral politics. Trump donated TWICE to Harris' AG campaigns in the past. How can Trump go hard on her, when he donated to her AG campaigns? Trump's team is trying to portray her as a scary left-wing socialist, yet she is nowhere near that. The only people that will believe she is a left-wing extremist is FoxNews / Briebert watchers. 

Harris is Orange-centered. She is the darling of Silicon Valley and Big Tech. She also has Orange-level personal ambition. She's got some Blue remnants with her Law and Order + War on Drugs orientation. She has some Green, yet she is not a progressive and is unpopular with progressives (yet tolerable and not as bad as Susan Rice). 

I think the hope for progressives is that Harris doesn't have an enormous Green shadow like Trump and conservatives. And her Orange-level personal ambition works both ways - she can go with or against Green. She started off her presidential campaign in with mostly progressive positions. She was pro M4A (green) and signed on to Bernie's bill. Yet when she wasn't doing well in the polls, she shifted toward a public option and privatized health insurance (orange). She would easily support legalization of cannabis, yet is taking Biden's position on decriminalization because that's what she needs to do to be VP.

I think she is open to dealing with Green if it is to her personal benefit. She will likely run for president in 2024 and if the polls show strong public support for progressive issues like M4A and GND, I can easily see her taking those positions. The question for me is whether she is willing to fight for it like Bernie or AOC would. So far, the answer is no. Yet I can see potential for her to evolve up to Green - she doesn't have a big Green shadow and societal momentum is heading toward Green. 

[Forestluv]

2 minutes ago, Keyhole said:

Same here she would have been the best choice, I wonder why he didn't pick her.

The neoliberal corporate plutocracy doesn't like her and that's what's driving Biden's campaign right now. Plus, a white academic from Massachusetts just doesn't fit the times right now. I think there was a lot of pressure for Joe to meet the social unrest with a poc. In a sense, it's tokenism - yet that is a sign of the times. 

[Leo Gura]

2 hours ago, fridjonk said:

@Leo Gura @Consilience  Do you guys want to beat Trump or not? 

Kamala will be good for beating Trump. No worries there.

She is black in the same way Obama was black: a comfortable level of blackness for the average American.

[Forestluv]

9 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

She is black in the same way Obama was black: a comfortable level of blackness for the average American.

Nina Turner would be outside that comfort zone. 

[TrustTheProcess]

@Forestluv @Leo Gura

I was just boutta ask. Do you think that Turner would have a shot in 2024?

 

[Forestluv]

This is how I would sound if someone asked if I was excited to fight Conor McGregor in the octagon.

 

[GroovyGuru]

I think picking Kamala as VP won't really hurt him, I don't see many people deciding to stay home or vote for Trump just because of her. However I definitely don't see it helping that much. I guess it will comfort some people worried about Biden's age. I think it would have been great for Biden to pick a progressive VP, I feel that would have united the party and actually got some people on the left like many people on this forum more excited, but that was always a pipe dream. I personally don't like Kamala or Biden or their centrist corporatist bullshit politics, and for quite a while I was convinced I was gonna stay home. But I've decided now to be responsible and mature and vote for the lesser of two evils. Our country is slowly moving deeper into green anyways, so I'm confident when this generation of old hags die off, and my generation take power, it will be a better world to live in. But who knows...

[Leo Gura]

She will help Biden in 3 key ways:

• Takes the edge off his age problem
• Inspires women voters
• Locks in black voters

Those are all pretty important for Biden. This election will be all about energizing voters. Many otherwise moderate women and blacks will find Kamala exciting.

Suburban neolib women should love Kamala. That is an important demographic.

So overall Biden made a good choice, even though she ain't progressive. But neither is he, so she is perfect for him.

[Hello from Russia]

3 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Kamala will be good for beating Trump. No worries there.

She is black in the same way Obama was black: a comfortable level of blackness for the average American.

But she is not really that black, lol. Her "blackness" looks more like a slight tan from the beach than being black

Edited August 13, 2020 by Hello from Russia

[Sempiternity]

Also the Indian population (which I'm sure is sizable), as she is half Indian. I'm sure she will have an impact on all 'minority' groups. 

[Hello from Russia]

And here is a full black woman for comparison

I understand you're talking about relative terms, but this Kamala girl is pretty much white, lol 

Edited August 13, 2020 by Hello from Russia