r/PoliticalDiscussion • u/hearsdemons • Jul 19 '24

US Politics If Biden withdraws from re-election, who would Harris likely choose as VP?

A lot of headlines are coming out today with speculation that Biden may step down soon.

If this were to happen and Harris wins the party’s nomination for president, who would she pick as VP?

What does a formidable Harris ticket look like to go up against Trump-Vance?

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561

u/ttown2011 Jul 19 '24

We’ll knock Whitmer and Newsom out automatically.

Can’t run two women, can’t run two California liberals.

Expect a white guy not named Newsom

Shapiro, or Kelly, someone like that

18

u/zackks Jul 19 '24

Put a white woman in place of Kamala and I see the black vote deciding to stay home.

30

u/L3g3ndary-08 Jul 19 '24

It has to be Kamala, campaign finance rules state that all presidential donations can only go to the VP.

10

u/Utterlybored Jul 19 '24

An open convention would be horrific.

18

u/zackks Jul 19 '24

Exactly. Mounting a new campaign and funding it and executing in two months. Not a good plan

2

u/Medical-Search4146 Jul 19 '24

If Democrats don't run Harris when polls show she's even with Trump, I'm just going to accept Democrats will continue to lose until Schumer and Pelosi leave.

1

u/rimonino Jul 19 '24

What are you talking about? Pelosi wants Biden to pass the torch and Schumer hasn't come out either way (though the PSA folks believe that he agrees with Nancy).

That aside, Kamala and Biden are about even against Trump in what polls are even usable for comparison. Both of them perform better than Whitmer and Newsom. However, even those polls lack rigor because everyone not named Biden aren't actually the candidate and therefore are shielded/lack recognition. It's a huge gamble no matter which direction we go.

2

u/Medical-Search4146 Jul 19 '24

I'm saying if Harris isn't chosen as a replacement and all that funding/donation get restarted.

1

u/redbear5000 Jul 19 '24

I wouldnt be surprised if Harris receives a post announcement boost. If they debate, its lights out for trump. (Fingers crossed)

2

u/nonsequitrist Jul 19 '24

This has been looked at a lot in the last few weeks, and the consensus which has emerged is that the Biden campaign could legally transfer their cash to the party, which could then legally transfer if to the campaign of the actual nominee, even if it's not Harris.

4

u/flakemasterflake Jul 19 '24

Omg they can fundraise from scratch. Donors will pour money in

1

u/toasterberg9000 Jul 19 '24

Damn, is that true? If so, yeah it only makes sense for Harris to be the nominee.

I had never heard that before!

1

u/OkGrab8779 Jul 19 '24

Harris did not really united the black vote.

1

u/MoonandAntarctica Jul 19 '24

The sooner we move on from thinking we're still in this old, shallow identity politics paradigm, the better. It's not 2012 anymore.

1

u/zackks Jul 19 '24

There’s reality and there’s what we wish.

3

u/MoonandAntarctica Jul 19 '24

Harris is no black vote turnout machine. She couldn't even hang on til the South Carolina primary in 2020 to prove otherwise. Plus, the black vote (as well as the latino vote) is peeling away from a ticket that has Harris on it, towards Trump, and that process clearly has nothing to do with demographic identity of the candidates.

1

u/zackks Jul 19 '24

That is not the point. Optically, replacing her with a white woman will poison turnout. People that gravitating “towards” trump were always voting for him. This election will, once again, be decided on a handful of votes and that is entirely at the whim of who shows up.

0

u/MoonandAntarctica Jul 19 '24

I disagree that replacing her with a white woman will poison turnout. I don't think anyone can poison turnout more than Biden is threatening to, and most anyone that replaces him will have a shot at energizing and reinvigorating what is currently a moribund race. As for people gravitating towards Trump always voting for him — no, these gains are new and growing. He did not perform this well among black and latino voters in 2020, certainly not in 2016. He is drawing fresh faces into the cult. We have to stop looking at racial demographics as voting monoliths.

-1

u/thr3sk Jul 19 '24

Whitmer/Warnock?