COMMENTARY: BY OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 16, 2020 – I read an analysis posted on Facebook on Wednesday, May 14, headlined “The Pros And Cons Of 12 Potential Running Mates For Joe Biden,” that left me wondering whether the writer was in full control of his mental faculties when he reached the conclusion that Mr. Biden has a field of 12 women from which to pick a running mate. Nonetheless, I concluded that he must have been serious when he included in his analysis the “pros” and “cons” for each of the 12 women he featured, some of whom – I concluded – do not have a snowball’s chance in hell of being picked by former Vice President Joe Biden as his running mate.
Pointing out that Mr. Biden has vowed to pick a woman to be his vice presidential running mate, the analysis added: “But which woman? He’s facing pressure to pick a black woman, but during the primary he also had relative deficiencies with Latino voters. He has to consider the progressive left, given that he was not progressives’ preferred candidate and some of them didn’t turn out for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general election.
“It’s not an easy choice. Biden, a former vice president, has said he wants someone with whom he’s ‘simpatico.’ Chemistry is vitally important in a vice president. She needs to be someone Biden can trust to have his back in hard times, and she needs to be someone with whom a potential President Biden can govern.
“But there’s more to it this year. The vice presidential selection process is usually fun to talk about. It even gets a cutesy nickname, the ‘Veepstakes.’ But the VP pick rarely matters, in terms of actually affecting the outcome of a presidential election.
“This year might be different, though. Given Biden’s age, this pick is perhaps the most consequential in decades. Biden will be 78 by the time he would be sworn in. That would make him the oldest president ever to assume the office. So his VP pick needs to be ready on Day One to be president. And she, of course, has to fulfill that first rule of picking a running mate: First, do no harm.”
Personally, I strongly believe that the advisory committee Mr. Biden selected to assist him in making his choice of a running mate will recommend either Senator Kamala Harris or Stacey Abrams, both of whom are black. Such a history-making choice will set the stage for an even more important history-making event, quite possibly the election of the first African-American woman President of the United States.
As the analysis indicated, Mr. Biden will be 78 by the time he is sworn in. However, he appears to be in excellent health, and age should not prevent him from serving two terms as President if he lives up to the expectations of his supports, myself included, and continues the policies that resulted in President Barack Obama — with whom he served as Vice President – being such a great President during his two terms in office. I have noted on more than one occasion in articles I have written that if historians are honest, Barack Obama will be recorded as one of the greatest Presidents in the history of the United States.
Surely, not only African-Americans, but white Americans generally – women and men, who consider slavery and the racism it spawned and perpetuated to be a disgraceful legacy – would welcome the possibility of this great country electing its first African-American woman President.
Here are the “pros” and “cons” on the two Africa-American women who are contenders for the vice presidential nomination that were provided in the analysis published on Facebook. Either one of them in my opinion is extremely well qualified to be the first African-American woman President of the United States:
SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS
PROS: The California senator is thought to have an inside track for a host of reasons. She ran for president, which means she’s been vetted on the national stage; she’s black, which would satisfy those who are urging Biden to pick a black woman; and there’s a personal connection — she was close with Biden’s son Beau.
The former prosecutor and state attorney general has a reputation as an incisive questioner and being able to make a clear argument. Envisioning her holding her own in a debate with Vice President Pence is not difficult.
CONS: She was criticized for a lack of a coherent message during her presidential run, but Biden’s message would become hers. She doesn’t necessarily fire up the progressive left, which doesn’t love some of her past positions on criminal justice; she doesn’t give any regional advantage — a ticket with an East Coast former senator and a senator from California doesn’t exactly dispel the notion of Democrats not caring about the middle of the country; and it’s not clear Harris has appeal to the middle of the electorate in places like the Upper Midwest.
STACEY ABRAMS
PROS: The former Georgia gubernatorial candidate fires up progressives. For them, her close loss there in 2018 symbolizes what happens when the vote, especially of minorities, is suppressed. She’s African American, outspoken and unafraid to make the case. The argument for Abrams goes that if the country is as polarized as it seems, and Clinton struggled to get out the base at the margins, Abrams might be able to help.
CONS: But Abrams also presents potential risk. She’s not currently an elected official, and she hasn’t been vetted on a national stage. Things like her having owed more than $50,000 in back taxes are sure to come up. She had the opportunity to run for president — and for one of two open Senate seats in Georgia this cycle — and she passed.
She’s also rankled some with what looks like open lobbying for the job. She denies that she is, but she told The Atlantic, “I would put my capacity to win an election as the VP running mate alongside anyone’s.” That irritated some in the old guard, including Rep. William Clay of Missouri, who called her lobbying offensive. “You can’t show up at the winner’s window with loser’s tickets and demand anything,” he said.
