Which VP pick would help Biden win?

[edhopper]

To me this is the only question. All of them are qualified and would make good Veeps.
So what counts is helping him get the most votes in November.

[Demsrule86]

1. Tammy Duckworth.

[Arazi]

17. Yup. Agreed

[Demsrule86]

38. I love her.

[jalan48]

27. I agree. An American hero.

[Demsrule86]

37. She is wonderful.

[ananda]

35. Agree!

Tammy is great!

[Demsrule86]

36. She is the only candidate with no negatives.

[exboyfil]

2. I would like to go with who would nail down the firewall states

but no ideal candidate exists. I think both Rice and Harris feel too coastal to play in middle America. I wish Abrams had federal experience and Demmings could use more federal experience. No doubt Rice and Harris could be President on Day 1 - I am just not so sure about some of the other candidates.

Harris appears the most qualified (state AG and Senator is a powerful combination). Rice obviously brings the foreign policy experience, but I think letting the ghost of the Clintons rest might be the best strategic move.

Duckworth is an interesting possibility. She has both lower level executive experience and experience in the House and Senate. I don't know if the VA experience would haunt her given the problems with that government body.

[Trumpocalypse]

23. Demmings has been in Congress as long as Harris

And experience doesn’t matter in elections. Never has.

[chia]

3. Kamala Harris

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. People don't vote for the running mate; they vote for the top of the ticket.

It's a mistake to choose a running mate just on the basis of whether you think that person can help win the election. Exhibit A: Sarah Palin. She was chosen (with little vetting) because the McCain campaign thought they needed someone who was young, attractive and exciting to attract voters who might think of McCain as old and grouchy, and so they rejected conventional, dull Tim Pawlenty (who was actually a fascist asshole, but not obviously). But look what they got: An ignorant, extreme-right, ethically-challenged dingbat who, when she was exposed to the daylight of the campaign, probably lost more votes than she won. Nobody but the Teabaggers wanted someone that obviously unqualified to become president - a distinct possibility, considering McCain's age and health history. McCain probably would have lost even if he'd chosen somebody normal but I think it would have been a closer contest.

Thinking back on a whole lot of presidential elections, I had trouble even remembering who most of the running mates on the losing sides were. I don't think Kemp, Quayle, Lieberman, Edwards or Kaine were much help to their respective tickets.

[edhopper]

18. Being able to be President is qualification #1

I just think all the top choices are.
But Sarah Palin was actually the reason McCain lost, she was obviously not qualified and not as good with the Tea Party as they thought.
But Pence definitely helped with the evangelicals. I think Quayle hurt Bush. Kaine helped Hillary win Virginia.
A good VP can help or hurt. And in this being a close election, just one State can make the difference.

[Drunken Irishman]

30. People don't vote for the VP but they certainly might vote for someone else because of the VP.

Palin was a disastrous pick for McCain. Sure, he was DOA anyway but Palin likely helped turn that election into the blowout it was.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

31. Exactly. They usually don't help all that much but they can definitely hurt.

[Fiendish Thingy]

5. Warren and Harris have the most strengths, fewest vulnerabilities nt

[2naSalit]

6. I'm more concerned with her

qualifications and duties when in office, I think winning's not the biggest concern for most, we're going to win.

[edhopper]

19. All the choices

look like capable woman. So that is not a problem.

[Trumpocalypse]

24. Winning is the only consideration

Because if the ticket doesn’t win everything else is irrelevant. And after 16 we should know better than to be too confident.

[obamanut2012]

7. duckworth

[Still Sensible]

8. I don't think his choice will necessarily help him win

but there may be a couple that could jeopardize the win IMO.

He has to pick someone that people could see stepping into the top job. This will be especially important for independents and other fence-sitters. He almost certainly would have lost anyway, but McCain picking Palin cost him any chance.

And, while the faux bullshit machine will ramp up regardless of who Joe selects, a little care should be given to avoid unnecessary targets. Anyone on the list would be a winner vs Pence with all but the cult evangelicals.

[LexVegas]

9. Kamala Harris. nt

[Quixote1818]

10. Michelle Lujan Grisham - We need the most help with Hispanic voters.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/opinion/latino-voters.html

[BannonsLiver]

26. Meh most that are still out there aren't winnable

If kids in cages didn’t push them away from Trump then Lujan Grisham won’t either.

[Polybius]

11. Warren

She would unite the Left while Biden unites the center. Perfect mix.

[Quixote1818]

12. Good point. nt

[Kid Berwyn]

15. Plus she would help with the ideation.

Gonna need a lot of economic know-how to restore the USA.

[judeling]

13. Susan Rice

If the campaign was going to be run differently I may have come up with a different answer.
Big events and in person rallies would have maybe given Harris a lead. But those are not going to happen. Harris does extremely well in set pieces, not so well with free forma questioning especially in slightly hostile environments.

So ok why Rice. First she does not have any real domestic remit. That in and of itself will allow her to absolutely support any Biden domestic moves without any but you said or were for. She is absolutely the only candidate right now that can pretty much be left alone to handle a policy area and still be seen as totally supportive of Biden. Yes Foreign Policy will not be as central to the campaign as other things but it will come up and she will be the perfect surrogate to dispatch. That will mallow the campaign to present Biden always as empathetic and caring and let Rice be hard nosed. The Middle east will be a lot less important then Russia and China and Rice is ready for that. While I hate to play with bias, it is an important factor to be considered and quite frankly Rice will fit with soft Republican and indepenant bias well as Condi Rice and Colin Powell have plowed that ground already.

[tinrobot]

20. You just made the most rational argument for Rice that I've heard.

I may have to change my mind.

[judeling]

43. Thank you

The thing i hear most often is Benghazi when talking about Susan Rice. As if we need be afraid of that.
That is old news and unimportant except for a dwindling part of Trump's base. Right now it is a shiny object that we can employ to trigger the Nunes and Barr Ukraine attacks early. Since she was there Biden now has someone ready willing and able to block that incoming and turn it around.

Whatever baggage she is perceived to have is shared by Biden. Just her presence makes it an attack on the Obama administration and not on Joe personally. I'll also tell you unmasking and the whole Russian hoax line of attack now looks a lot different with bounties on our troops.

Its as if we have learned nothing. I'll take a Benghazi and raise you The Kurds, North Korea, Closing down the Disease monitoring and response group, and the mess you have made of our position in the world Trumper's.

[Awsi Dooger]

29. Rice can frame an argument better than any of them

Warren is excellent in that regard also but Rice is simply more versatile topic to topic and particularly while using matter of fact phrasing that is devastating to Trump and the GOP. I have no idea how Rice is linked solely to foreign policy. That may be her highest profile background but her analysis of other facets is superb.

Beyond anything, Rice smiles and comes across as calm and likable even when she is into heavy criticism mode. That is something none of the others can match and especially Kamala Harris.

I'm admittedly looking more at 2024 and 2028. I never want Kamala Harris atop the ticket. Misogyny and that personality will never get it done in a national race. I have hosted enough debate watching parties to understand that. Notice how comparatively calm it is with a white male atop the ticket. The activists may not like it but that remains the ideal margin for error blueprint.

[Hortensis]

14. They all would. A former Obama-Biden WH staffer said the choice

is about what the VP will bring to the job after election and they're in office. They keep saying this. Maybe we should believe them.

Before election, he said, the running mate just needs to do three things with acceptable competence: be able to make an acceptance speech at the convention, do decently in one debate with Pence, and a third similarly expected thing I don't remember because it was very normal.

Geography is not a defining factor.

[Quixote1818]

16. Michelle Obama!!! LOL nt

[MacKasey]

25. Trump's head would explode

I remember Obama saying his wife was the closer,

Nobody would complained if Biden picked her.

[Totally Tunsie]

44. Or...

He'd dump Pence, and have Ivanka as his VP! He'd be just stupid enough to try it.

[karynnj]

21. Because Biden really has enormous foreign policy and domestic policy credentials,

he is NOT in the position where he needs to shore up credentials in anything. However, like McCain, his age makes the nominee a potential president. The other criteria is who would help the most in actually governing.

All three women are very capable, talented and would be good choices. Any would make a good president. However, Harris would be better interacting with Congress and the states than Susan Rice. Rice's strongest suit is foreign policy, which is rather redundant with Biden's skill and she was far better at helping define policy than in being a diplomat.

Harris also has experience campaigning, something Rice has never done.

[Trumpocalypse]

22. Several factors

Who will attract progressives to the ticket?
Who will energize the African American vote?
Who helps the most in swing states?

[maximusveritas]

33. Your 3rd point is the only one that matters

Attracting progressives who are a small percentage at the cost of losing moderates is a losing battle.
We need to focus on the swing states where the available voters are predominately moderate or non ideological.

[Trumpocalypse]

39. You have a point

[Kaleva]

28. VP picks rarely help in a significant way but they can hurt. Palin.

[maximusveritas]

32. Demings would help the most

As she would help particularly with beating back Trump on the law/order front.
Harris would be second in my view and then Duckworth.
I could see someone like Abrams or Bottoms being a net negative due to their lack of experience.
Elizabeth Warren could also be polarizing on an ideological level, allowing them to tie Biden to her more extreme views.

[TeamPooka]

34. Moot

Everyone is going to vote, period.
No matter what

[tritsofme]

40. The first and perhaps only rule in choosing a VP is do no harm.

Voters rarely vote for a ticket because of the VP candidate, but in the case of a historically bad selection like Sarah Palin, they may be more likely to vote against it.

[MoonlitKnight]

41. One other thing to consider

Who would you want running against Trump if god forbid something happened to Biden before Election Day? Because that is the job of the VP pick from the day selected and nominated by the convention until the end of the term if elected.

[edhopper]

42. Interesting

point