The Morning Dispatch: Previewing Biden’s VP Pick

Harris or Duckworth? Demings or Bass? The choice could come this week.

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Happy Tuesday! As you embark on your day today, be sure to remember the advice 86-year-old Sen. Chuck Grassley offered up on Twitter yesterday: “use LOVE not anger.”

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

  • The United States confirmed 47,711 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, with 6.5 percent of the 731,690 tests reported coming back positive. An additional 547 deaths were attributed to the virus on Monday, bringing the pandemic’s American death toll to 155,388.

  • President Trump told reporters on Monday that his administration would ban social media app TikTok from the United States unless it is sold to an American company by September 15. Trump also said a “very substantial portion” of that eventual sale price will have to go to the Treasury in order for him to approve any deal because his administration is “making it possible for this deal to happen.”

  • Hurricane Isaias made landfall in North Carolina late last night, bringing with it winds up to 85 mph. The hurricane is expected to continue along the Eastern seaboard this week.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Jeanne A

    Sorry I’m running so late for this party, but I’m behind on my reading! I’m working my way up to today. First, I’m voting for Biden. Period. Second, he’s got some impressive people to choose from and I would be mostly ok with whoever he chose. That being said, I strongly support the cautious approach of don’t rock the boat with a controversial candidate. From that perspective, it seems like Kamala Harris and Susan Rice have gotten the least positive comments from my tiny social media worldview. I haven’t really dug deep into either of them but I do agree that Rice may just give the naysayers the opening to howl and roll around the floor about.

    Aside from the usual resume qualifications, I also say younger is better. And before someone piles on me about age discrimination, I’m in the same age group as many of the old folks! IF, something were to happen to Biden during his term, which I have no reason to believe, but every reason to say we should be prepared for, I would feel more comfortable if his VP wasn’t his age. That aside, it’s time for younger minds and ideas. A least part of the difficulties we have faced, not just with the pandemic, but with healthcare and other issues as well, is our inability, unwillingness, old-and-set-in-our-ways attitudes, which have prevented us from implementing streamlined, systems and processes using the latest technologies In order to solve things we so desperately need, like distribution, tracking, supply and demand and a thousand other things. Younger minds can help us solve some of these ginormous issues.

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  2. CP

    My only comment is that it is not plausible that Chris Dodd was "shocked" at a cynical political ploy (from Harris, or anyone.) If he actually said that, he is almost assuredly lying. I do not believe it for a second, and neither should you or anyone else.

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    DougAz

    My 2 cents for Biden's pick - after some consideration - and I'm 1000% Biden no matter what:

    1. Senator Tammy Duckworth
    2. Senator Kamela Harris
    3. Representative Val Demings

    All qualified. I think Bass and Rice will take withering fire from the Right Media. I do not see any with Duckworth worth a penny.

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  4. Kentucky Girl

    I plan (with some apprehension) to vote for Biden, but I won’t if he chooses Elizabeth Warren. He is too old and she is too radical for my comfort level. But four more years of Trump is unthinkable, so “it is what’s it is.”

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    George.Rozes

    Ehh, so now it appears Rice and Harris are top two. Great. That will bring out the Obama haters, Clinton haters if Rice is picked. If it's Harris, she'll detract with her uneven efforts and obvious interest in #1, ie herself.

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    Jeff

    Operating on the premise that Joe Biden's mental health continues to spiral into Section 3 or 4 invocations of the 25th Amendment, just which VP Candidate would be the best choice for America? That's how I see the issue. The black community has been very transparent that it deserves the pick. That eliminates Duckworth, Grisham, Whitmer, and Warren (faux something). So, who is left? Harris, Demings, Bottoms, Rice, and Bass are the remaining players. Each has pluses and some have shown major minuses. Rice is a poor pick because of Benghazi and her current role in spygate...yes that's a thing that could play large in this election. Bass is/was a vocal supporter of Castro and that will lose Florida. Bottoms is probably in poor standing after getting Covid-19 with pictures of her without a mask on during protests. Her city has also had a very bad summer. Harris will be relentlessly targeted for her abuse of Judge Kavanaugh and silence on Tara Reed, etc. I think the independants will not like her at all. That leaves Demings. Will the BLM people protest her because of her law enforcement past? Doubtful. She may win Florida for Joe. That's probably the smart election choice. Will it change my vote for Donald Trump? No. Why? Joe Biden's handlers have essentially been wholesale co-opting Bernie Sanders' communist/socialist policy positions that are unpalatable. Just look at the $4 trillion tax increase he's already promised. The now struggling economy will be destroyed. His rhetoric includes saying things like the country will destroy its very profitable energy sector in favor of wind/solar (Green New Deal). I may not like Trump's potty mouth but Biden's "return to normalcy" (oh those good ol years of Obama) will not be pretty in many ways. Now, honestly, just what experience would Valdez Venita Demings bring to a Presidency and country in chaos and tanking economically? Impeachment Manager and Congresswoman for 3 years? Police chief?

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  8. JohnO

    If Biden chooses one of the more left wing prospective running mates that could, seeing also how the campaign plays out otherwise, lead to be decide it's more important to repudiate the Democratic move to the left than to repudiate Trump, and I might actually vote for Trump. Although it's conceivable I'd vote for Biden if Trump's conduct from here on makes me think he is seriously trying (beyond just stupid tweeting) to undermine the election process or would actually try to defy the result. For now I tend to think that's Democratic media hype. Most likely I'll leave the presidential line left blank as in 2016.

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    Paul Montagu

    I think Ms. Demings is Biden's best choice. She checks the woman, minority and law enforcement boxes, and she can help Biden win Florida. If he wins Florida, he wins the presidency. Just ask GW Bush.
    Ms. Grisham would be the next best choice, but only because she's in a southern border state and I know little else about her.
    I was thinking favorably of Duckworth, until she opened her mouth on a Sunday show.
    I was also thinking favorably of Ms. Bottoms, but if she can't govern a city peaceably...
    No to all the rest.

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  10. Avatar photo
    Guillermo

    Read the Yong article and am generally in agreement with the major points made. Comments about lack of balance have some merit but the absence of leadership (in, fact the presence of just the opposite) is the main story for this reader. The essence of leadership is competence and consistency, with strong doses of empathy and inspiration. I’ve witnessed none of the above. In a polarized environment, the sitting president was in the ironic position of having the ability to galvanize the public in support of the very protocols he undermined. (I could imagine a significant segment of the population objecting to an Obama call to action; not so Trump.) As the comments veered into the territory of the ACA and the cost of healthcare, I found myself scratching my head. Flawed though the ACA may be, there hasn’t been the slightest evidence that those who oppose it have made any meaningful attempt to improve it or replace it with anything that would be better. Insofar as the healthcare system itself is concerned, the data argues quite strongly that we pay more (I suspect that with the costs associated with COVID and the shrinkage in the economy, healthcare will account for 20% of GDP) and get less. Embedded waste, abuse, and inefficiencies account for $1 trillion or more. Although the heavy hand of government may be responsible for a portion of that amount, the real issue is the enormous amounts that accrue to the major stakeholders (other than the patients) in the system. What is seen as waste by the objective observer is viewed as revenue streams by those stakeholders. Yong may have been guilty of omission to some extent, but I believe he touched on the primary reasons why, with 4% of the world’s population, we have experiences in excess of 20% of the COVID deaths.

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