No, not this Pete:
He wouldn’t be a good vice president since he growls at people, refuses to share toys, tries to monopolize everyone’s attention and steals unattended food. If our Pete were any more incorrigible, I’d suspect him of being a Republican!
I’m talking about Pete Buttigieg, who I hope is getting serious consideration as a potential VP pick for the Harris ticket. Here are five reasons I think Sec Pete would make a great VP candidate.
- Buttigieg could step up as POTUS if need be. That’s the most important qualification for the job, and Buttigieg has it, IMO. Skeptics will note he doesn’t have a ton of political experience at the state or federal level, but he does have an impressive executive track record as mayor and as the head of a huge and important agency in the Biden admin. Moreover, he has the right temperament. He knows how to handle a community crisis with grace and empathy.
- He speaks Midwestern. There was a (pointless and dumb, IIRC) controversy during the 2020 primary over how many languages Buttigieg speaks. But the man grew up in South Bend, got standout results in the Iowa caucuses during his presidential run and is already legendary for his ability to convey complex ideas even to Fox News goobers. (Note: I’m NOT saying Midwesterners are goobers — lord knows as a Southern woman, I hardly have standing to cast stones on that score.) Also, Buttigieg is currently a resident of Michigan.
- Buttigieg is unapologetically smart. A young Sec Pete hoovered up just about every academic accolade available during his education: high school class valedictorian, standout student at Harvard, Rhodes scholar, first-class honors at Oxford (the England one!), etc. He can speak extemporaneously and in detail and at length on complicated policy matters. I think he does it without coming off as a smarty pants but also without hiding behind a fake folksy mask like so many highly educated pols do. We’re the party that believes in science and expertise. Let’s lean into that!
- He’s gay. Representation matters, and a Buttigieg candidacy would likely be inspiring for many in the LGBTQ community, a constituency that reactionary Republican troglogdytes have bullied and persecuted nonstop. As a husband and father, Sec Pete is redefining family values for a new era, and while it might be a risk to field a ticket that generates a list of historic “firsts,” would any gettable voters recoil from that and choose the degenerate Trump instead? I don’t think so. Also, Buttigieg would cheerfully defenestrate reactionary shillbilly J.D. Vance in a VP debate, perhaps asking him to explain why the thrice-married Trump models traditional values better than Pete’s family does.
- Buttigieg is young. She doesn’t look it, but VP Harris is pushing 60. That’s positively youthful compared to Old Man Trump, and Democrats can look forward to the striking contrast in visuals between the ticket-toppers, thanks especially to Repubs and the media harping on Biden’s age for years. At 42, Sec Pete would deepen that contrast. Let Republicans carry the banner of gerontocracy forward — we’ve got a new generation of leaders stepping up on our side.
So that’s my pitch for Pete. Of course, it’s entirely VP Harris’s decision, and there are plenty of other great candidates who have attributes that Buttigieg perhaps lacks. Ultimately, I don’t think the VP pick will make much of a difference in the vote count, except for its value as a media spectacle. But I like Pete.
Open thread!
It’s Up To Us Now, What’s Next?
J. Arthur Crank
Pete is such a good boy!
SiubhanDuinne
I 💯 agree with you! I’ve long dreamt of a Harris-Buttigieg ticket in 2028; this just moves the calendar forward a bit.
ETA: Plus, a First Gentleman and a Second Gentleman!!
comrade scotts agenda of rage
You just described Nixon as Ike’s VP.
Splitting Image
I think Buttigieg also passes the “do no harm” test. Putting him on the ticket won’t remove someone from an office the Democrats will then have to hold onto with someone else.
Elizabelle
I am rooting for Pete. He can Demsplain to those we need to make inroads with.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: They are just early for 2028.
SiubhanDuinne
@Splitting Image:
That is an excellent point!
Scuffletuffle
Yes!!!!!!
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
Promptness is a virtue!
Rob Roser
I believe he’d be the best pick as well, but honestly, I don’t care who it is.
Harris/Whoever 2024
ALurkSupreme
+1 and a hearty “a-yup” for Buttigieg.
Bugboy
Buggirl is telling me that his McKinsey past is holding this up. Which I think is a valid point. Pete is great, but he’s got to distance himself from his corporate drone-speak past.
zhena gogolia
Part of me would be really excited, but I’m risk-averse too.
zhena gogolia
@Bugboy: And how is he supposed to do that? Time travel to the past and not take that job?
coin operated
I look at all the times Pete has fearlessly gone on Fox News and decimated their talking points in real time. As VP, this becomes his full time job and I’m all for it.
feebog
I think it would be an attractive ticket. Pete is so articulate and quick, would be fun to see him slice and dice Vance in a debate.
topclimber
Well argued, as usual. However, I suspect one reason so many 2028 contenders got behind the Harris juggernaut was that she was not going to elevate any of them to the best starting position.
mali muso
I’m a fan of Mayor Pete and am happy to hear he is in the running. At the end of the day, I trust that Kamala and her team are running all the scenarios and will choose wisely. I’ll be on board no matter what!
In other VP-related news, it sounds like JD Vance is setting new records! Record for the worst approval rating of a VP candidate in forever. LOL! Snarky Wonkette story here.
Andrew Abshier
Watch Sec’y Pete on Fox, Bill Maher, etc,, and you can see the guy’s got chops. He could be Bill Clinton’s successor as the unofficial Secretary of Explaining Shit.
Craig
I met him at a conference once, back when he was still mayor. We just sat around for 45 minutes talking about his slide deck, and his vision for South Bend, and Democratic politics in general. Just a really smart, well informed person who impressed the hell out of me with his ideas, courage and sincerity. Been a fan ever since.
Gretchen
He’s my favorite too, for the way he can go on Fox News and Congressional hearings and plainly explain things in response to their dumb gotcha questions without ever losing his cool and his Midwestern nice. He’s got all the facts and figures at his fingertips, and counters their lies with a gentle, informed smile. I hesitated about the gay part, but I think you’re right that gay wouldn’t convince any gettable voters to switch to Trump.
And I love the fact that Trump picked an Ohio State guy and hopes to win Michigan. There’s nothing Michiganders hate like Ohio State.
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: Bold Prediction: No matter who she chooses watermelon emoji brigade will have problems with him/her
My favorite for VP is Maura Healey.
bbleh
@zhena gogolia: me three, and he is Of My People. He has a great future — I could see him being President some day — but frankly I don’t know if they’re the best match, at least for this country at this time. The Christianists would go even more bug-nuts than they are already, and there are a lot of low-information voters who would be swayed to some degree by that.
As noted elsewhere, I hate catering to latent low-level bigotry, but I would hate FAR more LOSING to the overt in-your-face bigotry that MAGA represents and celebrates.
But yes, as with Joe’s decision, I will support Kamala’s. They’ve forgotten more about politics than I will ever know.
Elizabelle
@Bugboy: I wonder if he could speak as someone who has “seen the light. “ Assuming he has.
Sean
I’m along for the ride with whoever it is. Looks like the Mark Kelly boomlet has hit a speed bump with his not signing on to the Pro-Act on union organizing that all but 3 dems signed. We’ll see how that plays out. I suspect KH doesn’t want to potentially weaken the senate position anyway as it would impact her agenda if she wins.
Kirk
There are some (nominal) Democrats who would be queasy (ie homophobic) about voting for Pete but based on my anecdotal awareness they’re already queasy (ie misogynistic) about voting for Kamala. So I agree; I don’t think putting him on the ticket will lose any gettable votes and it increases the enthusiasm.
And it’s enthusiasm that’ll win this. It’s the driver for an increased GOTV.
Princess
Buttigeig would be great.
70% of Americans support guy marriage. Don’t tell me that 30% are gettable voters for us.
Subcommandante Yakbreath
Is Buttigieg on the short list? I’ll confess I hope she doesn’t pick Josh Shapiro; he’s been a great governor and, even though lieutenant governor Austin Davis could take over, there’s still a lot for Shapiro to do here.
Elizabelle
@Andrew Abshier: We need that.
Steve LaBonne
I’m just glad there are several very good choices on her list, including Pete (the human one). I don’t think she can really go wrong with any of them.
Bugboy
@zhena gogolia: I don’t have an answer for that, but it might take much longer than the little time we have left. I’d say he’s a bigger fish to hold onto until a later time when we’re not having to push back against the inevitable oppo research. Otherwise, I’d say he’s the perfect candidate, and the perfect thumb in the eye for our enemies: a woman AND a gay man.
Suzanne
Pete is my first choice, too. I remember seeing him at the DNC Future Forum a few years back, and he absolutely knocked my socks off.
Plus, I want to watch him eviscerate the couch-fucker.
SatanicPanic
I am in don’t care camp. I trust Harris to make a good choice
Maxim
Your Pete is adorable, Betty, despite his flaws. I also think that Sec Pete would make a great VP.
topclimber
@bbleh: Turbo-charging the Christian nationalists might not be great in swing districts. Kamala is going to need a Dem Congress, and hopefully one with a heftier margin than in 2020.
WereBear
He was Mr WereBear’s first choice and I love the idea.
Let a million heads explode!
Hilbertsubspace
Buttigieg is a good choice. But, I trust VP Harris to make a sound decision.
Joy in FL
That is such a great photo of Pete. Dogs are awesome !
KatKapCC
@Princess:
When typos are apropos :)
Bugboy
@Elizabelle: Maybe. He’s very careful with his words (that’s the McKinsey in him) so he’s kind of a sphinx on what he thinks of what used to be called “The K-Street Project”….
WaterGirl
What an awesome photo of Pete!!!
brendancalling
@feebog: Shillbilly’s only response would be “HE’S A GAY!! A GAY!” And he would say it like that too, because he’s a jerk.
I don’t care who the VP is, but it would be funny to watch the far right alienate a lot of people by going 100% gay-hater.
Bobbo1
He also wouldn’t leave a vacancy in a valuable elected position like governor or senator
David Fud
I completely agree. Kamala/Pete were my 1-2 picks in 2020, and I think they would be a dream team. However, it is not something I am going to the mat for. I think the Pete can ask for any position he wants in President Kamala’s cabinet if he doesn’t get the VP slot (assuming he wants it), and he could run any of them well. He’ll be around either way, though I want him in line for the big job.
KatKapCC
My parents love Mayor Pete and we all think he would be a great Veep, though my dad did worry that a WOC and a gay man on the ticket might be too much for some people. My thoughts were that anyone who would be put off by it probably wasn’t on our side anyway, and also…Pete is about the most Normal-Rockwell version of gayness you could find. I don’t say that as a dig or anything, just that if someone finds him unpalatable, that person is just a homophobe who wouldn’t vote for a gay dogcatcher, let alone VP.
Regarding the McKinsey thing, let’s remember that most normies probably have zero idea what that is. I doubt that would make even a tiny dent in his popularity.
Bugboy
@Bobbo1: that was precisely my point to Buggirl: the last thing we need to do is give up State Legislature beachheads we’ve established, wouldn’t have to do that with Pete.
ETA: In fact, the entire trial ballooning going on about a Harris VP very nearly looks to me like a Federalist Society hit list.
nevsky42
Pete’s my no.1 choice but the bench is so deep and Vance is sooooooooo unqualified that quite a few choices provide a marked contrast to the unseriousness of the GOP ticket.
But Pete very specifically could meet Vance in a Fox News VP debate and provide the most delicious curbstomping since ol’ Joe took out Paul Ryan in ’12. I still savor that asswhuppin’…
zhena gogolia
@Subcommandante Yakbreath: Buttigieg’s name seems to have popped up in the news. Who knows if it’s accurate.
Geminid
I like Pete Buttigieg too, but I am reminded of when someone told Adlai Stevenson that all the thinking people were behind him and Stevenson replied, that’s good but I need a majority.
I think that Buttigieg’s tenure as Transportation Secretary is evidence that he could be a good President. And if elections were won on an intellectual battlefield he could be a difference maker.
Elections are not though, and while I’ve seen a lot of college educated, white liberals go starry-eyed over Buttegieg’s TV appearances I wonder how broad his appeal would be. He’s never been tested beyond the local electoral level.
So I am a sceptic, especially when there are other good prospects who have won fiercely contested state level races in battleground states.
BR
It is kind of amazing that Harris carries an image of being of the same generation as Pete — like late Gen X — even though she is as much older than him than Trump/Biden are than her. It’s in our favor for this election — she like Obama carries a youthful vitality that even actually young GOPers like Vance don’t have.
Kay
I’m fine with anyone but I personally would pick Roy Cooper. He outperformed Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020 and he’s termed out.
WereBear
Magas are so fond of WWE. We could run the debate that way. Whoever Kamala picks for her Veep, she could have Pete do a tag team match.
ONE DEBATE
ALL THE MARBLES
db11
I subscribe to the ‘heighten the contrast’ strategy vs the Republican ticket: young, positive and forward-looking vs reactionary, resentful and stuck in the past. And I agree that (unlikely) voter enthusiasm will be the key to election fortunes.
Pete brings this in spades, and I think that when you sum all the cohorts that make up the Democratic coalition the combination of Kamala and Pete covers the broadest swath. Will there be older and more centrist Democratic voters that are a little uncomfortable with the idea? Maybe. Probably.
But like with Kamala, once they see and hear for themselves — rather than accepting the biased framing of the media and GOP — the’ll glom onto the reality that Pete is an incredibly smart, articulate and likeable politician. (Not to mention fast-learning, extremely competent and the best communicator of complex ideas to normal people since Bill Clinton)
Bugboy
@KatKapCC: the fact that he worked for McKinsey is not my concern. My concern is the oppo research that will be generated by that fact. That’s a pandora’s box we’re already dealing with that sent the campaign completely in the ditch over Biden’s age. They would not. Stop. And they won’t with Pete.
rikyrah
Secretary Pete would be fabulous.
He’s everything everyone has written about him.
And, he has a cute family :)
But, Black Woman, Gay Married Man…….
Sigh….
the crazy part is…
If this was normal times…like 2028….I’d say go for it..
but, we need a smart, straight, White man at this moment in time….we just do….
Mike in NC
Pete is the un-Vance, and Fat Bastard already has buyer’s remorse over that awful pick.
WereBear
@Kay: I likewise found Cooper a good match.
laura
I’m going to make a pitch against Pete B- for now. He and Chasten are raising a pair of smalls. I hope that they spend their time, focus and energy on their two small children who wont stay young for very long. I know that they’ve settled on Michigan and that Pete may take a run at governor after Witmer’s end of term. That’s my piece, make of it what you will, but I’m stuck thinking about what a family with young children need. Line up critics, I can take it.
Hoodie
As we’ve already seen with Harris over the past few years, VPs don’t get a lot of coverage. Pete might be useful in the campaign for his debating chops, but that can be overrated. Biden is no great debater but his status as elder statesman was enough to carry him over a lightweight like Ryan by simply calling his drivel malarkey. Lloyd Bentsen owned Dan Quayle with one remark, and no one would call Bentsen a great debater. Moreover, it didn’t matter anyway. VP debates are just not that important. What matters is that the running mate is credible, isn’t a liability and, hopefully, can provide some sort of regional/demographic balance.
Kay
@BR:
That’s true. Vance is one of those old young men.
BR
I see the new GOP playbook is to get brown and black people to deliver the racist messages for them as political cover. Here is Vance’s wife doing it:
https://sfba.social/@sysop408/112842046984037256
Subcommandante Yakbreath
@zhena gogolia: Thanks. Wasn’t sure if I’d missed something in the last few hours.
MomSense
Canine Pete deserves a second look. I mean he could assuage some of these childless cat lady concerns. 😉
I had concerns with Pete in 2020. To his credit I think he has grown a lot since then and I would love to see him as VP or president some day. I’m leaving this up to Harris and her team to weigh all the competing issues involved.
Scout211
Add me to the list of “don’t really care” because I will support any of the candidates on the short list (or any on the long list depending on the news organization’s anonymous sources).
I’m glad there is an actual professional vetting process, unlike Trump who leaned toward the guy who liked him the best. LOL
Besties! BFFs! And they are both always so sincere and honest. I’m sure it’s a real friendship. 😉
WereBear
@BR: As with DeSantis, it’s the kids I feel for.
Bugboy
Interesting. So he’s another piece of that State Legislatures beachheads I mentioned above?
BR
@Bugboy:
I wonder if Harris putting him on the shortlist is partly to raise his profile whether or not she chooses him.
laura
@Bugboy: frankly, I expected more criticism. And yes, what you said about states and the big picture.
lowtechcyclist
I still can’t quite believe I’m saying this, given my antipathy towards Buttigieg back during the 2019-2020 cycle, but yeah, I think he’d be about as good a VP candidate as we can come up with right now. I agree that we should lean in on youth, and lean in on LGBTQ representation. And that we shouldn’t pull someone out of an elected office that we really want to hang onto, and might lose on account of that.
And Pete is just good at explaining complicated stuff in simple terms, thinking on his feet, and being able to make a case for our side that people can relate to.
I still think his experience is thin for being the proverbial heartbeat away from the Presidency, but Job One is Just Win, Baby! He will have plenty of time to get a lot more experience once he’s Veep.
Motivated Seller
Hear hear for Buttigieg !
Kay
Shapiro’s position on US policy in Israel will matter a lot less than his position on vouchers. That’s just not a mainstream position in the Democratic Party and it goes to a group with very good turnout and organizing chops – teachers. Charters are the Right end of Democrats public education policy – private school vouchers are not part of it.
KatKapCC
@Bugboy: I don’t know that it will lead to anything all that damning. He was only there for about three years, and most of the clients he worked for are not exactly scary, like Best Buy and the Natural Resources Defense Council and a supermarket chain. And in the decade and a half since he left, he’s had a stellar career and public service.
M31
looking at the losers the NYT/Yglesias/hottake fuckers wants to foist on us I remembered this — Joe Lieberman is still dead so they can’t suggest him
put a smile on my face it did
pacem appellant
@Subcommandante Yakbreath and @Kay :
According to the Great Orange Satan, the shortlist is Cooper, Shapiro, Kelly, and Beshear.
Suzanne
I will note that I have been watching videos of Beshear in the last couple of days, and I like him, too.
Hoodie
@WereBear: makes the most sense unless you can get Whitmer to join the ticket. Walz would be ok, too.
Bugboy
@BR: That is a distinct possibility. I think Joe Biden just proved to the world what a master player he is. From that, I think you can assume he’s got Kamala Harris’ back, and it certainly sounds like a smart plan, with one of the smartest of the bunch.
Maxim
@laura: Yeah, and those kids have dramatically rewired Pete’s ambitions. If he were persuaded that it truly needed to be him, of course he’d serve his country, but he’d find it a hard choice.
Suzanne
I will also note that the multi-lingual Secretary Pete could be absolutely fantastic in many roles. U.N. ambassador, maybe even SecState?
Bugboy
@KatKapCC: I know, I know. But I’m not willing to give any of these bastards the benefit of the doubt. I don’t know enough about the politics of who he worked for or for how long to have an opinion, but it just seems like a minefield to me.
Subcommandante Yakbreath
@pacem appellant: Thanks. That’s the list that I heard.
BR
@Suzanne:
Does Beshear get less robotic? People have said he’s really good in KY but his recent media appearances sound canned to me, not quite fitting the vibe of Harris who really does seem comfortable in her own skin in a way that we might want to double down on.
I’m not negative on Beshear (or Pete), but am liking Walz for his lack of pretense — when he says things like “these folks [GOPers] are just weird” he really taps into something that the media doesn’t talk about, which is the current GOP platform is really far out there even by conservative standards.
WereBear
May I suggest IHIP news, two women who are knowledgeable and funny about the intersection between white Southern Democrats and MAGA.
They just called Stephen Miller less sponge worthy than Ted Cruz.
Jackie
Oh, dear! How will TCFG and his MAGA running mate explain this away?
db11
@Bugboy: I understand the concern, but I think the fear of devastating McKinsey oppo research is overblown.
Further I think the messaging can be flipped and a positive case made that McKinsey was a training ground for him in how to analyze and solve complex problems in strategy, logistics and execution.
He wasn’t there long enough (2 1/2 years from 2007-2010) to credibly claim that his soul was corrupted by the proximity to corporate evil. Plus if you look at the actual projects he was tasked with, they’re pretty benign, if not vaguely in the public interest:
Princess
@Kay: I fear they may be tired of Cooper in NC. His approval rating is underwater, low 40s. Mind you, the most recent poll on that was from 2023 so maybe he’s improved? Also. someone here said if he leaves Nc to campaign. His evil LG runs things. No idea of that is true.
Kay
The Republican plan for K-12 public education is this – provide a low value voucher to every family and the family makes up the rest. If the family can’t afford to make up the difference between low value voucher and tuition they will need a student loan. In other words, our wildly inequitable higher ed model. That cannot happen and national Democrats cannot have any part in it.
pacem appellant
@Hoodie: Markos at the GOS (link in my comment above) makes the argument that geography is overrated, and that a good VEEP should fill a demographic deficit that the candidate doesn’t have. And secondarily, maybe, pad out the CV (geography, foreign policy, et al.)
Vance doesn’t do either for Trump. He brings no new demographics to the GOP coalition and actively repulses an important one: suburban white women.
I personally think that Buttigieg brings in no new demographics for Harris at the top of the ticket and doesn’t fill out any perceived deficits in the combined CV. So, IMO, Buttigieg is strategically a poor VP choice.
WereBear
@BR: Every possible pick lets a state know we care 💕 and they show off their bona fides.
Matt McIrvin
There are a lot of good possible choices and I’m not super concerned about who she picks. But I did like when he went on Hank Green’s channel to talk about transportation policy in an extremely geeky manner.
Kirk
@David Fud:
I just had this image of him appointed as secretary of defense and the subsequent exploding heads.
Poor use of his talents, but the image is still causing me to smile.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Jackie:
Oof, not a good look for him, especially after his running mate nearly had his head blown off a week ago
Gravenstone
I saw a contingent at TPM advocating for Mark Kelly. My thought then, and in general became how many of the names being floated even want to serve as VP? I understand Pete has at least averred that he would be willing to serve. So there’s that, at least.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Bugboy:
The Horseshoe Left’s primary
criticismexcuse for never supporting Sec Pete is McKinsey. I figure if they hate him for that, then it’s probably just that, finding any excuse to not vote for a Dem.pacem appellant
Apropos of everything: How fun is it that we’ve gone from: “we’re doomed” (not me, but *waves hands*) to arm-chair QBing the VEEP choice. Fortune is fickle, and hope feels good. Haven’t felt it since 2008.
lamh47
Reports are he’s being considered.
I love him…I truly do. Him and his husband and those cute babies. And you can tell Pete’s chomping at the bit to get at JD Vance. My heart would be full, even if my head is a bit unsure of the latent homophobes being their disgusting selves.
Also since it’s a short process, I would love MVP Harris to be able to have someone on the ticket she has already had some working/personal relationship with. There isn’t enough time for their to be a getting to know you period. They’ve got what…the end of the Olympics, so a month to get in sync and ready to “hit the trail” running.
I know my heart’s wish, may not be the best strategically.
Josie
@Kay: I agree about Cooper, but with my track record he probably won’t get it.
Sister Golden Bear
I’ve got mixed feelings.
Yes, I would love to see an LBGTQ person on the ticket, but as part of a minority group, I also have to balance my desires against my pragmatism. I.e. it’s been proven that VP’s don’t provide any home state boost, so they need to do no harm. Yes, Buttigieg would thrill LGBTQ folks, but the reality is that we’re a small percentage of the population and almost all of us will vote for Harris anyway. So the question — which I can’t answer at the moment — is how much would he boost turnout among cis-het folks, vs. how much would be a bridge too far for others.
I’m also distinguishing between Buttigieg the candidate vs. Buttigieg the sitting VP. He’s especially well suited for the former, especially in the traditional VP role of campaign attack dog.
But for the latter I do have some reservations about his experience — which sadly is especially relevant given the higher possibility of assassination attempts on Harris. Not much foreign policy experience, although I have no doubts he can gain/develop that experience while serving. Buttigieg has done, from I’ve heard, a masterful job at shaping up the DOT — and much of the president’s job is administration. But the other half is getting legislation through, and that’s where Buttigieg doesn’t have nearly as much experience. Not saying it’s a deal killer, just a concern, and could be offset by having strong Dem House/Senate leadership.
Finally, one advantage in Buttigieg’s favor, is there’s absurdly short amount of time to pick a VP, including doing the deep dive to see what opposition research might turn up. Since Buttigieg ran previously at least some of that’s already been done, and he clearly is one of those “best little boy in the world” gays, so I’m sure his background is squeaky clean.
Will have to sleep on it. But I trust Harris to make a good decision whoever she picks.
Suzanne
@BR: I think Beshear sounds utterly fine. That’s the thing: they’re all fine.
SecPete would be the one I’d personally be the most excited about — WE’RE NOT GOING BACK!!! — but they’re all solid picks.
Bugboy
@db11: Thanks for that, but I just learned from Laura that he might be part of a bigger plan for Michigan Governor. I think we should let the pros (That is, the next POTUS, Kamala Harris!) read the tea leaves here, just like we trusted Biden to do the right thing. And he did
As I said above, the trial balloons floating around look like a Federalist Society hit list. That made sense if you dropped Pete, but now Laura just filled the blanks there.
Gravenstone
The Republicans are working to cast the Harris campaign as the “DEI ticket” anyway. Adding a gay man to it isn’t going to change that facet of their attacks.
Hoodie
@Princess: not exactly true. If Cooper leaves the state for an extended period, Robinson could ostensibly take over, but you have to understand that the governor’s office in NC is quite weak. The legislature runs everything with the current supermajority and I would imagine that Berger and Moore (GOP House and Senate leaders) would be reluctant to let Robinson go wild, as that would strengthen the impression that he’s a nut and hurt them in November.
JML
SecPete is ok, but I have some concerns.
The McKinsey thing is a real issue for me: the corporate consultant class he was part of has wreaked a staggering amount of havoc on a lot of industries and has been militantly anti-worker with everything they’ve done. As someone who is part of Labor, he’s going to need to do more to show that he’s got our backs. (and frankly, the young, technocrat-style Dems have been pretty rotten in their education policies too (and I include Obama and his crew in this) so it’s a concern as well) I expect Harris to pick someone she wants to be part of a team, not someone to be shunted aside to go to state funerals, so where their values and policies are matter.
He’s shown he’s a good administrator and spokesperson, which is not a small thing at all. But he’s also never proven that he can win big elections with state-wide implications and the need to get huge vote totals across large states. It was part of what concerned me about him when he was running for president in the first place: a relative lack of electoral experience.
He’s also thin on the legislative side of things. Biden’s long history as a legislator (and staff/advisors with experience and connections there as well) made a real difference for him as president, and the lack of that has hurt us before. Answering that question as well would make a difference for me.
All of that said: people don’t really vote for a VP. (they don’t really vote against a VP all that much either, except as a proxy for the judgment of the top of the ticket. Palin was awful, but that’s not why McCain lost) So as long as Harris doesn’t pick an incompetent boob we should be fine. And Pete isn’t bad by any means.
ssdd
I was a Pete backer and donor last time around, so he would be fine by me!
WereBear
For what it’s worth, Cooper struck me as the best fit. Somehow, I can see the two of them fitting together on a campaign poster.
Better than I can with Andy Beshear. He’s just not seasoned enough. And he can belittle Vance as his side gig, raise his profile.
Cooper will draw in anyone who was fine with Biden, no? Males are half the coalition, potentially. Certainly if they know what’s good for them.
db11
@lamh47:
If the VP decision is to go with the safe(r) choice — i.e. of a Southern or Mid-Western white male centrist who adds something to the ticket, and can bring along a significant purple state without vacating an important position there — then Cooper fits the bill, and your criteria, best.
BR
I will say this — we are all underestimating the undercurrent of misogyny that is out there among normie men. I see it in my college friends group chat, all of whom are Dem voters — a “I will vote for her but she can’t win” and “she hasn’t really done much, there are better candidates” sort of stuff (paraphrases).
That means we need to channel this energy into turnout / ground game, because there’s hesitation among men out there.
$8 blue check mistermix
Any of the options is so much better than JD Vance that I’m fine with any of them.
cmorenc
@Bobbo1: Gov Cooper of NC wouldn’t leave a hole bc he’s term-limited and his term expires at the end of this year. His presence as Harris’s VP on the ballot would also help the D gubenatorial candidate Josh Stein (current NC Atty General) beat a truly horrific GOP candidate (Mark Robinson). Imagine Clarence Thomas instead as a radical fundamentalist evangelical, only worse since Thomas has never actually literally said “some people need killing” – as Robinson did while recently guest-speaking at a black church service.
BR
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
The horseshoe left is already calling Harris corporate and Trump populist. They’re claiming that because Vance has mumbled some anti-big-tech stuff that he’s their anti-trust champion, whereas the actual Biden-Harris administration that has really done enforcement through the FTC and CFPB is somehow not part of Harris’s record.
Served
@JML: Yeah the way for him to neutralize the McKinsey stuff is to build a rapport, mutual trust, and track record with Labor. Honestly, I think he could be a great Secretary of Labor in the Harris cabinet. He has an administrators skillset and it’s where he excels, so he could probably do a lot of good in an area where he is weak and Biden/Harris have been strong.
Suzanne
This is gonna sound shallow as fuck….. but I think she’s gotta pick someone good-looking. I think one aspect of her success is that she’s fucking gorgeous. She’s compelling and people want to see her face.
I think this is part of why HRC struggled. I know this is patriarchal bullshit, but pretty prejudice is a real thing. And DJT and Couch-Fucker are both gross-looking and I’m all about heightening contradictions.
JML
I wish you were wrong, but I don’t disagree. There’s also a staggering about of misogyny in the media that concerns me greatly. (I mean, I have so much contempt for the political media generally…but they are the kings of the double standard when it comes to women, especially democratic women.)
catclub
No love for the academic excellence at Ole Miss
Geminid
@Sister Golden Bear: I think candidates like Shapiro, Cooper and Kelly have also been vetted in that they won fiercely contested races and Republican oppo-researchers tried their best and came up with nothing that damaged them.
WereBear
@BR: We need to find something to reach them.
Like, what if Project 2025 wants to eliminate birth control?
Would that impact their lives?
lamh47
I said it last night and I’ll say it again. Ya’ll are truly not ready to see the Divine 9 and how they support Kamala Harris for President.
Yes. They came out for PBO, but again, PBO was raised in the HBCU culture. There is just something different about it when it’s a real alum!
Again, watch this space and watch out for the Divine 9!
https://x.com/IndyDeVoe/status/1816142249543061928
Kelly
The 2028 Democratic Primary will be President Harris, unopposed incumbent. Whoever she picks for VP will have a shot at the 2032 nomination. Eight years as VP would answer the “experience” question on Buttigieg.
JWR
A few days ago, someone, (maybe WaterGirl?), asked who we would pick as a personal fantasy candidate to fill out the ticket, and Mayor Pete was easily my first choice. Both he and Harris look so young. And competent.
WereBear
@Suzanne: That’s one good reason. I thought Kamala and Cooper have great optics together.
Citizen Alan
@cmorenc: He did indicate in a published dissent that while it might be “silly” for a state to pass a law that having gay sex should be punishable by 10 years in jail, the state certainly had to power to do so. Fucking swine.
catclub
Have you asked Lyndon Johnson about that in 1960?
db11
@BR: I don’t think people here are under-estimating the misogyny of normie (white) men. There’s too much evidence of it in everyday life and in their unrelenting majority support of Trump.
I think the strategy would be to try and bring along as many of them as possible — maybe through negative partisanship — and to otherwise make their voting contribution irrelevant.
Massively mobilizing the young and disaffected to enthusiastically vote Dem will overwhelm the (small) number of supposedly gettable men that continue to vote in alignment with their prejudices rather than their (larger) interests.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@pacem appellant: When I got the news around 3 pm I felt literally like I’d been punched in the gut. I was in despair. I was beginning to see rays of sunshine by 5 pm. By 7 pm I was positively giddy.
Some of the people my wife and I were listening to that afternoon (who were largely responsible for my change in mood) reported a similar shift in tone in their email and text messages received over the course of a couple of hours.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Geminid:
Pretty much all of this. Sec Pete was my boss (albeit a gazillion levels above me) and I’ve said before that given Biden’s infrastructure agenda, he not only needed somebody competent to manage the primary agency implementing it but somebody who, as many people point out, is the master of Explaining Stuff.
I simply see his talents not being used to their fullest in the VP role no matter how effective Dem VPs have been lately in carving out unique and meaningful niches in the role.
And as you say, we can all get dreamy about Sec Pete but how that’ll play to a broader audience is a massive unknown.
@pacem appellant:
Exactly. The campaign needs to think electorally strategic about all of this and what does Sec Pete do in that regard? Does he bring in certain demographics in the swing states to clinch the deal? Does he bring a potential state into play that might otherwise not be? I don’t think he does.
Again, big Sec Pete fan here. If we were talking about a second Biden term, what position would he have been in? That’s essentially how I see his role in a potential Harris presidency.
Soderbee
I like Pete too but during the 2020 primary season he and Kamala seemed to have real antipathy towards each other. He ticks all the boxes for me but you want a VP who can be a partner too, who would be included in decisions and policy arguments and not frozen out. I’ve seen a few comments about Kamala’s management style and wonder if she would hold a grudge.
As with all the other commenters, I’m in with whoever is picked. But Pete would be my first choice.
I did vote for Gov Cooper when I lived in NC. He’s steady and has had to negotiate the crazies who took over the NC legislature so he could do that. But he doesn’t project high energy. Josh Shapiro would be my 2nd choice.
ssdd
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: in a former life I knew a lot of people who did a tour at McKinsey or a firm like it, usually as a first job straight out of school. Most of them spent their time grinding spreadsheets and the like and hated it, but put in a year or so to get the resume credit, then went on to other things. Guys like Pete who spent time there and left aren’t the ones you have to worry about, it’s the ones who never left that are the real rat bastards.
lowtechcyclist
@Princess:
I bet practically all of them support gal marriage too. ;-)
WereBear
I loved Kamala’s “teammate” energy with Joe. I think she thrives on it and needs someone like that to take the strain off.
db11
@ssdd: Exactly.
BR
@WereBear:
These guys will turn out because they’re educated voters who vote in every election, and their wives/partners are excited for Harris, but I don’t see any enthusiasm from them about her. It’s not about policy. Whereas they were all to a person excited about Obama when he ran in ’08 / ’12 (then again who wasn’t).
rikyrah
@Kay:
With schools that aren’t required to take EVERYBODY.
and, this is always a scam.
Even more obvious a SCAM when dealing with RURAL America.
I’m a clear
JUST SAY NO TO VOUCHERS
Person.
It’s a muthaphuckin SCAM
You want your kids to go to Private school – pay for it. Public school dollars should not be subsidizing you.
lowtechcyclist
@Steve LaBonne:
Is there a known list? If so, link?
Ceci n est pas mon nym
I’ve been listening on and off to the audiobook of Michelle Obama’s Becoming. While listening this morning I started reflecting on one more reason to be proud of being a Democrat: There’s something about the process in our party that the people who make it to the top are good, decent, loving people with good relationships and who raise great kids. It’s been that way my whole life.
Can we compare and contrast with the people who make it to the top of some other parties?
Suzanne
@db11:
I shared in an earlier thread some interesting breakdown in a poll I saw indicating that white college-educated men favor Harris by something around 5 points, but white non-college-educated men favor DJT by something like 20 points. That’s a big chasm.
MomSense
@lamh47:
I thought I’d have to wait until 2028 to experience the awe and wonder of the divine 9. I am as excited about what is about to happen with them as anything else about MVP’s candidacy. It’s going to be glorious.
SatanicPanic
@lamh47: dumb question- what’s the divine 9?
Gravenstone
His motherfucking patron is PETER THIEL!!! How much more “big tech” do those morons want?
Jackie
I know, I know… I don’t trust polls, either, but this did make me smile, regardless:
My bolding.
zhena gogolia
@Jackie: god, how can he be leading her?
cmorenc
@WereBear: We know hard-core anti-abortionists view the moment of conception as the creation of a fully human person and any act to deliberately interfere with carrying forth a pregnancy to term from that moment is murder – and further believe the way contraceptive pills work is to prevent successful implantation of the fertilized egg in the uterus. Therefore when they claim to not be against contraception, they mean far more fail-able methods like condoms or (maybe) diaphragms. Or the “rhythm” method.
MomSense
@Jackie:
Yes, negative partisanship was not going to win the election for Biden. Harris’ numbers will improve. Biden was at his ceiling in the polls and it wasn’t enough.
pacem appellant
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I think the excitement that others are feeling is truly contagious. I was — and still am! — a Biden stan. But the masterstroke that Biden silently orchestrated: at the end of the RNC, on a Sunday, before the FTNYT journalists could shake off their Saturday night hangovers, Harris already poised for a WI event — JFC Biden is a political genius.
All of that combined to not just win the “right” news cycle, but also perfectly catapult Harris into the limelight.
If Biden and Harris pull this off, I’m nominating Biden for sainthood.
It doesn’t hurt that Harris was my first choice in 2019. ;-) I still have her bumper sticker on my car.
KatKapCC
@Suzanne: With Hillary it made me so mad because I happen to think she IS pretty. She’s a rare white lady who looks good in every color, too.
Wapiti
@Suzanne: The average American is quite shallow, so I think you have a valid point. Abe Lincoln was apparently not a looker, but he was being picked by a bunch of bearded guys in a poorly lit smoke-filled room.
Gretchen
I really hope it’s not Shapiro. He’s been big on school vouchers, and that’s a huge issue out here in KS, MO, AR, TX, AZ. They’re gutting public school budgets to hand the money over to Christian “schools” and it’s blowing a big hole in the budgets. That position also loses them the teacher’s unions. It would be an own-goal to pick a voucher guy.
lamh47
This was Biden in April I think…If this is the Joe we get after he does his address tonight and gets back on the trail! I say…bring it on!
https://x.com/dutchessprim/status/1816053192376885521
KatKapCC
@zhena gogolia: There are other polls showing her in the lead. Polls are garbage.
Geminid
@Gravenstone: I believe Mark Kelly would accept the nomination if offered. Same with Cooper and Shapiro
Fun fact: Josh Shapiro is the second Pennsylvania Governor born a Shapiro. Milton Shapp changed his name from Shapiro when he applied for a job as electronics salesman.
This was during the Depression. Shapp had a degree in Electrical Engineering from Case Western but he could only find work hauling coal in a dumptruck. Shapp really needed that salesman position, but he was afraid anti-Semitism would be a bar. The job was in Pennsylvania and Shapp figured people would think he was “Dutch.”
db11
@Suzanne: Ya, I saw that too. Pretty unsurprising.
So maybe put college-educated white men in the gettable category and tune some messaging for them, but don’t pander.
As for working class white men, we’ve got most of the big unions pledging their support — so worth it to emphasize how labor-friendly the Biden-Harris administration was, and how Kamala will continue to be. Bring along who you can with that support. (One of the reasons Kelly isn’t the best choice, and maybe Shapiro? also).
But the emphasis should be on women (reproductive freedom), the young (climate change and generational renewal), minorities (immigration, citizenship and civil rights) — plus everyone else who prefers freedom over fascism.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@rikyrah:
That can’t be said often enough. Or this:
School Choice Is A Scam.
https://twitter.com/piper4missouri/status/1815726342131908643
Trivia Man
Re: The gay hurdle. If you didn’t know he was gay, i don’t think it would come up. He doesn’t wear feather boas, start every sentence with “as a gay man…”, and doesn’t lisp. The only people who care are 0% going to vote Harris.
It might help goose bigot turnout a little but the biggest problem i see is the NPR crowd saying “PERSONALLY I have no problem but OTHER PEOPLE might.”
For the record – I am happy if thats the pick. I agree competence, quick thinking, and long term planning are his strengths.
cain
@Craig: This is the guy who wants to read a book but realizes to really read this book he had to learn Norwegian, so he learns Norwegian so he can properly get an understanding of the book. Blows my mind.
bbleh
@BR: this. And worse. I talk with relatives in Heartland America™ — not crazy MAGAts, rather eg people who live in VERY red areas but identify publicly as “independent” — and there is palpable contempt for Harris in their voices (probably equal parts misogyny and racism). It’s a visceral thing (which I think is why a lot of GOP Congress-critters are leaning so hard into “DEI”), and it’s why I think a screamingly “normal” (for them, ie straight white Christian male) VP nom would be not only helpful but essential. (I also think the prosecutor thing helps her immensely with those folks: “back the blue” and all.)
All that said, I concur entirely: GOTV! There are more of us than of them, and if we turn out historically low-participation voters, eg younger voters, we win. I think the excitement Harris has generated is electric (and I don’t really know that Buttigieg, or AOC, would add much to it). At this point, given Harris as nom, it’s about MARGINAL (ie additional) benefit and cost. And as noted, I’ll back enthusiastically whomever she chooses.
White & Gold Purgatorian
Pete is my first choice. As Transportation Sec. he has demonstrated that he can and will do the job he is handed, and do it well. He handles the (mostly) hostile media better than any other Dem I have seen, a key part of the VP’s campaign duty. And, the twenty something folks I know are really excited about him. Plus, he isn’t in the Senate or holding back the craziness as governor of a red state.
BR
It’s good to see that there’s some press vetting of VP candidates happening in real time — just saw TPM post a story about Gov. Shapiro’s office paying a settlement for a sexual harassment case against his staffer and unions coming out against Kelly.
pacem appellant
@catclub: That was 64 years ago, my dude! If that was your first election you were eligible to vote in, you’re 85 years old today! I think VPs matter, but not in the home-state advantage way. I think they lend nothing geographically to the ticket for at least the last 25 years.
cc: @Sister Golden Bear
cain
@brendancalling:
The whole season is going to be full of
“He’s Gay!”
“She’s Black!”
“She’s a woman!”
“Wait, she’s not black, she’s asian!”
“He’s a DEI guy!”
Fake Irishman
@Kay:
Oddly enough vouchers are the same plan they have for healthcare as well.
JWR
On last night’s Amanpour & Co, an interview with the author of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Here she is talking about Project 2025.
Jackie
@rikyrah:
Yes and no. Obama chose a smart, straight White man…
In retaliation for Obama, the electoral votes gave us TCFG.
We have to be fully braced for MAGA retaliation in ‘28 AND ‘32 should Harris win re-election in ‘28.
Frankly, the complexion or sexuality of Harris’ VP won’t matter. It’s all about the First Woman POC president.
Gretchen
@laura: Yes, that’s my one negative about Pete, that he may be too much in the weeds of toddler-dad time that it’s not the right time for him to take on a bigger job. I still like his explainer skills, though. Cooper and Walz would be good choices, and maybe reassure the olds, which supposedly were a Biden stronghold.
Steve LaBonne
@lowtechcyclist: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/7/23/2256997/-All-eyes-are-on-the-Harris-veepstakes?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI07232024
Burnspbesq
@Kay:
Although I really like SecPete, and he brings a lot to the table, I’m kinda with you on Cooper. His experience in dealing with batshit-crazy Republicans is unmatched, and North Carolinians really need a coattail effect to ensure that that lunatic Robinson doesn’t win the governor’s race.
Gretchen
Harry Enten at CNN noted that Vance was the first VP nominee to come out of the convention with an actual negative approval rating (-6) since 1980. Average approval just after the convention has been +19.
stacib
@rikyrah: 100% agree. Maybe some on here, in their joy, have forgotten this country we live in. It’s going to be a slog getting through all the nonsense that the KH nomination will bring over these next three months. To add in Mayor Pete (who I absolutely adore) will be a bridge too far for a lot of people who are halfway looking for an excuse to not vote for her already.
Geminid
@Gravenstone: I don’t take anything anyone on “Horseshoe Left” says at face value. These are dishonest people with a deep malevolence toward the Democratic Party. They want the Party to fail because they think it’s in their way, so they’ll say anything that hurts it.
lamh47
@SatanicPanic:
lowtechcyclist
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
You mean, when a piece of broken glass hit his running mate’s ear? ;-)
Jackie
@laura: Laura, thanks for that perspective. I recall Sec Pete giving an in-depth interview around Father’s Day(?) and he was musing his future in politics based on being a dad to two rambunctious toddlers and the need to be there “for them.” “Priorities change,” he added.
Kirk
@rikyrah: Preach it.
Omnes Omnibus
BC, your dog is gay? Get him a pride chew toy.
More seriously, I think Buttigieg would be fine. When I look at it, I wouldn’t favor anyone more than a couple of years older than Harris. Say 1960 as a cut off. I also think that we need to leave vulnerable senate seats and governorships alone. This looks like it may be a vibes based election so we really need someone who exudes a similar confidence and joy as Harris but with the ability to be the attack dog when needed. Buttigieg fits. I also am warming to Walz and his “what a bunch of weirdos” line of attack.
SatanicPanic
@lamh47: crap I’m not on Twitter. Is it a sorority thing?
db11
@White & Gold Purgatorian: This is my read as well. I think Pete is the only VP candidate who could expand the potential audience for Democratic messaging and significantly add to the enthusiasm that Kamala has engendered.
I wasn’t a big Pete fan during the 2020 nomination: his qualities were evident, but I thought his resume was way too thin as a candidate for President.
But the past four years have made me a fan. The thing with Pete is, he has shown how adept he is at both mastering the substance and the communication of complex issues and mandates.I’m hard-pressed imagining him failing at anything he set his mind too.
And while I understand the belief that his talents would be wasted as VP, I think that on the contrary, since they’re so complementary to Kamala’s he could play a critical role in both the formulation and execution of government reforms and rebuilding across the board.
That wouldn’t be a waste at all.
Spanish Moss
Pete is my favorite too! He is so quick and articulate, he would be amazing on the campaign trail. He delivers devastating rebuttals in such a nice way that it takes the other person a few seconds to realize the damage. We could use his ability to explain issues so clearly and succinctly, without being condescending. I love to hear him speak.
I think that most homophobes hold a whole set of objectionable biases that would make them unlikely to vote for a Democrat anyway. Support for LGBTQ issues is an important part of our platform, so I don’t see how the VP’s sexuality would make much difference for that kind of voter.
rikyrah
@Suzanne:
You always bring the real, Suzanne
catclub
There was a time when ‘college educated white male’=Republican. Times have changed.
HumboldtBlue
Sweet Jesus setting the dogs on peaceful protestors, Brian Kilmeade is upset Kamala Harris will speak to a sorority — a COLORED sorority — instead of listening to murderous Bibi’s speech to Congress.
Kirk
@SatanicPanic: short version from an outsider: the big (and first) nine african american greek letter sororities. I look forward to someone with knowledge educating further but that should give you the starting point.
rikyrah
@BR:
I don’t, and I fully admit that I was completely wrong about the level of misogyny that Hillary faced in 2016. I thought her Whiteness would protect her from the misogyny. I was completely wrong.
I don’t go into this underestimating this against the Vice President at all. Won’t make the same mistake twice.
KatKapCC
@Gretchen:
Just gonna ask: What if someone said this about a female candidate? “She has young kids, she can’t do this job.”
rikyrah
Josh Gerstein
@joshgerstein
JUST IN: 9th Circuit panel unanimously rules that Idaho lacks right to intervene in Washington state’s suit against FDA seeking to lift limits on abortion drug mifepristone. Opn: https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/07/24/23-35294.pdf…
11:40 AM · Jul 24, 2024
https://x.com/joshgerstein/status/1816151602161672578
lowtechcyclist
@Gravenstone:
The Republicans are working to cast the Harris campaign as the “DEI ticket” anyway. Adding a gay man to it isn’t going to change that facet of their attacks.
I remember when the VA ticket for Gov/LT Gov/AG was Baliles/Wilder/Terry; I was living in Newport News then. Doug Wilder is Black, and Mary Sue Terry of course is a woman. So if VA Republicans in 1985 couldn’t beat that ticket by running against an “affirmative action” ticket (as they would have said then in those pre-DEI days), I doubt national Republicans are going to beat a Kamala/Pete ticket by calling it a ‘DEI’ ticket.
Trivia Man
@Gretchen: Especially because V kept coming back to it. Directly calling out the Michigan delegation and emphasizing THE OSU
Kelly
Roy Cooper is a reasonable pick. He’s 67 so he’ll be 75 in 2032.
Since Buttigieg is now a resident of Michigan is the any likelihood of a Congressional or Senate seat he could win to add some legislative experience to his resume? I believe he’d be an asset as a legislator even if he’s never elected President.
rikyrah
Matthew Chapman
@fawfulfan
I’d like to point out, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers endorsed Josh Shapiro in 2022, *knowing* he had school vouchers in his platform. Hating Shapiro for that reason is an extremely online thing. In the real world, even teachers unions didn’t see it as a dealbreaker.
10:11 AM · Jul 24, 2024
https://x.com/fawfulfan/status/1816129205689839697
Sean
@JML:
This is undeniably true, but HRC came within thirty thousand votes of winning, despite 40+ years of demonization and heavy hands (stone boulders) on the scales. She won the popular vote. A woman can win and Kamala Harris doesn’t have the decades of unhinged hate working against her like HRC did (although some will spill over).
We can’t pretend like misogyny isn’t going to be an issue, but I 100% believe she can win despite the media and this country’s miserable history regarding women.
Al Rennick
The case for Mark Kelly
https://time.com/7002531/case-for-mark-kelly-kamala-harris-vp-essay
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/07/23/opinion-why-harris-should-pick-former-astronaut-mark-kelly-as-running-mate/
https://www.thedailybeast.com/mark-kelly-spaceman-heroand-kamala-harris-best-choice-for-vp
https://www.newsweek.com/mark-kelly-kamala-harris-vp-running-mate-arizona-1929475
Kyle Rayner
I respectfully disagree with the sentiment that adding Buttigieg to the ticket wouldn’t lose anyone we haven’t already lost by propelling Harris to the candidacy.
There are a considerable number of ambivalent-to-liberal people in this country whose tolerance is conditional on someone’s lack of a certain amorphous “uppity” quality. They are more likely to welcome a minority into their life who “shows respect” for the cultural status quo. With this crowd, something like Obama tagging Biden for VP wasn’t just about one of them BEING white, but it was about Obama demonstrating that he respects white people. You now… politics. Optics.
On the flipside, Harris tagging in Buttigieg would be interpreted by this group as her ONLY caring about people who are “outside the norm.” That’s why we’re even having these memes pop up about her shopping around for a straight white guy, because on some level, many of us feel that some “tolerant” people around us are less tolerant if we don’t show a little extra deference when they’re in the room. They require handling with kid gloves if you want smooth sailing with whatever you’re just trying to accomplish, even if it’s just have a microaggression-free day. And a presidential campaign typically wants all the smooth sailing it can get between the inevitable storms.
Not to say Buttigieg is a no-go, just that it isn’t so clear-cut as “a person who wouldn’t vote for Harris-Buttigieg wouldn’t have voted for Harris in any scenario” and that’s exactly the sort of calculus Harris’s team is currently involved in.
All that aside, do I love everything about the idea of Buttigieg as VP? Yes. I think my gay ass would just lie face down on the floor and cry happily for the whole day if that ticket won.
rikyrah
@lamh47:
I get chills just thinking about the reception she is going to get from the Zetas.
Geminid
I talk politics with my friend Debbie and she texted me the other day about Mark Kelly:
This was kind of funny coming from a 70 year-old Lesbian. But even though she bonds with woman Debbie can still appreciate men as men. Debbie is also probably the most perceptive and practical person I know, and this was in a conversation about VP candidates.
Trivia Man
@Subcommandante Yakbreath: plus IMHO “jewish” adds an unnecessary flash point right now. I have no idea where he stands in Gaza or any other do-called “jewish issue” but it is a wild card. Bibi could do absolutely anything and a Jewish VP would get tarred by association.
rikyrah
@lamh47:
Tis true.
And, the Howard U Bison are getting into formation too.
Jim Appleton
I’m not even a low grade anylist or advisor, but I see a Wicked Witch of the West upside to the coming wave of negative campaigning from Satan/Vance.
SatanicPanic
@Geminid: yes the one issue I have with him is that he does appeal to certain kind of liberal but that may not translate to a broader appeal. We saw the same with Katie Porter. Extremely online liberals tend to love the white board thing but even in California that wasn’t all that relevant IRL.
But I’m fine if she picks him, I don’t think VP matters that much and not to get macabre, he makes for a decent insurance policy in the event of some MAGA trying something I don’t want to say out loud.
JCNZ
@KatKapCC: “Guy marriage” is ‘brat’-level brilliant!
KatKapCC
@Omnes Omnibus:
Guilty. My partner and I bought up all the Target Pride collection cat toys for our two furballs. We are stereotypes and we do not care!
hueyplong
I’m not for Pete as VP because he’s too good substantively to be shunted to the bench as backup to a young and healthy president.
This would have applied to Kamala as vp instead of senator except that Biden was/is, you know …
Obviously, I can easily live with Pete as vp and, just as importantly, a campaigning candidate.
Trivia Man
@Kay: Cooper is my current fave
SatanicPanic
@Kirk: ah thanks!
Jackie
@zhena gogolia: The temporary lead🤞🏻 isn’t the point. It’s the shifting of support for vs voting against – that’s the point. Voters are enthusiastic to vote for Harris, rather than un enthusiastically choosing Biden as a lesser evil than TCFG.
*At least that’s how I read the poll.
bbleh
@Trivia Man: I wish that were true. But if he’s the VP nom, then at EVERY appearance he makes, there will be a NOISY crowd of fundamentalists waving signs and hooting and attracting media notice (because there’s nothing the media love more). It will be THE first thing voters associate with him.
He’s smart and articulate and young and good-looking — everything one could want in a candidate. And I have no doubt he would increase enthusiasm among key demographics (young voters particularly) even more. But I fear the costs would be greater, and the NET effect on the ticket would be negative.
He’s young yet. He can run as a VP nom with a Cooper or some Senator in a couple cycles. He ain’t goin’ away.
@Kyle Rayner: this also, too!
hueyplong
@SatanicPanic: Ugh. I hadn’t factored that into Kamala’s actuarial analysis.
SFBayAreaGal
@Geminid: Agree
@rikyrah: Yup. My thoughts exactly.
Sean
@Jackie:
I agree. Plus her gaining 3 pts of ground when we’ve barely even had a chance for the new reality to set in. Also, before the VP pick and convention. I’d say that’s pretty good. That poll also only shows her with a 5% advantage among women, and while I am not an unskewer, that seems…low.
KatKapCC
@SatanicPanic:
Lyrebird
Ditto here. That’s how Joey O’Biden chose, and that is what has had me talking up Cooper now ever since I watched MVP’s face while she spoke of her friendship with Gov Cooper at the rally in NC.
db11
@Jackie: This.
And I think the polls will continue to move in the Dems direction as the actual Harris (rather than the cartoon GOP version) gets in front of more and broader audiences.
The contrast between the media narrative and Harris’s actual performance and evident qualities will change more and more minds as the campaign unfolds.
Plus people are just bone-tired of the unrelenting MAGA hate and Trump chaos. Kamala’s ‘Happy Warrior’ persona and her positive messaging will be a balm and a joy to a lot of (not just) normie voters
ETA: I would lean into Kamala’s laugh as a positive trait — tangible evidence of her joy and positivity. In fact, I would do a super-cut ad interspersing Kamala’s smiling and laughing face with images of Trump scowling and raging. Show her radiant humanity in stark contrast to Trump’s menacing sociopathy.
SatanicPanic
@Suzanne: I agree. I think the most basic, minimum bar someone has to meet is -will people start hating seeing them on TV? Being good looking and seeming fun goes a long way.
catclub
@JWR: I listened. I really wanted to hear a reference to authoritarian followers.
rikyrah
Looking at the Elders….![]()
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What they must be thinking
Indianapolis is hosting the Zeta Phi Beta Grand Boulé this week and @VP KamalaHarris will be here soon! The next President of the United States is going to get one hell of a reception
(https://x.com/IndyDeVoe/status/1816142249543061928?t=ZAuKKRpgLaHGmAWiG4ukOQ&s=03)
Trivia Man
@Suzanne: Rumor is Warren G Harding was helped because the 19th amendment just passed and the ladies liked his looks.
Snark aside, in our culture looks have an outsized importance
rikyrah
@KatKapCC:
thanks for posting this. I was looking for it to post..LOL
Villago Delenda Est
Pete is also a veteran, a combat veteran. Not a PR spokesman like some other VP candidate we’ve seen recently.
Geminid
@Trivia Man: I doubt very much that Netanyahu will be in office next January. But these problems could still arise with a different Prime Minister.
Villago Delenda Est
@rikyrah: I watched her remarks, and the DEI hire hit another one that will need a visa, because it’s headed to South America.
Damned as Random
@Geminid: Shapp was my governor when I first became aware of such things and is my default setting for gubernatorial competence. Most have fallen short.
I think Kelly is the best bet to pick off some men who are not all in on Trump – engineer, astronaut, mensch. But I’m good with anybody on the list
ssdd
@rikyrah: her remarks here: https://www.youtube.com/live/e88n1N1OUFU?si=rT0WonXGB70AbAxz
Suzanne
@SatanicPanic: @Trivia Man: I don’t like it, but it’s real. Men get to look like they just rolled out of bed and still get taken seriously. Women have to have meticulous image management.
Damned as Random
@Villago Delenda Est: If Kamala picks a white man to ” balance” the ticket, isn’t that a DEI hire?
wjca
Is there anybody, anybody at all, who would be so put off by this that they would vote for TCFG instead of Harris? Really? Because I just can’t see that.
White & Gold Purgatorian
This strikes me a basically unfair and rather dangerous. The offer of a job, or a promotion, should not have anything to do with a person’s family situation. The acceptance of said job, yes, but don’t take someone off the list because they have kids, or medical issues, etc. Offer to the best person and let them decide if it works for their personal situation. I’m old enough to remember when women were often passed over for higher paying jobs because they had kids, or even might have kids in the future. Wrong then, still wrong.
CaseyL
@wjca: They won’t vote for TCFG; they’ll take refuge in moral superiority and not vote at all.
KatKapCC
@wjca: There is not. And spending less than three years, over a decade ago, at a consulting firm is not like some permanent brand on his face that overrides everything he’s done since then.
Geminid
@db11:
I thought of this when I heard about the crowd chanting “We won’t go back!” yesterday at Harris’s rally. I think that slogan has a broad appeal.
piratedan
since we’re all just speculating….Martin made the comment that instead of picking a “safe” perceived ticket balancer and suggested that the Dems should go full on the heightening the contradictions as a VP choice and as he saw it, only Pete G fit that bill.
I wasn’t looking for an argument and am still not, but I did wonder if there were other Dems that could also fill that position and I thought that Shroedinger’s Cat’s suggestion of Ms. Heaney had some interesting balance and I also wondered if Senator Duckworth or Senator Gillibrand might also offer their own benefits. I also wanted to be aware that offering them the position (and winning) kind of places them on another tier when it comes to the future. As previously mentioned, I will be fine with whomever the Harris campaign chooses (I’m sure that JB will provide input as well if asked). Was trying to try and get out of my own potential white dude bias in thinking that it HAS to be a male or specifically a white male (Raphael Warnock anyone?).
Suzanne
@Geminid: Dude. We need WE WON’T GO BACK merch, like, now.
catclub
I WISH very much that he won’t be in office next January, but he has more political lives than a cat.
rikyrah
@bbleh:
I completely believe that the Vice President needs to lean into the
” Kamala is a Cop” slur that was created during the 2020 Primary season.
Lean.all. in.
Embrace it.
Reverse UNO that shyt, and become all LAW AND ORDER
THE PROSECUTOR VS THE FELON
needs to be on t-shirts, mugs and tote bags
Jess
Pete is transcendently awesome. He’s one of the most compelling speakers I’ve ever witnessed. I think he and Kamala together would be gasoline and matches
Edit: I checked out Cooper, and IMHO he comes across as another boring old white man. Not saying that’s what he is, but it’s how he comes across. We need more energy. How often has “balance” helped us in the past? It usually comes across as wimpy pandering and underscores doubts about the top of the ticket.
Kelly
Thank you but if nominated I will not accept, if elected I will not serve.
Gretchen
@KatKapCC: I’m not saying someone with young kids can’t do the job. I’m saying that someone in that phase of life might find that they don’t want a job that keeps them away from their small children a lot, and someone above said they saw him do an interview where he said priorities change. It might just be the wrong stage of life for him to do this, but I would love to have him do it if he’s willing.
wjca
I would suggest that he actually lowers the assassination risk. Just as some of those who might have thought about assassinating Biden, in order to solve all the world’s problems, were probably stopped in their tracks by the horrifying (to them) prospect of making a black woman President. Sometimes there’s an upside, even to bigotry.
Geminid
@Damned as Random: This is all speculative of course, but I think Kelly could help nail down support from older voters. He radiates trustworthiness and reliability.
I think we can count on Harris mobilixing younger voters, but older people vote and many of them are conservative in the small “c” sense. Biden was running well among this sizeable group and like Cooper, Kelly could help keep them.
Hoodie
@piratedan: Picking someone like Whitmer would really be the best way to heighten the contradictions and, in addition, get some demographic spread and appeal in the Blue Wall states. I think the real energy in this campaign will come from women. I think people advocating Buttagieg are too enamored of his speaking/debating abilities, which are no doubt impressive but of relatively lower value in picking a running mate. Moreover, pretty much any of the rumored candidates should be able to run rings around JD the Couch Fucker. You’re trying to win an election, not a debating contest.
MisterForkbeard
@zhena gogolia: I have some friends whose only experience with her is that she was “the border czar” and that’s basically it. If you’re low-touch on news then all you’ve heard from Fox and conservative media is that she’s terrible and all you’ve heard from normie news is that she’s a non-entity. But there hasn’t been any actual exposure.
That and the racists/sexists who won’t vote for her at all
She gets to introduce herself now though, and there’s a contagious energy around her candidacy. She’ll do fine.
Frank Wilhoit
@Trivia Man:
Harding’s features were not chiselled so much as bludgeoned.
Jackie
@rikyrah: YAY for my state!
WA – not ID!
bbleh
@rikyrah: Maybe ones with heat-sensitive ink that gradually replace FELON with FRAUDSTER and then SEXUAL ASSAULTER.
Or maybe a set! Collect ’em, all!
And when she gets that Prosecutor expression on her face … I just love it.
Gretchen
@rikyrah: that might have been the choice between a voucher curious Dem or a voucher pushing R. There’s no reason to pick voucher curious when we can choose voucher hating.
KatKapCC
@Frank Wilhoit: ROFL!
Jackie
@Al Rennick: The main negative I’ve seen against Kelly, is he’s not a union guy.
Edited to fix link
Jess
@Hoodie:
And we saw how well that worked out for Joe… It’s not just Pete’s debating skills, but his ability to dismantle rightwing talking points in such a compelling and effective way. Did you see when he got a standing ovation on Fox News? People really listen to him. He’s like Bill Clinton in that way.
BR
@Hoodie:
I was about to write the same — Whitmer is really the way to double down on Harris’s strengths.
Spanish Moss
@Jess: Exactly!
Ksmiami
@WereBear: I think Cooper helps with the map. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it
White & Gold Purgatorian
Taking someone out of the running for a job because you are concerned about their kids/home life is very unfair. Look for the best person to do the job, make the offer, let them decide if it works for their family. That is the only fair way. As I said above, I’m old enough to remember when women were passed over for better paying jobs because they had kids, or even might have kids. It was wrong and harmed a lot of women. Still wrong.
Sister Golden Bear
Some long, but essential reading: a deep dive into who’s pushing Project 2025, and they’re as scary as Project 2025 itself. Want to know who’s behind Project 2025? Follow the money through the swamp
FYI, the site is associated with a moderate of Baptists — think Jimmy Carter — who split from the Southern Baptist.
twbrandt
@BR: The only problem is that Whitmer has taken herself out of the running.
Hoodie
@Jess: Online folks give too much credence to this. Most people don’t care that much about clever repartee. Joe’s debate missteps were an outlier because they triggered fears of him being unable to perform the job; they had no problems with his debates in 2020. The other rumored VP candidates are all quite capable of talking to the press and others. Bill Clinton was good at explaining things, but that was not the only thing he had going for him.
Kirk
@KatKapCC: Thank you. I was wrong about part of what I told SatanicPanic and I’m glad you got this posted.
White & Gold Purgatorian
@piratedan:
No Senators, please! We need every Democratic senator in the Senate, no time out for special elections that might turn out the wrong way. Probably ditto for House Democrats as well. Those people are too critical where they are.
Soprano2
OT, but I missed the morning thread before it was pretty much dead. I wanted to let everyone know that my kitty Gary went over the Rainbow Bridge yesterday afternoon. When I got home from work l tried to get him to eat and he wasn’t a bit interested in food; he was so weak he could barely stand. So through my tears I called my vet and told him it was time to bring Gary for his last visit. My vet is great, he stayed open after hours so I didn’t have to wait until this morning. Poor Gary, the feline leukemia made it so his body couldn’t fight well enough for him to get better. I think developing the heart problem started a downward spiral that he couldn’t recover from. He sat in my husband’s lap all the way to the vet because I couldn’t bear for him to lay in the carrier by himself for that long. His passing was peaceful; he didn’t even struggle or jerk, I think as Wear Bear told me yesterday he was trying to tell me that he was ready to go, I just had to be ready to let him do it. I hated like hell to give up on him because he was only 3 or 4, but the vet told me that cats with feline leukemia often don’t live much longer than that. I still feel guilty as hell because I’m sure that the stress of the dog I tried to adopt is probably what brought out his heart condition, but there was no way I could have known that was going to happen. I comfort myself with the thought that we gave him the best home possible, and that his life with us was much longer than it would have been if he had to continue to fend for himself outside like he was before we adopted him.
Thanks to everyone here for their support and kind words, and thanks especially to Wear Bear for her suggestions and advice. I’ll probably wait a little while before I try to add a new kitty to our home, but it’s going to be really weird to be down to having only one dog and no cats. Maybe a cat will appear on my doorstep one day; that’s how I got Gary after all, as well and several others I’ve loved over the decades.
Sister Golden Bear
Aside from whoever is the VP, this is hopeful: New Voter Registrations Spike 700% Since Sunday
The actual numbers aren’t huge compared to the goal, but it’s a potential sign of things to come.
Jackie
@db11: I LOVE Kamala’s laugh! I swear she laughs with her entire body 🤣
So genuine and full of life.
bbleh
@db11: @Jackie: yeah when the MAGAts complain about her laugh, you know they’re getting desperate.
Sister Golden Bear
Great meme just spotted… It’s a photo of Harris side by side with a photo of bear sitting at a picnic table, with the caption “This is the ticket women really want in 2024.”
Especially if the bear would actually eat Vance during a debate.
tam1MI
That then puts them both in the “hard No” category for me.
zhena gogolia
@KatKapCC: Oh, they are? I thought they were the gospel truth.
SatanicPanic
@Soprano2: I’m so sorry. Cats are the best (and dogs and birds are the best too). I don’t think I’ve ever cried harder than when said goodbye to ours. (They were brother and sister and went out a few months apart). Take care.
Trivia Man
@rikyrah: 100%
public schools are a public good that benefits all society – wether you have kids in school or not. You cant make society pay for YOUR private club. I have never yet seen a voucher plan that wasnt a money grab, a racist exclusion plan, or both.
Bupalos
One of the benefits of a sort of mini primary (that Harris would have easily won, btw) is it keeps Democrats holding the microphone. People were too freaked and paranoid about the idea, but maybe we should do it with the veepstakes instead. Get Pete et al out there burning the eyes out of Republicans in a series of ‘choosing the veep’ town hall things. People will watch things they think have stakes.
Jackie
@White & Gold Purgatorian: Pete is on the short-list – confirmed today.
If Pete thinks it’s the wrong time for him at this stage of his life, he’ll turn down the offer.
Jay C
@Soprano2:
SO sorry, S2: it’s never easy when we have to send our beloved companions Over The Bridge: mortality (human or animal) really sucks sometimes.
Condolences.
twbrandt
@Soprano2: I’m so sorry. Even though you know it’s the right thing to do, it’s always heartbreaking.
White & Gold Purgatorian
@Soprano2: So sorry for the loss of your beloved Gary. You did well by him, and did your best. That is the most any of us can do, so don’t beat yourself up over might have beens. Remember the happy days and let the other memories fade away.
lowtechcyclist
@White & Gold Purgatorian:
I’m old enough to remember that too – hell, I’m old enough to remember when women were rarely even considered for any jobs besides secretary, nurse, schoolteacher, and stewardess. And I concur that it’s still wrong to exclude people from consideration on the basis of parenthood, actual or potential.
wjca
Definitely helped Kennedy against Nixon.
Bupalos
@Jackie: yeah I’ve yet to hear what people are talking about. There must be examples I just haven’t heard. She gave a little laugh at yesterday’s rally and I just though “charming.” Like everything else about her.
Dems went from one wonderful, warm person to another.
White & Gold Purgatorian
@Jackie: Good. I trust him.
Omnes Omnibus
@Sister Golden Bear: As I said before, I would vote for a bear, but not that bear.
schrodingers_cat
@Soprano2: I am so sorry. Both my cats lived to be 19 but I still thought it was too soon and I was not ready.
Belafon
@tam1MI: The settlement wasn’t against Shapiro.
zhena gogolia
@Soprano2: I’m so sorry.
SatanicPanic
@Bupalos: Keeping it simple has worked so far, let’s just let Harris pick someone.
HumboldtBlue
@Soprano2:
Have some love from the Lost Coast. Noodles will get extra loving today.
Geminid
@catclub: Netanyahu’s coaltion has a mandate to rule into 2026, so in theory he can stay in power until then. But Israelis seem to think that early elections are a matter of when and not if, and few think the PM will survive them.
For years Netanyahu prospered politically as “Mister Security” but the events on October 7 and since have blown that reputation to smithereens. These events are widely regarded as Israel’s greatest catastrophe since its founding, and they occured on Netanyahu’s watch.
Trivia Man
@JCNZ: Brats? Like on the grill?
ssdd
@Soprano2: so sorry. Hang in there.
Suzanne
@twbrandt: I think Whitmer is the co-chair of the campaign, yes?
catclub
@Trivia Man: YES. Public Schools! Public goods
The people who miss the US in USA are purposefully blind.
CaseyL
@Soprano2: I am so very sorry.
Trivia Man
@KatKapCC: thank you, I n learned several things
now i want to see a Stroll
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Soprano2:
Please don’t feel guilty. You did all you could.
Gary didn’t fear death, he feared the pain of today. You spared him that pain.
As fellow animal nuts, we like to share in the joy as well as the sorrow of having these creatures in our lives for an ever so brief period. Losing them is never easy and it never gets easier.
I know as humans we’re wired somehow to believe in an afterlife so I always imagine our pets are out there somewhere, either waiting for us or floating along supported by the love we gave them during their lifetime.
And the loving memories we carry with us until we’re gone.
Bupalos
@Jess: Agree. Pete’s kind of natural felicity and confidence with thought and communication goes beyond just winning arguments. It extends to a kind of “holy shit that guy is just absolutely on top of this.” Bill Clinton had that too. Obama had it at a slightly slower pace. It’s not the only thing, but it’s a pretty big fucking deal.
topclimber
@KatKapCC: Dear God they sound like masons!/s Please don’t tell me there are secret initiation rites.
Trivia Man
@Geminid: i am so cynical i am thinking in october – done intentionally to affect us elections in favor of his fellow dictator
cain
@lowtechcyclist: Pete is better than chatgpt for explaining :)
JCJ
@catclub: I was thinking Miami University in Oxford, Ohio
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
Julia Louis-Dreyfus would make a good veep. she’s beloved and has prior experience with the job.
Old School
@Soprano2: My condolences. You took good care of Gary.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Gretchen:
A thousand times this. Yet another Reaganomic relic that the neoliberals in the Party cling to.
While DeVoss was obviously there to do as much overt damage to public education as possible, in some ways school choice/voucher grifters like Duncan during Obama’s administration were worse in that they touted that shit as Progressive! cuz it’s a Progressive! President.
I often say that sometimes I’d rather deal with a Klansman than a neoliberal NPR listener and that’s an apt analogy when looking at education policy at the federal level when somebody on “our” side is a school choice/voucher bullshit artist.
eclare
I love Sec Pete, but I’m not sure he wants the job. In that wonderful CBS interview a few months ago, when he was asked about his future, he said something about how he wanted to spend more time at home with his young kids.
Being Governor of MI would let him do that. VP would not. I don’t think it’s an accident that he and Chasten relocated there. Let his kids grow up while he is Governor, then get back in the national scene. Makes sense to me.
Soprano2
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: I read a letter to Dear Abby about a woman who was devastated by the loss of her cat. She was talking to some people about it, and about how she hoped to be reunited with her cat one day when she passed. She said they kind of made fun of her, and one of the women even told her that animals don’t have souls so they won’t be in heaven so you’ll never see your cat again. I thought “what kind of asshole says that to someone anyway?” No matter whether you believe that or not, it’s cruel to say that to someone who’s hurting in that way. I will never understand why there are people who are that way, just as I will never understand the appeal of TCFG.
Trivia Man
@Frank Wilhoit: maybe cameras just had poor resolution
twbrandt
@Suzanne: yes she is.
Anoniminous
@Sister Golden Bear:
If the bear would then move on and eat the Moderator(s) then I’m all for it.
Citizen Dave
@Soprano2: Funny, agree. Related to a thought I had today. In the simplest of terms: Orange Man shat on our nation. But so did each and every voter who has voted for him. Will never understand.
KatKapCC
@Soprano2: So very sorry for your loss <3
AM in NC
@Kay: I LOVE Roy Cooper, but there is a significant problem with making him the candidate for VP: he is currently our Governor, and every time he leaves the state, the absolutely fascistically insane Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson becomes acting Governor. With a GOP General Assembly. And a GOP State Supreme Court.
Cooper would be great as a VP, and he’d be great on TV, but he can’t campaign outside of North Carolina.
The GOP ratfuckers have fucked our state but good.
Jackie
@Soprano2: 😢🌈🐾
Citizen Dave
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: Get Moving!
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
Heh heh, her character would be Vance in terms of ambition.
The 2014 WH Correspondents Dinner parody she did with Biden remains hysterical:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da5tjfpKyac
ascap_scab
I’ll add a few points for Pete.
Some are saying she needs a white guy General to act as a minder. That’s total bs. Being Veep means glad-handing and kissing babies and actually convincing people to follow you. Military men are used to giving an order and the grunts carrying out that order without question. That is not democracy.
Some say you need a Governor who has executive experience. That’s great for domestic policy, but what about foreign policy? Does Kamala really need someone who starts from scratch when it comes to other nations?
As Transportation SEC, Pete has been dealing with international ports and airlines, our direct neighbors Canada and Mexico, speaks multiple languages.
While South Bend may seem small, he still had to work with everyone from cops to public works to nurses to teachers to volunteers at the county fair. It may be local, but it is still good training for higher office.
Next, the election is not in 104 or 103 days, early voting starts in a month! Whomever, Kamala picks must be fully enmeshed and the voters need to know exactly who the Veep and family is. People know Pete, he has been on the national stage for over 4 years. Any governor or General would have to be introduced to the nation and there is no time for that.
As a cabinet secretary, Kamala and Pete already talk on a weekly if not daily basis. They know each other. They know each other’s families. You won’t get that with somebody new.
Pete and Chasten have kids, but they are not old enough to have amassed a criminal record. Being parents counts!
And finally, the RWNJs can’t assassinate Kamala to get some white guy General. Instead, we’d get “the gay guy”. That’ll make MAGAt’s heads explode. And I’m all for that.
JPL
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: I think she lives in CA, so she would be ineligible. Maybe she’ll just relocate, like Cheney did.
pika
@Soprano2: Any path you choose during this time is the right path for you. I am so sorry for your loss and so grateful to you and for Gary that you loved him so well, so excellently, so abundantly
topclimber
@Sister Golden Bear: The head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission said Biden was noble for bowing out of the Presidential Race.
The next day he was fired.
The next day he was reinstated because commission members were never consulted in his firing, and most want him to continue.
Sounds like the SBC might be in play.
Ken
@Soprano2: That is an awful thing to say. It reminds me of a somewhat mediocre, but definitely moving, early Twilight Zone.
Kent
Pete is great but I suspect he is in line for a promotion to a more substantive cabinet job rather than VP.
Were it not for having toddlers, I’d make him Secretary of State. And let him represent the US on a worldwide basis. He would be a completely badass Secretary of State. But maybe the travel would be too much with little children. Or maybe not. Maybe they come along sometimes. Who knows. It should be his call, not ours.
rikyrah
@Soprano2:
So sorry for your loss :(
eclare
@laura:
Pete said in that CBS Father’s Day interview that he had to think of that. Pete, take some time off, then come back.
Origuy
Pete and Chasten remind me of my late parents’ neighbors. My folks were Indiana Republicans, not super conservative, but old-school. One year I came home for Christmas and they were talking about the “boys across the street”. Come to find out this was a gay couple who owned a kitchen goods store downtown. They and my parents had become good friends. As my mom’s health failed from emphysema, they visited often and attended her funeral. I’m sure my parents, even my dad, would have had no trouble voting for Pete, especially given the alternative. I never talked to my dad about Trump; he probably voted for him in 2016, but passed away in 2020.
Jackie
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: Baahahahaaaa!
MUCH MORE experience than a former failed reality show executive!
rikyrah
Kamala’s Wins (@harris_wins) posted at 0:40 PM on Wed, Jul 24, 2024:
BREAKING: In a massive announcement, Kamala Harris announces the Biden-Harris plan to eliminate medical debt as a consideration in credit scores. This is a huge help for working Americans to obtain better credit scores. Retweet so all Americans see this.https://t.co/0HEg1WuZrx
(https://x.com/harris_wins/status/1816166590821310623?s=03)
JML
No, of course not. None of the candidates that are popping up are dealbreakers for real Democrats, but people have preferences and/or concerns that make us want to push for or against a possible VP pick. It’s not like it’s going to be Sinema, or Romney, or Tulsi Gabbard.
My concerns about Pete are things where others might be better, or about policies he could advocate for/against while in office that I see as sub-optimal. It won’t change my mind about Harris. (and it’s unlikely the VP pick is going to change anyone’s mind about Harris in significant numbers; they just don’t any longer. The “favored son” effect is much much less now and it would be difficult to apply in a state that would need to be flipped like KY.)
Suzanne
Can someone bump this?
White women, ANSWER THE CALL, show up for Kamala Harris.
organized by Shannon Watts of Moms Demand Action, tomorrow night at 8:30 pm EST.
Citizen Alan
Part of the reason I would love to see Mayor Pete become Pete the Veep is that, for him, this is personal. I want to see a gay man with a loving gay husband and two adorable children stand on a stage next to JD Vance and ask him point blank “Why are you and your party trying to destroy my family?”
West of the Rockies
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
I had the same experience: Sunday at 3 despair followed a few hours later by hope and optimism. My wife and I were camping in the redwoods (Camp Burlington on The Avenue of the Giants in CA). Felt at first isolated and powerless, then like we were in the perfect place.
I will confess that I had referred to commenter Al Rennick as Al Pendick. He had been for days putting up links (another congressman calls on Biden to step down) with no additional comment, and was not engaging with other jackals (that I saw). It felt trollish and doomy.
It appears that Biden stepping aside may have been the right decision now. But in my despair, I lashed out a bit. If Al is a real and regular contributor, I apologize.
rikyrah
rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) posted at 11:55 AM on Wed, Jul 24, 2024:
Vice President Harris Delivers a Keynote Speech at Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.’ https://t.co/GJ9KVuZecy
(https://x.com/rolandsmartin/status/1816155289865052554?s=03)
tam1MI
@Soprano2: Oh no, Soprano2! I am so sorry to hear that. Virtual hugs to you. You did the best you could for Gary and loved him right until the end and beyond. That is everything.
BR
@rikyrah:
I was really impressed with Roland Martin’s moderating of the Black Men for Harris event the other day. I wasn’t part of it or anything, but I watched the youtube video of it that was posted a day later. Really just that he brought in so many voices from across the country and just seeing that energy and dedication was great.
NaijaGal
Oh my God – Buttigieg would be my dream candidate for VP. The way he breaks things down is amazing. Go big on hope and progress and a brighter, more inclusive future, go all the way! That’s what my gut tells me this moment calls for.
Glad I’m not a campaign professional who has to weigh all the pros and cons.
David Fud
@pacem appellant:
@pacem appellant:
I am not sure if I am misunderstanding you, but to be clear, Pete is cis/white/gay/midwestern/Millenial. Harris is cis/Asian Indian-Caribean African/straight/CA/late Boomer. That seems very demographically different to me. I am not sure what deficits she has that need filling out, but white and male seem to be at the top of the list, with LGBT usually a favorite of Dems. So, I am not following your logic. Maybe I missed the memo.
Damned as Random
@Soprano2: Losing a beloved pet is devastating. You did your best for Gary and I’m sure he had a happy life with you. Letting him go when it’s time is a last act of love. I’ll be giving belly scratches to mine in his memory
rikyrah
José (@josecanyousee) posted at 10:21 AM on Wed, Jul 24, 2024:
I’m floored by all the young folks creating fresh content to address recycled misinformation about VP’s record. Back in 2019, it was khive doing the work but now the fact-checking floodgates have burst open. Kamala’s impressive record is being amplified. It’s amazing to witness.
(https://x.com/josecanyousee/status/1816131698725380246?s=03)
KatKapCC
@JML: Honestly…she should announce Romney, and then be like “LOL yeah right, anyway here’s Mayor Pete!”
tam1MI
@Belafon: Okay then, I rescind my hard No.
cckids
@KatKapCC: Pete himself said it; in response to a question about running for Pres in 2028, that it gave him pause to run again because of the kids.
KatKapCC
@Suzanne: Signed up!
rikyrah
CLAP CLAP CLAP
Salome Strangelove (@salstrange) posted at 0:01 PM on Wed, Jul 24, 2024:
Gaslighting arsonists are so pissed and pouty that we didn’t let them burn everything to ashes and are rebuilding so quickly.
Keep trying to save those faces, you naked frauds. We all know you got outplayed by the old dude you shanked.
Now, excuse us, we have real work to do. https://t.co/vCc6aWLqJo
(https://x.com/salstrange/status/1816156758072758740?s=03)
Kay
@Suzanne:
I’m having a get together at my house to call in as a group. I hope people come – I think they will.
A Good Woman
My heart wants Mayor Pete. I have this vision of him cutting off Vance’s balls (verbally) and then handing them back on a sliver platter with a lovely crystal glass of champagne on the side, while wearing a Cheshire Cat smile. It’s my dream.
Unfortunately, it appears that neither he nor Beshear of KY are on the list of potential candidates, and while Whitmer is listed I have read elsewhere she may be taking herself out of contention.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/07/23/harris-campaign-vetting-vp-list/74510492007/
https://www.wccsradio.com/2024/07/24/reports-say-shapiro-sent-vetting-documents-from-vp-harris/
rikyrah
UH HUH
UH HUH
The New York Times is the #VichyPress (@Needle_of_Arya) posted at 1:50 AM on Wed, Jul 24, 2024:
The legacy media are doubling down and essentially saying that they were justified in engineering this coup and forcing Biden out.
I can’t tell you how toe-curling, fist-balling angry that makes me.
Smug, arrogant, entitled bastards. Especially the white men among them.
(https://x.com/Needle_of_Arya/status/1816003028094243109?s=03)
Renie
Pete B has already said he wants to live closer to his family. Wouldn’t be surprised if he runs for governor.
David Fud
@rikyrah: In my opinion:
This sounds good, but when I use credit history as part of evaluations that I do, leaving out a big debt isn’t really helping folks. It will cause them to get evicted/bankrupted because they aren’t being evaluated for what they can actually afford. I would strongly prefer to have government run health care that increases taxes and provides benefits and manages economic cost of health care down. Messing around with individual assessment of credit-worthiness increases risks to banks and landlords and will cause the costs to increase across the board to cover those mis-assessments and will jam up the judicial system.
YMMV, but this would reduce all of our credit-worthiness.
Geminid
@AM in NC: Yeah, if Cooper is picked it could be 10 contentious weeks in North Carolina until Election Day. On the other other hand, Republican monkey-wrenching would likely cost them the Governorship and North Carolina’s 17 Electoral Votes.
Omnes Omnibus
@topclimber: Of course there are. That is true of all fraternities and sororities. The big difference is that the Black organizations have much more of a long term and deeper bond. I was in a fraternity in college. It was a social club; my connection was the the brothers who were there when I was. Not to the national organization and not for all time. Then again I still remember the handshake, the challenge and response, and all that. And no, I won’t share it with non-Delts. No matter how silly it is.
rikyrah
This isn’t a bad thing. They don’t do any work anyway.
Manu Raju (@mkraju) posted at 9:36 AM on Wed, Jul 24, 2024:
House announces that next week’s session is canceled. August recess begins after tomorrow morning’s votes. Then no votes til September. Decision a result of House GOP struggles to pass appropriations bills. Congress will have little time to pass a stop-gap in September to avoid shutdown.
(https://x.com/mkraju/status/1816120161205719057?s=03)
rikyrah
David Roberts (@drvolts) posted at 0:32 PM on Wed, Jul 24, 2024:
Media guys are pissed that they bullied Biden out but were not able to bully their preferred white moderate candidate to the top of the ticket. Instead it’s this black lady that all the kids are doing inscrutable memes about. It’s out of their control & they resent it terribly.
(https://x.com/drvolts/status/1816164530529132767?s=03)
zhena gogolia
@rikyrah: That’s exactly how I feel!
KatKapCC
@David Fud: If someone makes enough money to qualify for an apartment, then having medical debt should not prevent them from getting it. And pardon me if I care more about individuals trying to live and stay housed and have their needs met than I do about banks and landlords. ESPECIALLY landlords.
rikyrah
Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) posted at 8:08 AM on Wed, Jul 24, 2024:
Netanyahu’s publicity stunt visit to the US has been a debacle. No US official met him at the airport. A meeting with President Biden was postponed. Vice President Kamala Harris won’t preside over his address to Congress. And many will boycott his speech.
https://t.co/587lzMhYEf
(https://x.com/keithboykin/status/1816098003113107812?s=03)
Suzanne
@A Good Woman: It’s being reported today that Buttigieg is being vetted.
zhena gogolia
@rikyrah: Yeah! This is the silver lining.
Belafon
@David Fud:
Yes, but we can’t have that right now. This call will at least lower interest rates on loans that people might take out.
rikyrah
Now we got Elon Musk going
” I don’t know her”
About the $45 Million / month
I wonder if Thiel cancelled his check too?
Veronica McDonald🗣 (@Purify_toast17) posted at 9:17 AM on Wed, Jul 24, 2024:
Trump is broke and shook. That’s why he ran down to the FEC to block Harris from getting that money. He also says Biden isn’t entitled to the money either.
Remember, Trump has been whining he’s owed a reimbursement from Biden for paying for anti-Biden ads.
Trump is SHOOK!
(https://x.com/Purify_toast17/status/1816115507952500800?s=03)
Kay
@rikyrah:
He’s up there lying thru his teeth like every far Right authoritarian, ever. It’s appalling.
Belafon
@rikyrah: And hopefully the stopgaps won’t include the anti-trans stuff.
rikyrah
Fritz Farrow
@FritzFarrow
VP
@KamalaHarris
takes the stage at the historically Black Zeta Phi Beta Sorority’s Grand Boulé in Indianapolis to roaring applause from thousands of women.
https://x.com/FritzFarrow/status/1816154930882961729
Hoodie
@AM in NC: This is a silly fear that many have repeated. The GOP already controls everything with a legislative supermajority. Cooper is governor as long as he is in the state and he will be spending a lot of time here because one major purpose of him being on the ticket is to win NC for the Dems from the top of the ballot down. Even if Cooper leaves the state, Robinson would be basically powerless to do anything of any significance other than to further torpedo his chances of being governor by trying to act out his Facebook posts. The legislature will be out of session at the end of the month and tied up with campaigning. The PTB in the NCGOP will have him on a leash because he could really fuck up their election plans by trying to do something ridiculous. The NC governor doesn’t have that much power anyway, mostly just appoints agency heads with legislative approval. The governor has a veto, but that’s been pretty useless since Cotham pulled her little stunt and sold out NC Dems. The AG and other members of the Council of State are independent of the governor.
rikyrah
Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) posted at 11:20 AM on Wed, Jul 24, 2024:
Vote .org just announced a nearly 700% increase in daily voter registrations — more than 38,500 new registrations — in the 48-hour period following President Biden’s announcement.
This figure marks the single largest number of voter registrations over a 48-hour period during the
(https://x.com/kylegriffin1/status/1816146341434687610?s=03)
Regine Touchon
@Suzanne: I just registered!
cckids
So much this! I was working my part-time gig at the grocery store last night, and one male customer mentioned her (disparagingly), and said ” And that laugh, ugh!”
Without missing a beat, an older woman not far away called out “Laughing all the way to the White House!” and now THAT’S the T-shirt I need.
sab
@WereBear: I have been a huge fan of Pete for years, and I think he’d be a good president and a good VP. But I think it would be cutting off his career prospects for later in life. 2
So I am more for Cooper.
Jackie
Update on Mark Kelly:
eclare
@ssdd:
I spent six years at Arthur Andersen right out of college. It taught me how much these people need to be taxed and what BS arguments against that were.
kindness
I agree Pete B would be my first choice for VP, but… (there is always a but).. A black/asian woman and a gay man on the presidential ticket won’t get us the votes we need. We need the timid moderates too. No need to shoot ourself in the foot. Pete will obviously be invaluable in some lead role. (the UN?, Sect of State?). I think Cooper spreads the voting net wider. I mean I’d prefer Gretchen Whitmer to Cooper but again, two women on the ticket. An please, I’d happily vote for either of those. It isn’t me we’re trying to get to vote for our side. It’s our aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends we want to vote for us too.
Suzanne
@cckids:
It cannot be emphasized enough how many men just totally hate women. Find them gross. Find them annoying. Hate everything women are interested in. They want sex and housework and someone to have their kids. But they hate actual women.
emjayay
@Bugboy: Buttigieg was recently on Fox News (I think) and said when he went to Harvard he knew some of those kind of guys who would say anything to get ahead and get the money, like Vance. It is odd that he then went to work at the home of those kind of guys. Well, I guess he was at least dealing with real things and not just skimming the big bucks on Wall Street.
BR
@Jackie:
That’s what I like to see. Understanding that being VP means setting one’s own ego aside for the President and the voters who will get you over the line.
eclare
@MomSense:
Harris will soar as more people see her.
She was VP for 3 1/2 years, but that doesn’t get much coverage. She has great ideas, a great vision, but she also has that new car smell. Americans love new cars.
TCFG is a mildewy damp couch in the front yard.
BR
@eclare:
Don’t get Vance excited.
Betty Cracker
@Soprano2: Sorry to hear that. I love that his name was Gary — cats with human names rock. May he rest in peace, and may his memory be a blessing.
Hoodie
@kindness: I’m a Cooper homey, but I honestly think Whitmer would be a great choice. Really gooses the gender gap and gives you an inside track to MI. If we’re honest with ourselves, that also gives you two really good looking (Big Gretch can rock a leather jacket) strong women on the ticket , a striking contrast with Lumpy the Perv and JD the Couch Lover. Cooper would probably be the second best choice.
emjayay
@kindness: Yes. I’m gay and agree. Harris needs someone who will motivate and get voters she might not, and Pete wouldn’t do that. Obviously she has the gay and gay friendly voters already. The Log Cabiners can GFT and wouldn’t vote for Gay Jesus if he was running anyway.
Geminid
Regarding Mark Kelly’s relations with labor unions, from a United Steelworkers press release on November 30, 2022:
An alliance of Worker Power and UNITE HERE Local 11 put their press release out on November 9:
“UNITE HERE Local 11 represents over 32,000 workers employed in hotels, airports, restaurants and airports throughout California and Arizona.”
4D*hiker
While I agree with many who have said the VP generally isn’t a huge factor, either in elections or role in the administration, I do think the VP choice in this election is somewhat critical. Like Obama before her, Harris is breaking historic ground in American electoral politics. Obama’s choice of Biden as a running mate enhanced the perception of balance and stability (amidst historic change) on the ticket. For a general election in THIS country at THIS time, the ticket needs a similar perception of balance and stability to appeal to more than just the dedicated base.
I’m a huge admirer of Pete B. He’s a rare talent. But he’s too young and inexperienced at this point in his career. Furthermore, he would be a second cultural flashpoint on an already culturally historic ticket…….which could divert considerable energy and attention away from the top of the ticket.
Just my 2 cents. I will support Harris and her choice of VP no matter who it is.
emjayay
@Betty Cracker: For boy dogs, all human boy names are hilarious, but not human girl names for girl dogs.
I do not know why.
Jackie
@BR: And there’s MORE!
@BR:
Suzanne
@BR: Oh God LMMFAO.
Here, have your internet. You won it fair and square.
Ksmiami
@Suzanne: and that’s why we need to fucking destroy them in November
Ruckus
@Bugboy:
The reality is that he has done that already.
He is a smart human and he is worthy for the spot without another day’s delay. This is a big country with humans in it of all ages, and even some of us old farts realize that there is a relatively smallish group of humans that can lead properly, reasonably, and better than most others. Pete is one of those. I’ve been in positions of power, not over anything approaching a nation, even a small one, but still in a position of power running a department on a USN ship. And not an insignificant department, the navigation equipment and shipboard communications equipment and it’s men (this was prior to women being assigned to navy ships). My point is that Pete is ready and he is good and understanding.
Geminid
@Jackie: Foreign policy issues are usually not so important in American elections, at least if we are not in a shooting war. Ukraine could be different this year. There are some Republican and Independent Ukraine hawks who will defect over the issue. And it implcates one of Trump’s vulnerabilities, which is his fealty to Vladimir Putin.
eclare
@Soprano2:
Oh I’m so sorry. So dusty in here. You have so much to deal with, and now this.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Hoodie:
Somehow somebody always comes up with yet another great moniker for the Orange Fart Cloud.
Suzanne
@Ksmiami: Could not agree harder.
emjayay
@David Fud: Almost every gay male voter was already not voting for Donald and the fake hillbilly Peter Theil (he’s gay too!) product. And many of us like strong women with actual personalities.
Lesbians either, and many are no doubt more onboard and motivated with a Harris led rather than Biden led ticket already. Pete would lose more voters than he would get. Midwestern, but a gay elite type.
Miki
@Soprano2: I am so, so sorry for your loss. 💔
LAC
@Soprano2: my condolences. We lost our Deuce last year. 20 years of him in our lives and I still miss him. I hope that you will find solace in knowing he passed loved by you. 🥹
eclare
@Soprano2:
Those people are evil. I don’t necessarily believe in an afterlife, except for all animals. But if a belief that they will see their beloveds again gives them comfort, let them have it.
That is cruel.
Lyrebird
@Soprano2: Probably this thread is done, but I want to echo you here:
Longer and more full of love!
Absolutely can’t know about the net effect of the dog stress, though I hear you, and I am going to try to take some of my own advice about some of my own decisions. No crystal balls available, but yes you gave Gary that experience of loving care.
Sorry the current season is a pile-up like this for you.
eclare
@Kent:
Pete is perfectly wired to be SoS. When he wants it, I don’t think that job would work if you want to spend time at home.
Martin
So, I’ll repeat with Pete what I did with Kelly last night.
I think if you want a white male, he’s your best pick. I think Dems should lean into energizing the base to the max here, and he helps with that which none of the white males do. He doesn’t help electorally, and securing PA could be the ballgame, but I think an energized democratic base secures the entire blue wall, and I’m going to keep banging that drum.
Ruckus
@mali muso:
Can you imagine a ticket with shitforbrains first and vance as backup?
I’d rather vote for the 3 Stooges. They were far better humans and smarter. And would be even deceased.
cckids
@Suzanne: Yessssss :( Again, at the store, I work a bank of self-checkout machines, and repeatedly, men get so ANGRY at the machines; when I go to help, they say some variation of “They need to change the voice, I don’t want some woman telling me how to do this”.
So you’re throwing a public tantrum because a robot has a female voice that tries to help when you fuck things up. Dude, you have issues.
AM in NC
@Hoodie: Thank you for this. As soon as I posted I realized I was letting my fears run away with me.
The one thing I do worry about in the Cooper VP scenario is the NCGA further rigging election stuff while Cooper is out of town to make it harder for Democrats to ever win. I don’t think Robinson will try to enact his freakazoid agenda, but I can definitely see the Dark Lords of the NCGA trying to further entrench minority power.
Although, the fact that Tricia Cotham’s switch already makes it so that Cooper can’t veto anyway calms my nerves, in that they could already do their worst now.
Thanks again for bringing the rationality, and sorry I went off half-cocked.
dp
The luxury of a deep bench. I’ve not heard a single suggested pick that would make me uncomfortable. I just don’t want to risk losing the Senate.
Martin
@4D*hiker: Again, the experience thing only matters in context. Democrats constantly do this thing of ‘why would I want this less experienced choice when I could have this more experienced choice’ when that’s not the situation we’re in. The situation is this GOP ticket or that Democratic one, because that’s the choice being made here. Is Pete more or less experienced than JD Vance? More – by a LOT. Is Pete more or less experienced than Trump? More. Sure, Trump was president, but he sucked at it and that’s all he has. I’ll take a competent mayor over an incompetent president every day of the year.
Stop talking yourself out of good candidates in the context of the choice being made because there are better candidates in the context of the choice not being made. You want experience? We just shoved the most experienced guy in history out of the race! Pete is not a bad choice because Gavin Newsom has more experience in government. If Pete is how you win in November, then he’s the most experienced choice, because the experience question only matters IF WE WIN. Tim Kaine is a pretty experienced guy who never got elected. That didn’t help us. We’d have been better off with a barista who got elected. Objectively so.
Eyes on the prize.
gwangung
@Jackie: Heh. Useful no matter who the VP is.
Martin
@Suzanne: Good. I’m glad he’s being considered. My fear is that Harris was going toward/being pushed toward safe moderate white men. I think safe loses this election. Safe was keeping Biden in. We’ve ripped that bandaid off. Bold is our trajectory and it’s working for us, and Dems should fucking go for it.
eclare
@BR:
Oh gawd…I wasn’t even thinking that! Hahaha…
Geminid
@Martin: Hoe exactly does “safe lose this election?”
Ruckus
I want people in the WH who have the interest of the country as first priority.
Sure they are going to have their careers in their minds, who doesn’t? But people like sfb ONLY have themselves in their minds and the picture in there in someone like sfb is often and very likely, very wrong. They are selfish, to the nth degree. As has been proven, they do not make good anything.
I see VP Harris as one of those who has the interest of the country and it’s inhabitants as first priority . Does she have desires for being president? Sure, but if she didn’t she would make a bad president. Does she have the skills? As one of her current constituents I’d say yes.
tam1MI
@Martin: Are there any other politicians in Pennsylvania besides Shapiro who might work for this?
Lily
@Soprano2: I’m very sorry. It’s good to know his story is that he found true love with you and knew good care.
Soprano2
@rikyrah: Good Lord, all the Democrats should run against the R House that can’t even do the one job they’re constitutionally tasked with doing. They are fuckups, plain and simple. They think they’re in a reality show.
Soprano2
Thanks everyone, it was a hard couple of weeks because at first he seemed like he was getting better. My vet says that happens a lot with cats who have feline leukemia, their system tries to get better but the disease gets the better of them. We know we won’t have them for that long, but it’s still gutting when we lose them. Feel for my poor dog Max, he’s lost two buddies this year – our dog Nitro in February, and now Gary. He’s a dog all by himself (except for his humans) now.
A Good Woman
@Suzanne: the gods adore me after all! A local news station posted the notice about an hour ago.
We will learn soon who she decides on, I hope.
SomeRandomGuy
Well, if I’m working on a tricky problem, people say the same thing about me, except for the bit about monopolizing people’s attention. Except for how I mumble and vocalize. But that’s not me – that’s people who can’t ignore the weirdo.
At least I don’t shout “EUREKA!” and run down the street without any drawers on. What? I don’t. It only happened
that one, er those two, anyway, SHUT UP about that, ‘kay?JaneE
If nothing else, Buttigieg will only be 50/51 in 8 years. Plenty young enough for a presidential candidate.
If the GOP doesn’t develop some contenders soon, Democrats will have a lock on competent, decent human beings to match whatever low-life the Republicans can find. The GOP has done a great job at ejecting any reasonable person from their ranks. Now they are stuck with the results, and it may not be pretty.
Steve in the ATL
@ascap_scab:
The Whole Foods there is very small, ergo I can’t vote for the democratic ticket if Pete is on it. A good mayor would made it a full-size one!
Ruckus
@Martin:
She likely was. But she seems like and I’d say is, her own person. And is smart and understands the world around her very well. She is also driven and for me that is a necessity of a president. This is the kind of job that one has to WANT. And WANT to be damn good at. And I believe she does and will be. If we are going to have a woman as president and I really believe that we should, if for no other reason we’ve had presidents for over 200 yrs and not one woman. Women existed, women were represented – sort of, since the founding and women make up a just slightly higher percentage of the population than men. It’s past time.
Villago Delenda Est
@Soprano2: May Gary flock with other loved pets in those sunny fields filled with mice and butterflies to chase! And condolences to you, of course…it’s not easy. I lost her Serene Highness nearly a year ago, even the Wakandan Terrors can’t fully fill her space (although Zooty with his black American shorthair heritage is trying for Maine Coon).
4D*hiker
@Martin
I enjoy reading your thoughtful, usually dispassionate, analyses of the topics at hand, even if I don’t always agree. You’re an asset to the comment section of this blog.
Taken in isolation, I personally have no doubt that Pete would swiftly and deftly navigate the steep learning curve required if he were suddenly thrust into the job of POTUS. His intelligence, adaptability, and social instincts are formidable, and combined with experienced advisors by his side, he would be an excellent leader. But I stand by my comments that a Harris/Pete ticket presented to this general electorate at this point in time would have difficulties. I suspect that Harris et al are not as concerned about his youth and inexperience as much as the possibility of Pete being a second cultural flashpoint which would divert energy and attention (positive and negative) away from the top of the ticket. That’s just a suspicion, but it’s based both on pragmatism and a knowledge of human nature.
Whether it is too “safe” or not, I couldn’t say. I do know that Harris and team will choose a VP based on whether he/she will optimize their chances to win both the EC and popular vote. It will be interesting to see who they choose.
Darkrose
@laura: I actually think that’s a really good point.
jame
I have fallen in love with Pete Buttigieg. He’s articulate, whip-smart, and oh so smoothe. But I don’t think he’d be satisfied to be VP. He likes to run things. Also, has anybody asked him what he wants? His preference should have some bearing on all this speculation.
Sally
Late to everything today – so no one will read my opinion, worth what you pay for it. But, I really like Tim Walz. I’ve heard several of his interviews online. He’s quick, smart, keeps talking to make his point over anyone. His comfy looks lulls one into a (false) sense of security, then – wham! Approx same age as Kamala. Minnesota nice! I think he’s termed out.
Sally
Plus, I think Pete would do well as Gov of MI, and then run.
And .. I really, really don’t want to take Dem Senators out of this Senate. Really, really.
Dan B
@rikyrah: Gee. No thanks for making my nose all snotty with tears, of Joy!
LindaY
Great points, All! And your point 6 is very well taken, and I agree whole-heartedly…I Like Pete!! Cuz guess what? I trust his words. Wow…could THAT happen again in the White House?! HARRIS/BUTTEGIEG !!!