Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Biden Veep Pick Kamala Harris Elicits Strong Bay Area Reaction; KGO's Thurston and Rothmann Give Thumbs Up; I Would Have Liked Val Demings


Joe Biden picks Kamala Harris as his vice presidential running mate

AFTER THE NEWS BROKE of Joe Biden picking Kamala Harris as his running mate, I immediately turned on KGO and Pat Thurston; I wanted to hear immediate reaction and I wanted to gauge public opinion, especially Bay Area response. I was surprised, frankly, at the mostly positive spin.

I'll be honest, I wasn't crazy about the Harris pick. Is she qualified? Of course. Is she savvy? Hell yes. Is she steady and possess the political chops? Yes and yes. But I thought it was more the "safe" pick as opposed to the more politically- pragmatic choice. Which brings me to my respectful disagreement with John Rothmann, who guested on Thurston's KGO show Tuesday and talked about the pick. He loved it. Thurston sounded cool with it but not that enthusiastic --like myself.

Harris, as good as she is, doesn't elevate the ticket. A woman like Val Demings, the congresswoman from Florida, would have been my choice. She is experienced, she has a law-enforcement background and Washington credo. She's also very popular in the Southeast and most likely delivers lots of electoral college help to Biden in a swing state like Florida, which would help. Harris doesn't add much there as California is secured for Biden come November.

In addition, Demmings has a law and order perception.  That is huge today especially when it comes from a Black woman.

Furthermore, Harris is perceived by many --mostly right-wing media and their amen corner as "leftist SF"--I don't like that and I don't look forward to her getting smeared soon by Trump and his cultists in media and followers but I think it hurts  Joe Biden and the Democrats. Don't get me wrong, I still think Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will win the election I just think it would have been a whole lot easier had he taken a more centrist, nationally seasoned person, like a Val Demings.

Criminal Justice Backgrounds of Kamala Harris, Val Demings Come ...
Senator Harris  (left) and Congresswoman Val Demings
That would have been my choice.

54 comments:

  1. Agree on Demings. Harris will bring in more $$, but Demings would have brought in more votes. Hillary choked in 2016.
    The Dems have it wrapped up this year, but they will choke again
    if they allow Hidin' Biden to debate Trump. Lay low, Sleepy Joe
    and you will win the White House in November!

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    1. Tell it to the judge, you liver-spotted deuce of diamonds

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    2. The real Kamala Harris passed away last weekend from coronavirus. God bless him. Losing both legs to diabetes, just a horrible way to live in his later years.

      He was a true legend!

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  2. I am ok with the pick and while California will pick Biden no matter what, she will pick up votes from the Black and Asian community. I think the Dems will win Michigan and Pennsylvania and Fla will be close as the Dems will pick up South Fla but who knows with the rednecks living in the Panhandle area.

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    1. I'm more concerned about the race-baiters living on the coasts (California, New York) but we shall see.

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  3. I'd much rather watch news clips of Kamala in lieu of, "Where's mother? Is she here?"

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    1. You're all strawberry and no preserves, ya foghorn-blowin' trolley jumper

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  4. MOST Californians that I talk to are not happy with the pick. We know too much about her past.

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    1. You got something stuck in your craw, you milk-swillin' circus peanut

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    2. Biden was my 5th choice in the Democratic run, still would vote for him and Harris over the orangutan.

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  5. I believe she'll do a heckuva job, especially in any debate against Pence; too bad she won't be debating Trump. She'd eat his lunch. I'd have preferred seeing her as Attorney General, but now I hope that job goes to the former US Attorney, Preet Bharara, partially as payback to Trump's firing him, but mainly because he's really good at the job.

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  6. Biden's skin hue is darker than Harris's

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  7. *Any* person Biden picked would be smeared as leftist and a commie and everything else. Trumpsters just use those words without even understanding what they mean. They're just "bad" words.

    BTW, I'm sick of Harris being called the first "African American" candidate for VP. She's 1/8th black. She's far more Indian than black. But Indians don't need this silly crutch like blacks do.

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    1. It's crazy that in one comment you were able to insult Republicans, Communists, Leftists, Linguists and African Americans. Bravo!

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  8. The BIG LOSER here, is Newsom, IF Biden and Harris win in November, which is certainly in doubt. Newsom, like Harris, has carefully crafted himself by taking things one step at a time, in order to give himself a good political resume to run for the Presidency on, just like Kamala Harris has done. Her next step was to run for President, which she did earlier. But Harris and Newsom have a friendly agreement NOT to run against each other for President, and if Biden does win, unless he dies in office, which is a HUGE possibility, he could be there another 8 years. Kamala would for SURE, then run for President as an incumbent Vice President, in 2028 and have a good chance of winning. Newsom had most definitely planned to run in 2024, and still will, IF Biden loses, thereby making the democratic field wide open in 2024. But if Biden wins, then Newsom will have been out of the Governor's office for several years by 2028, making him then not as much of a current figure, and less likely to garner as much support, as he would if he were still a sitting governor.

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    1. Have you seen the latest national polls, or the poll numbers in battleground states like Michigan, Ohio and Virginia? Based on what you wrote, it sounds like you haven't.

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    2. Well analyzed. I'm actually hoping, praying, Biden loses now. And a week ago I wouldn't have said that.

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    3. Add Cuomo to the Democratic mix in 2024 as well......

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  9. Heels High Harris only had a 7% approval rating here in California. Tulsi Gabbard handed her ass to her in the debate. Woman is a moron. Thank you Dementia Joe!

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  10. Shes had a leg up on the competition ever since she had her legs up for old Slick Willie Brown.

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    1. if the only thing you have to go on is bringing up Harris' relationship with Willie Brown over 25 years ago, then you are in deep doo doo. I see where you don't give any reasons why the voters should re-elected Trump for another 4 years. Instead, you try to bring up dirt on Biden's VP running mate. That tells me you know your candidate is in big trouble. And he is.

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    2. There's plenty more unflattering things than just what happened 25 years ago. Google it. —Oops, you can't, because her activists are all at work changing Wikipedia pages and other links to remove inconvenient truths. https://theintercept.com/2020/07/02/kamala-harris-wikipedia/

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    3. Couldn't agree more, seems like that is all some conservatives can focus on. She was single, she dated. I have seen posts on other sights, suggesting she really isn't black, like that has anything to do with the issues, even insinuating she had an affair with Biden, how pathetic. 12:01 Tulsi Gabbart is a nut case on most issues, has no credibility.

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    4. She was single, she dated...& she slept her way to power.

      Fixed it for you 3:09.

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    5. > I have seen posts on other sights,
      > suggesting she really isn't black...

      Well, she is 1/8 black. I am 1/8 black. So I guess I'm "black," except when I try to put than on an employment form I'm laughed at.

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  11. I would have picked either Val Demings or Tammy Duckworth. But, I am certain Biden's people did a cost/benefit analysis of each candidate and came to the conclusion that there is more upside to Kamala Harris then baggage. I don't see how Biden picking Harris is going to hurt his chances of being elected this November 3rd.

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  12. All because Hillary lost twice by Obama and Trump, color race and woman rights is happening all again. What will we be seeing in the future if she wins, color folks protesting on top of the roof or more looting each week, days, months and years. I am sure the pure Americans know what is going on.

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    1. "pure Americans"? What are you, a Hitler youth reject?

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  13. Demings would not have been the right choice. When Dems try to be Republican-lite they loose ( Hillary, Kerry, Gore). When they run as more progressive (Obama, Bill Clinton) they win ( though those last two didn't necessary govern as progressives, especially Bill). Demings has never run a statewide race or a national one, Kamala has. Senators or Governors win, House members dont.

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  14. Great choice. Looking forward to Pence's castration at the debate (assuming he still has balls).

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    1. (Not) looking forward to Trump's victory on November 3rd.

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    2. You assume he'll be the veep nominee. For Donnie, loyalty goes only one way. He put Pence in the role of covid czar where he failed spectacularly. Donnie could easily exchange pence with Nikki Haley.Then he'd have his woman of color as a running mate, win back some of those errant suburban women who voted for him in 2016. Harris who wants to attack Pence re: covid, would lose her target. Remember, Haley, the former governor of SC, and ambassador to the UN, left that job after performing it without controversy and with goodwill still intact with Donnie.Don't think trump would ever do that??? Think again. He's very adept at doing things you think he never would.

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    3. Nikki Hayley will not join Trump. She wants to be President and she is smart enough to know that joining Trump (especially if he wins) will destroy any chance she would have of becoming the president.

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    4. VP debates don't mean squat. Not sure why they have them.
      It's all about the top of the ticket.

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    5. Great to hear Christine!

      IIRC, Trump won the majority of white women in 2016 (of at least did very well with that demographic).Due in large part to the unlikable Hillary. Do not see Pence being canned. Too gimmicky.

      The whole Democrat election has been a sham. The people voted for other candidates (Bernie, Pete, Warren, Klobuchar and many others)The voters threw Kamala out long before Iowa ... The DNC put their finger on the scale, got everyone to drop out and resurrected Biden's dying campaign.Now we have this phony race-baiting Kamala who got 2% of the vote. Unbelievable.

      Kamala's whiny phony voice is incredibly annoying. Almost as bad as the shrieking child-like Pat Thurston.

      KGO should put Christine on. A woman with a pleasant professional radio voice.

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  15. When Kamala ran for president I was for her 100%. When she dropped out I was for her being the VP pick. As time went by I wanted Susan Rice for VP and Kamala for AG. I believe that Susan was not picked because of the Benghazi mess. I do hope that Biden finds a thinking position for Susan Rice. She seems to be very level headed.

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    1. Have you ever heard Susan Rice talk? She'd make a Marine blush with her potty mouth. I suspect Rice wasn't chosen because she's never run for office and would have made too many rookie mistakes during the campaign.

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    2. Unless the Senate goes Democrat she can't get any job that requires confirmation. That's why she was made Obama's national security advisor instead of secretary of state.

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    3. 2021? Susan Rice as SOS and Sally Yates as AG..

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  16. Experience wise Rice would have been a better pick, and smarter too.

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  17. People want to see a "black-skin" African-American (Black don't cut it with me ... FU, Sac Bee for upper-casing that noun...) so Karen Bass would have been a BETTER FIT, but hell, either one's gonna catch HELL.

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  18. Look up this Politico story and tell me you would still pick Demings.
    https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/07/11/demings-vp-police-356573 Kamela was the obvious choice, she will rip Pence's and if she's allowed rip TRump's pants off too. She will be a great VP and eventually the first black woman President. All you white racists get to the back of the bus, your days as a majority are numbered and you all know that. Accept the fact you fools, we are here to stay and there is nothing you can do about it. We have Coronavirus on our side because you are so ignorant to the fact of not even wearing masks that this pandemic will wipe you all from the face of the earth. Keep up with your big gatherings and all and don't forget to get up close to each other to make sure you spread that virus, imbeciles!

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    1. At least SOMEONE has big gatherings. I'm guessing that you hold your gatherings in a phone booth.

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    2. "Keep up with your big gatherings and all and don't forget to get up close to each other to make sure you spread that virus, imbeciles!"

      Actually they're doing exactly that in Sweden right now, with no ill effect. Their economy is doing great, and they are just carrying on as if nothing is wrong. The 100K predicted deaths by now have turned out to be fewer than 5,000.

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  19. A good show to watch is PBS's four part series on Reconstruction (you can stream it). It covers how after the Civil War, the slaves were freed and some got elected to political office. It also covers how White southerners, created Jim Crow laws, segregation, and eventually took everything from the Blacks. They used voter suppression, lynchings, and racist propaganda so the Negroes had no viable economic opportunities. Eventually, the KKK came and Confederate statues were erected. A very sad commentary of Southern United States history.

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    1. And then lawyers went into the federal courts and brought cases against jurisdictions using Jim Crow laws and got them gutted famously. It's important to tell the full story up to date.

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  20. I think she give the Republicans plenty of ammo to shoot at her. I think Pence is not afraid to debate her because he is going to come loaded for bear much like Tulsi Gabbard did.

    The main reason I think she is a bad pick is because when she was running for President she flip-flopped daily on issues and never seemed to know what she wanted to stand behind. Karen Bass was out the second she lauded Fidel Castro. Val Demmings was my pick of the bunch after Amy Klobuchar dropped out and it became obvious that only a black women would be chosen.

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  21. I'm not a big fan of Harris because, once elected to an office, she immediately starts running for the next highest office. I can't think of any particular cause she's associated with, and wasn't impressed with her phony attempt to portray herself as a civil rights activist during the primary. To be honest, if it was a presidential race between Pence and Harris, I'd probably vote for Pence. But I hate Trump so much I'm voting for Joe.

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  22. Slow Joe and the octoroon, fancy Miss Nancy, loose London and moonbeam #2 and the rest of the left wing socialists will do and say whatever it takes to ruin this country. The fact is fancy Miss Nancy is responsible for the Chinese Virus in this country because she diverted the nations attention with her phony impeachment until it was too late. Loose London does nothing because she wants more time to shred documents and line up lying witnesses as she knows the FBI is coming. White people must take the country back while there is something left of it.

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    1. 4:36 AM Lol! I haven't heard the term 'Octoroon' used in normal conversation since the days Lena Horne was having hit records.
      Let's just say Kamalita is as 'Black' as Liz Warren is a Native American.

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  23. Biden/Harris will be forgotten after Nov 3rd, you dog faced pony soldier.....Trump 2020!!

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  24. I laugh every time I see some mention of Kamala Harris as being the first "black" potential VP. I mean, ok, according to the famous court decision referred to as the "One-Drop Rule", she IS technically black since she has black blood in her from her father's side, albeit, a small amount. But the fact is, her mother is from India, making Kamala Harris 50% Asian, with the other 50% being comprised of the makeup of the average Jamaican, as that is what her father is, which is a mix of indigenous people of Jamaica, black, Spanish, English. Notice that even though it has now been 48 hours since the announcement that Harris would be Biden's running mate, that there has been NOTHING from the people of India? Even THEY don't want to claim her! The thing is, Harris only mentions that she is a small part black, when it is convenient for her. At this time, she is using that to try to sway black people to vote for Biden.

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  25. Of all Joe had to pick from, Harris seems to be the worst possible pick. She had trouble gaining any traction when she ran from President. I see her an an anchor around Biden's neck.

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