The conference call included several of the state’s highest-ranking elected officials and labor and business leaders, including Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Secretary of State Alex Padilla, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, state schools chief Tony Thurmond, state Treasurer Fiona Ma and Chad Griffin, a Democratic consultant and former head of Human Rights campaign, according to organizers. Representing the Biden campaign were the four main members of his vetting team: Dodd, Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti; and Biden's former White House and Senate counsel, Cynthia Hogan....Somebody leaked all that. How messy!
A person on the call said Harris’ allies wanted the campaign to hear from people who know her best.... "This was about us sharing how much Kamala would be a stellar vice president," said one official who participated on the call, referencing Dodd’s earlier remarks. 'He spoke at length about her and said very nice things," the person said of Dodd’s comments about Harris on the conference call.... Dodd said “very supportive things” about Harris during the call, according to Kounalakis.... Critics suggested that Dodd was questioning a woman for being ambitious....I don't think hearing about this call helps Harris! The call was intended to help Harris, and the leaker seems to want to help Harris, but now I'd be surprised if it's Harris.
Meanwhile, at the Washington Post, Dana Milbank is doing all he can to stomp on Susan Rice: "Why would Biden pick a human lightning rod as VP?"
Others reportedly on Biden’s list (all women, most women of color) have run for office. Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Val Demings, Karen Bass, Stacey Abrams, Tammy Duckworth, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Gretchen Whitmer know how to persuade voters, twist arms, build coalitions....
Demings rides a Harley and has been a police chief, impeachment manager and lawmaker from a key state. Duckworth lost her legs as a military officer in Iraq. Abrams has the adoration of the Democratic base. Meanwhile Rice, daughter of a Federal Reserve governor, brings the pedigree of Upper Northwest D.C.'s private school elite to the ticket.
Rice’s appeal to Biden is supposedly that they have a personal relationship. But Biden’s comfort and familiarity are luxuries.... Rice’s nomination would open a window for Republicans to change the subject... to relitigating their tired Benghazi allegations and endless disputes about “unmasking” Trump campaign officials and the fantasy of “Obamagate.”...
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86 comments:
Pick Susan Rice because then the claims of politics and prosecutions by the DOJ just before an election would have some teeth.
The point would be to stop Durham from pursuing charges until after the election since Rice is implicated in illegal surveillance in contravention of America citizens' constitutional rights. Susan Rice is dirty as hell.
The second childhood stage older than dirt Biden functions in reminds one of the young monarchs that inherit a Kingdom at age 9 and then must rule through guardians until they reach majority. That always ends in disaster for all concerned.
I think that the attacks on Susan Rice indicate that the Harris selection is not yet a done deal. Rice would probably be the better VP, having been in a significant foreign policy position in the Obama Administration. And, that probably means that she is the Obamas’ choice. But what Harris brings to the table is that she is apparently much more vicious. Biden isn’t able to lay a finger on Trump right now, despite have the MSM and the tech oligarchs behind him. The general election would play out similarly. Pence would be a far better President than Harris, because of both his previous executive experience as a governor, plus 4 years as VP, but Harris would be the better VP candidate by being the more vicious, and leading the fight against the other party’s Presidential candidate. Indeed I don’t see Pence having an easy time attacking Biden, due to his dementia. Too nice a person. (Biden was never, of course, a nice person. But pretended to be, until he couldn’t pretend anymore).
I think that at least part of the apparent movement towards Harris for VP is coming fr9m her people maneuvering to make it look like a done deal, and putting Biden and his handlers in a box, where they have to pick her. And I think that it may be working.
Critics suggested that Dodd was questioning a woman for being ambitious
There’s a really weird vibe in this account. Team Biden wants an apology for the little girl comment? Seriously? What happened to politics ain’t beanbag? Whoever they choose will be chosen for their perceived ability to help Biden, not Biden’s ability to help them. So what is he asking for apologies for?
And this quote—who are the critics? Does Team Harris really feel like they have Biden over a barrel that they can afford to get picky and embarrass him like this?
Are any of these people able to pretend to be able to work together? If they can’t even fake it in public, how are they going to fake it under any other circumstance?
Grovel, grovel, don't toil or trouble.
The charge that Rice was against calling the genocide in Rwanda ‘genocide’ for political reasons could be a tad bit of an issue.
Binders full of women for Biden. But any vetting team that includes Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has me laughing out loud. The guy's a numbskull. But then come to think of it that makes him fit right in with Team Biden.
Why is there no pushback against Dodd? No #MeToo, no 'ick' factor from women?
Pick Susan Rice because then the claims of politics and prosecutions by the DOJ just before an election would have some teeth.
If there's ever prosecutions of the major players in unmasking I'll eat my hat...
The whole party is a joke. Are you awake yet, or still supporting the domestic terrorist loving, Marxist loving, hate loving Left???
Did Joe sit there drooling?
Or did they put up selected responses for him to read from a Teleprompter?
Wow! Bunker Biden, Kamala Harris and Susan Rice. Talk about shameless Democrats scraping the bottom of the barrel! Of course the Democrat barrel is all bottom.
Dana Milbank writes: "Abrams has the adoration of the Democratic base." Does Milbank realize we aren't in the Democratic primaries anymore? In the general election, you don't necessarily want the running mate who's most exciting to your base.
If Biden isn't replaced by Hillary (I still think he will be), the VP choice will be Tammy Duckworth.
In the general election, you don't necessarily want the running mate who's most exciting to your base.
That's a riff on the classic strategy- the idea you need to appeal to the politically squishy center in the general. In this cycle Dems have a bit of problem with the extremes if there's an appeal to moderates. Maybe not enough of a problem for the extremists to stay home but enough of a concern that the strategists can't ignore...
Obama never pivoted. He won by motivating non-voters to the polls in sufficient numbers. Hillary didn't win because she thought she had Obama's voters in the bag.
So did the pollsters...
Harris brings California, which is a given. Duckworth brings Illinois, another given.
The point about Dodd being on the search team is an excellent one and evidence of how clueless the Biden squad ie.
"Can't he at least look like he's in command"
You're not assuming Joe has any agency, do you? Like, thinking he can decide how to "look" in the first place?
Is Rachel Dolezal over 35?
How about Kim Kardashian? That would split the Kanye vote
Who's going to control the WH, big tech or Wall Street? East Coast money or West Coast money?New money or old money?
Throw a dress on Bernie and make him VP.
The call was intended to help Harris, and the leaker seems to want to help Harris,
Agreed
but now I'd be surprised if it's Harris.
Me too.
But I’d be glad to see Harris on the ticket. Reserving the VP slot for a black woman is supposed to help hold the black vote in November. But the charge that Harris made her reputation by sending young black men off to jail for long terms for relatively minor crimes is going to stick. In particular the charge that she was sending young black men off for long jail terms for possessing small amounts of marijuana, while she herself was using weed is not going to be helpful with black voters.
The D's need black turnout and to back up their BLM rhetoric. Duckworth is not ready for prime-time and isn't really qualified to be POTUS. Harris is without a doubt the best pick from almost every angle. Rice has the drawback of never running for office. And she's unknown to the American people.
Picking a white woman makes zero sense, and the NM Governor despite being Hispanic is about as Hispanic as Ted Cruz. I expect it will be Harris, but if its another Black woman I wouldn't be surprised because Biden is an idiot.
How much precedence is there for a complete flop in the primaries to get the VP nod? By that I mean someone who made a serious effort and was considered a major candidate, but was so thoroughly rejected that she dropped out before the primaries even began. At least Biden managed to get through Iowa in 2008 before dumping out. For those voters who are treating Biden as the "generic Democrat" or, for that matter, "Joe Dementia," the VP pick is going to be of some importance. It is hard to fathom that someone like Harris, who no one really wanted and brings along a lot of baggage, would be much help here.
I want somebody, say Stacey Abrams, to come out and say "After a long and comprehensive selection process, I choose Joe Biden, former Senator from Delaware, to be my running mate at the top of the ticket in the 2020 Vice-Presidential election."
Yep, we not really elected Biden, we're electing Biden's advisers to be President. Anyone who thinks "Fake Moderate Joe" is going to keep the crazies in check is sadly mistaken.
Can't he at least look like he's in command,
No, NO he CAN'T he's THAT SENILE
Why am I able to see that there's a "vetting unit" that includes Christopher Dodd
They're reassuring you, that it will be "rule by committee"
Actually; they're reassuring you, that the President will be a ceremonial position
with the actual control being in the Prime Minister (Nancy Pelosi)
It's FINE that Jo Biden is a brain dead pedophile;
like your crazy old uncle, he'll be kept out of sight in the White House basement.
I wonder if Dodd will pull a "Cheney" and after this active VP search, decide he's the best qualified VP aferall?
I guess Susan Rice would make a qualified VP and then president as she lies her ass off and does what she is told. She seems to have the personality of a pail of wet plaster so maybe I'm not understanding the attraction to many democrats.
Rice's complicity in spying on Trump's 2016 campaign will be a long term problem for her and the democrats. The Durham investigation will have left a lot of ammo laying around for republicans to use should Durham not be able to complete his indictments of coup plotters this year.
Abrams is the worst candidate imaginable if you think the President is going to launch a challenge to the legitimacy of the election if/when he loses, given that literally the only thing she's famous for outside if Georgia is complaining that the election she lost was illegitimate.
On the other hand if you're Biden and you think you're going to lose, I guess she's the perfect candidate because she knows all the arguments already and has a lot if experience complaining about stolen elections.
rehajm said...
Why is there no pushback against Dodd? No #MeToo, no 'ick' factor from women?
Why is there no pushback against Jo Biden? No #MeToo, no 'ick' factor from women?
Women do NOT care about other women being raped, any more than they care about black men being shot
It's ALL posturing
The reality is that all of Biden's known short listers are sure to destroy any chance he has of winning. NONE of these people will be acceptable to anyone not employed by a university, a news organization, a governmental office, or anyone not wearing black t-shirts and pants.
All of these women have one thing in common: they are very far left, they all are extreme collectivists and will use that to further divide, and they all have some doozy past quotes and/or policies. They will attract only the far left. They will chase away any chance Joe has for the middle. And when Joe comes out of hiding and gets asked an actual real question by a covert Journalist! he will put the finishing touches on this faux campaign.
Not even the Duranty Times will be able to save this one over the last 90 days.
Biden clearly likes Susan Rice:
"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American woman who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking gal," Biden said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man."
Seems more like an anti-Kamala leak reinforcing the "Too Ambitious" meme
It was a weird way to pick a president. Has it ever been done before. Wasn't it George Wallace that had his wife elected to the governorship of Alabama so he could be Governor another term? Of course everyone knew he was going to be Governor. Here everyone knows Biden is not going to be president
So much delusion evident here. Abrams has the adoration of the democratic base? She couldn’t win a statewide contest in Georgia. Harris delivers California at about the same certainty level that Warren would deliver her home state of Massachusetts, and both won single digits in their primaries. Susan Rice has never run for any elected office, ever, as far as I know.These women are all bad candidates but the Biden team has boxed themselves in pretty thoroughly here.
How horrible that the one thing WaPo highlights about Tammy Duckworth is she lost her legs in combat! Proves Tucker Carlson’s point that Democrats believe her injury in service to our country makes her immune to criticism. John McCain played that game for years, and even got a presidential nomination out of it. The type of person who capitalizes on war experience like that is uniquely unsuited to public service. They’ve already made huge sacrifices. It’s obvious they’re looking for payback, and it would be great if voters would realize it,
It's just the Dems. And the WaPoo. PBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBTT!
Who's hair smells better?
In the event you are incapable of choosing a running mate one will be assigned.
“I was that little girl”
Well, I guess if you arrest and put away enough young black kids, suppress enough evidence, and sleep with Willie Brown, you can overcome anything.”
The VP selection has to be someone that moderates believe can be POTUS.
Of course, that person (If Biden wins) will not take over for Biden. Biden's DNC advisors will run the country and the VP will do what VPs do - almost nothing.
It is all about optics. My guess is Susan Rice provides the best optics. Any criticism about her unmasking will be attributed to unhinged conspiracy theories.
Chris Dodd...from 'waitress sandwich' fame?
https://thefederalist.com/2020/04/30/infamous-waitress-sandwich-senator-chris-dodd-joins-bidens-vp-search-committee/
He and Ted Kennedy were quite the suave operators. At least Dodd didn't kill a woman.
That will shore up the women vote.
Why are people engaging in the pretense that this is about picking a vice presidential nominee? When we all know it is about picking someone who WILL be president if Biden is elected?
Pubbies will have a field day reminding voters about how Harris kept young black males in prison because they needed the labor.
But, she's apparently now approved by Senator "Waitress Sandwich" Dodd, so nevermind.
Harris is not charismatic.
Duckworth is not Black.
My guess Bottoms.
This is the first time, to my knowledge, that the candidate at the top of a major party ticket has acted primarily as a stalking horse.
I guess McCain was a stalking horse for Obama. He sure took losing awfully well and jumped right into bed with the Democrats on Obamacare and pushing their lies against Trump.
You won't find another Republican as well known as McCain who took Hillary’s loss harder. Well, maybe Ukraine grifter Romney. Oh, that was only his campaign manager collecting payments from the Ukraine oligarch who used his position as interior minister to rape Ukraine’s energy wealth and needed a clean bill of health and a certain pesky prosecutor fired, which “son of it bitch” happened.
"Rice would probably be the better VP, having been in a significant foreign policy position in the Obama Administration."
That's the way I look at it. This pick will probably be president sooner rather than later. Rice is corrupt, but Harris is dumb as a box of rocks. The thought of her as president gives me the willies.
Chris Dodd of the Waitress Sandwich duo? Ted Kennedy is not available for comment. That's who the Marxiscrats are vetting the person with a cervix V.P. candidates? Maybe they should nominate a person with a cervix candidate who identifies as a person with a prostate and identifies as a person who howless at the moon so they can hit the trifecta of identity politics.
well that friend of angelo, got away to his irish cottage, and wrote the sutton dillinger bill,
Democrat voters did not vote for Harris.
California would not have voted for Harris, a big reason she quit.
Why anyone wants her on the ticket is beyond me.
Susan Rice did an amazing job diffusing the September 2012 protests at U.S. embassies in Muslim countries. Yes, she may have unfairly impugned the protesters in other countries for what happened in Libya, but it worked to protect U.S. interests. Trump has been trying to do that with the current protests, but it isn’t working, perhaps Rice could give him lessons. I never did understand why Republicans took their side in the Benghazi hearings. It’s too bad Republican Senators Insisted she be passed over in favor of their crony John Kerry for Secretary if State. Rice would have negotiated a much better deal with Iran.
Birkel said...
Pick Susan Rice because then the claims of politics and prosecutions by the DOJ just before an election would have some teeth.
The point would be to stop Durham from pursuing charges until after the election since Rice is implicated in illegal surveillance in contravention of America citizens' constitutional rights. Susan Rice is dirty as hell.
-----------==============
which is more transparently better for USA citizens and history ?
- behind the scenes as done to Trump
- in the open as done by Trump
Kamala will not help biden.
by not helping him, she will hurt him.
1) Don't need to run up the score in California, and people here don't like her much anyway.
2) She can't even win the black vote. She's even more of a pretender than Obama. Obama at least lived in the whitest part of the South Side for a long enough time to get some cred. She's lived in whiter Berkeley, Canada, and now the ever whiter west side of LA.
3) She's a whore.
chris stevens to the white courtesy phone,
Countrywide played an important role in the events leading up to the 2007/2008 financial meltdown. Chris Dodd was Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. As such, he should have been leading investigations of the "novel" mortgage practices Countrywide was engaging in in 2004, 2005, and 2006. But no such thing. Instead, he obtained sweetheart below market mortgages from -- wait for it -- Countrywide. That he is one of the top advisors to Biden is frightening. Of course, everyone gets a second act, but is this really necessary?
Harris is easily the best choice. She’s a POC (is that still a thing?) and her one major drawback was that she was too tough on crime in CA. If I’m a suburban moderate I get a two-fer: the buzz that comes from proving I’m not a racist (last felt in 2008) + increased security from a tough prosecutor so the riots won’t invade my town. The combination of moral superiority and implied security will be just too good to pass up this year.
John Kerry will step up to replace Biden and I guess he might have to take Biden's VP choice.
"Susan Rice did an amazing job diffusing the September 2012 protests at U.S. embassies in Muslim countries" How so by lying her ass off to save Obama that it was a youtube video? How commendable, how very noble.:-P
I think the Benghazi fuck up was a low point of the obama presidency and nothing to take credit for. The best case was it was a CIA weapons running outfit that got over run in Libya or a criminally incompetent security arrangement for Ambassador Stevens and his staff of military mercenaries who were left on their own. It would take a real lefty to turn this into a resume builder for Rice.
And all of this Susan Rice VP talk presumes there will not be any ongoing taint of the Obama spying scandal going on during campaign season or should she become president by succession. I wouldn't bet the house she wasn't aware of and endorsed the spying on Trump. It seems like you could find plenty of VP/President appointees with out that kind of baggage.
Chris Dodd of the Waitress Sandwich duo?
The very same!
Remember when Amy Klobuchur slipped and made it sound like she had already been asked. Then Biden invited Stacey Abrahams to be on the Chris Matthew show and she thought he was gonna pop the question.Biden sure is toying with the blue ladies.
Susan Rice did an amazing job diffusing the September 2012 protests at U.S. embassies in Muslim countries. - Left bank
I'm going to let that comment sit there and stew in all of its stupidity.
Joan said...
... How horrible that the one thing WaPo highlights about Tammy Duckworth is she lost her legs in combat! Proves Tucker Carlson’s point that Democrats believe her injury in service to our country makes her immune to criticism. John McCain played that game for years, and even got a presidential nomination out of it. The type of person who capitalizes on war experience like that is uniquely unsuited to public service. They’ve already made huge sacrifices. It’s obvious they’re looking for payback, and it would be great if voters would realize it,
-------------============
in which case it makes the case for reparations unassailable or rejecting it openly grifterly
"Susan Rice did an amazing job diffusing the September 2012 protests at U.S. embassies in Muslim countries"
Chris Stevens might have a different opinion on that one.
Kamala blew it. At least that is what Wille Brown said.
She comes across as a very nasty person. It came out against Joe in the Dem debates and Kavanaugh in the Senate Inquisition.
I think she is a hard sell. Biden is better off with Susan Rice.
Christopher Dodd is on the vetting team? The same Christopher Dodd who was involved with Ted Kennedy in the infamous Waitress Sandwich incident? Shouldn't he have been canceled by now? Will Kamala have to do a Sandwich, too? Maybe Bill Clinton could fill in for the late Teddy as the other slice of white bread.
I read a few articles on Karen Bass in the last 24 hours that are down right chilling so it will probably be her.
Maybe Biden or someone in his campaign was smart enough to figure out that Harris does next to nothing for his electability and would be an insubordinate VP if they won, but they need an excuse to not pick her (or risk alienating her supporters and donors, whom they need), and this was the way to do that.
We shall see, soon enough.
Karen Bass went to Cuba with the Venceremos Brigade to work in the fields, and returned to Cuba multiple times. Maybe most voters don't care, but the Cubans in Florida surely do. It doesn't make sense for Biden to concede Florida. She's also 66. The Dems need to set up someone for 2024 who's a bit younger.
they need an excuse to not pick her (or risk alienating her supporters and donors, whom they need), and this was the way to do that.
Harris was the candidate of the Clinton machine until she blew up in the primaries. She looked good until she had to actually perform. Her performance in the Kavanaugh hearings was as nasty as Hillary. I don't think that is a selling point anymore.
That's the way I look at it. This pick will probably be president sooner rather than later. Rice is corrupt, but Harris is dumb as a box of rocks. The thought of her as president gives me the willies.
ISWYDT
"Susan Rice did an amazing job diffusing the September 2012 protests at U.S. embassies in Muslim countries"
Arguably.
She did a terrible job of defusing them however.
Harris isn't really black...many 'real' blacks say so. And she put a lot of real black people in prison for smoking weed.
Susan Rice is dumber than my spaniel.
she was a castro loving member of the venceremos brigade in the 70s, like johnetta cole later at spellman college, who was clinton's education transition chair,
but she's properly credentialed that's what matters, stanford oxford et al,
Static Ping said...
How much precedence is there for a complete flop in the primaries to get the VP nod? By that I mean someone who made a serious effort and was considered a major candidate, but was so thoroughly rejected that she dropped out before the primaries even began.
Ding ding ding!
It's one thing to pick the runner up. Or to pick someone who didn't run.
But every single Democrat female candidate for the 2020 Presidency absolutely flubbed it on the campaign trail. Not one of them could connect with voters worth a damn.
I'd love to see Biden's team pick one of those losers to be the VP nominee.
I would love to see Harris utterly suck the life out of the "Black Lives Matter" crowd when people discuss the cases where she fought to keep innocent people in jail
That's not "tough on crime", that's "crappy human being."
Michael K said...
they need an excuse to not pick her (or risk alienating her supporters and donors, whom they need), and this was the way to do that.
Harris was the candidate of the Clinton machine until she blew up in the primaries. She looked good until she had to actually perform. Her performance in the Kavanaugh hearings was as nasty as Hillary. I don't think that is a selling point anymore."
Why Harris when Hillary is ready to rumble? At least Hillary can factually claim she got 63 million votes. True is isn't a POC but she is a woman, has some level of competence and has the requisite amorality. And the plus is for the Dims is they get a rematch and a real shot of winning. Also with Hillary the opportunities for graft is endless and she is a natural born fascist. For the Dims, what is not to like?
She's also 66. The Dems need to set up someone for 2024 who's a bit younger.
Sometimes the Democrats give the nod to the next guy, Carter's VP Mondale, Clinton's VP Gore. But what they seem to really like to do is pick their notion of the future winner and give him or her a keynote speech at the convention one year and then he's the candidate the next time. Cheney was clearly not anointed as a future presidential candidate just by virtue of being GWB's vice president not did Lieberman get any consideration in 2004. It's hardly written in stone. I've never felt that Pence was going to be the guy after Trump.
So the VP for Biden is potentially irrelevant.
EXCEPT that Joe Biden is melting, the only question is when, and that right soon. So this VP matters more.
As such they should accept the statesmanlike handicap of a gravitas candidate, a competent person who would actually be a good POTUS.
Ah, but who? (Laughs.)
For the Dims, what is not to like?
The thing is, Biden doesn't want to die, nor does he realize that he's not going to be able to really be President. If he picked Hillary it would be an acquiescence to personal if not electoral defeat.
As beloved as Harris is by the minorities she had so much fun locking up in California, I think Biden really should pick her. That way people will stay up late watching the returns from California because she might put that state in play for Trump after all.
Roseanne said "susan rice is a man with big swinging ape balls"
That's good enough for me.
The only way we get national healing is if Joe Biden chooses Mike Pence.
This is not a sign of a well-run campaign. Remember, under the original convention schedule, they needed to have the VP selection done 3 weeks ago at the latest. Sure, VP selections have been announced later than this, but there's a decent shot at this point the VP might be a convention surprise reveal as it's only 2 weeks from Monday. Given how important the VP slot is this year for the Dems, it does not seem wise to wait until mid-August to introduce them.
All the leaks this week seem intended to derail Harris. The fundamental problem with Biden is that Biden really isn't in charge any more - if he ever was to begin with. At the same time there doesn't seem to be any single person in charge, but rather some sort of diverse committee and they can't agree either.
The logical pick is Bernie, but that will not happen both because given Biden's mental decline the Democrats do not want a true believer commie coming in to blow up all that sweet DC graft, and Bernie is unacceptable because he has neither boobs nor a non-white complexion.
What does a VP do, anyway?
While thinking about that, it seems it’s always about the ‘getting elected’. I’m still not sure why a woman, specifically, is the must have for the job, without it being condescending to women. And then a black woman inparticular.
Seem like making a decision based on the color of their skin, rather the content of their character. I think this is why the leftists are so angry anD hateful all the time (resident leftists a prime example); the inability to reconcile what they are with what they say.
We need a VP candidate ready to step into the POTUS position on day one. What are the most important criteria?
A vagina and dark skin.
OK then, get to looking.
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