Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has named Kamala Harris as his running mate - the first black woman and South Asian American in the role.Harris was not my ideal pick, but then again, I'm not running for president. Biden is.
Once a rival for the top job, the California senator of Indian-Jamaican heritage had long been considered the front-runner for the number two slot.
She's probably a smart choice. Harris has not been out in front of the Black Live Matter movement. As CA's AG, she was diligent in defending problematic convictions and sentences, which arguably was part of her job.1 Trump thinks that she's nasty,2 she'll do a good job of getting under his skin.
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[1] If you subscribe to the view that the prosecutor's job is to zealously push their side of things and leave issues of justice and fairness up to the judges. (I don't.)
[2] One of his favorite words to describe women who dare to have opinions on anything. Except for maybe he daughter, which, as we all know, he wanted to bang.
Coverage
ReplyDelete"Some of the success that we've been able to achieve around criminal justice reform would not have happened in recent years were it not for Black Lives Matter," Harris added. "These movements provide a counterforce to get us to where we need to be."
"The first protest I ever attended was in a stroller when my parents were marching in the '60s," she said. "It's kind of something I've done my entire life."
Noting that her parents were politically active, Harris said that she learned that the greatest movements in the country "have been born out of protests" and "understanding the power of the people to take to the streets and force their government to address what is wrong, the inequities, the inequalities, the unfairness."
"Almost every one of those marches has been about one fundamental ideal in our country, which is equal justice under law," she said. "And fighting to make sure that we have a government and a country that, at least every few steps, gets closer to achieving that ideal." While the United States has not yet reached equality for all, Harris said that protests "are the catalyst to getting there."
The senator added that attending recent protests in Washington, D.C., gave her hope, saying that she saw "people who seemingly have nothing in common, who know they have everything in common, people of every race, age, gender together and seeing the commonality."
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kamala-harris-lack-news-coverage-black-lives-matter-protests-1299205
And, as commented on my local public radio, Harris will run Pence through her Cuisinart and make chopped meat out of him. I. Cannot. Wait. for the Veep Debates. Engage the Enemy More Closely. They have nothing but banging on the table (when you have the facts in you favor, fight with the facts; when you have the law in your favor, fight with them; if you have neither, bang on the table).
ReplyDeleteI imagine there was a "Well, she kicked my ass across the debate stage, maybe I should have her on my team" factor in his choice.
ReplyDeleteAnd ask Terence Hallinan if he thinks she knows how to beat entrenched old white guys in an election.
-Doug in Sugar Pine
I’m not voting for Biden or Trump, but I will enjoy seeing Lapdog Pence getting his lunch fed to him during the VP debates. His poodle-ish sycophancy will be no match for Harris.
ReplyDeleteFailure to vote for one or the other is wasted vote to my
ReplyDeletereasoning. There may be a third or forth party person but
they at best split the vote and make it easier for the Rethugs.
As to the drumpf campaign they are already to name calling and
nasty is the nicer one. They went to full rude, crude, and
socially unacceptable.
Facts real and verifiable or alternate facts [with feelings].
Law we already have alt-law...
Banging on the table, did it stop? With shoe or fists?
I'd enjoy Sen Harris getting into drumpf's head and
also trashing the potted plant.
Eck!
CI, the plain fact is that this is a binary election. Either Trump wins or Biden wins. Third-party candidates are engaging in electoral masturbation, for all they are doing is stroking their egos.
ReplyDeleteVoting third party or abstaining means that one does not care who wins. If that is one's opinion, then I respectfully submit that one's opinion on the race isn't worth a damn.
I take that back, you can't ask Mr. Hallinan as he is dead.
ReplyDelete-Doug in Sugar Pine
You have an effective third party . It's those people in the streets .
ReplyDeleteA third party should hold the front runners up to the light of criticism and offer viable alternatives to the extreme policies that often come from parties that are too well entrenched .
What percentage of the population in the US don't vote, because they don't see anyone that represents them, because there is no material difference between the Republicans and the Democrats .
If there had been a strong third party candidate in 2016 do you think that the parties would have picked Trump and Clinton ?
If the people weren't in the streets do you think that Biden would have picked Harris ?
What Mr. Kelley said...
ReplyDelete"there is no material difference between the Republicans and the Democrats ."
ReplyDeleteThat is so insane that I'm not even gonna bother saying anything else about it.
-Doug in Sugar Pine
Glenn, with all respect, that's basically nonsense. Yes, the protests may have pushed Biden into picking a Black woman. Bud Biden also owes a debt to the African-American community because, without their support, he would have lost the race.
ReplyDeleteIf you seriously believe that there would be no significant difference between a Biden administration and the Trump administration, you need to get a clue. Trump has signaled that if he wins, he intends to bend the military to his political will. Trump is a wannabee dictator. Nothing can be clearer.
Comrade, your opinion is.....noted. Carry on playing the rigged game.
ReplyDeleteCI, it's the only game in town.
ReplyDeleteI was talking about the American voter.
ReplyDelete"They" don't see a material difference between the Republicans and the Democrats.
I was addressing your statements about third parties. In a system that allows strong third parties the front runners have to advance policies that will draw votes away from the third party. If they fail those votes go to the other front runner or the third party .
The Twelfth Amendment makes it impossible for a third party to flourish ,neither party is committed to fixing the voting system .
I'd still like your opinion on the first question I asked .
Well said Glenn. When we allow (and that’s exactly what we’ve done) two corrupt and bankrupt parties to control every aspect of the electoral system, neither party really has to be truly accountable to the People
DeleteThe problem, CI and Glenn, is that without action by one of the two parties, your third party is DOA. Honestly, a Democrat landslide in 2020 would be the clearest path to establishing a third party in the U.S. The bedraggled remnants of the GOP, those in the middle might find an interested group in the Democrat party, again the middle, with whom to join. Meanwhile, the Party of the Confederacy would remain a weakened National force as well.
ReplyDeleteWhat “action” are you presuming? All we’ve seen so far has consisted of concerted exclusion of any other competition.
DeleteCP88 I think your agreeing with me . If I remember right the Republican party grew out of a political meltdown prior to the Civil War so there is precedence for a remake .
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize the level of paranoia and alarm in the US until I saw the reaction to my post above . This has been a constant in your politics since I first started following your presidential elections (Johnson,Goldwater) but the level this year is unprecedented .
I've also followed Trump for at least 20 years . As a small contractor it was a lesson in how not to , and who not to do business with .
Not that he did anything original he just did everything .
Until 4 years ago Trump wasn't a Republican . How far do you guys think the NY prosecutors will get before the Democrats start to get nervous ?
Make America Great Again Vote Biden .