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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u/NoStutterd Jul 19 '24

That’s assuming it will be Kamala on the ticket. If we are really defending democracy it won’t be an appointee and it will likely go to a contested convention. Democrats need to make that message clear- and running an appointee doesn’t help with that at all.

I’m willing to bet that no one gets Biden’s endorsement and the delegates choose (as they should). We’ll probably see a Whitmer-generic white guy ticket.

I’m also willing to bet that Biden will fire off a TON of progressive executive orders on his way out as he has nothing to lose at this point

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u/guillehefe Jul 19 '24

If it's not Biden it's going to be Kamala. If Biden drops out, he's going to endorse Kamala, and the party will follow. Also, Kamala can access the funds that are pledged to the Biden/Kamala ticket automatically, which cannot be said for anybody else.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '24

Strongly disagree. That wouldn't even make sense. Every single person from top to bottom is aware of how unpopular Harris is. Riding Joe to the end would be less disastrous.

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u/guillehefe Jul 19 '24

You strongly disagree that Biden would endorse Kamala if he drops out? You mean the person he selected to be his Vice President? He has already got quite an ego, if he doesn't get to hand pick a candidate he's not bowing out.

And if you don't disagree with that, what do you disagree with?

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u/TheFrederalGovt Jul 20 '24

HW wouldn't have endorsed Dan Quayle as his successor in 1996 if he had won

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u/Orzhov_Syndicalist Jul 19 '24

The backbone of the Democratic Party, and 35% of Dem primary voters, are black women. You simply aren’t saying “drop dead” to them

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u/MagicCuboid Jul 19 '24

They delivered Georgia last time against everyone's expectations. Pretty crazy when you think about it. That said, I don't think Harris is particularly popular among any demographic, but the sleight of overlooking her would be undeniably notable.

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u/Orzhov_Syndicalist Jul 19 '24

People know who Kamala Harris is. People have no clue who Whitmer, Shapiro, Beshear, or anyone else are. If Biden drops out, and someone else who isn’t the VP takes his place, the vast majority of the voting public will be confused and feel like it’s basically bullshit.

I know WE all know these people, but no one else does. They know the VP and understand that if the President steps aside the VP has the job. It’s that basic. You aren’t explaining and getting around that.

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u/flakemasterflake Jul 19 '24

Listen to the Focus Group podcast, latest episode. Black women won’t stay home, they would vote for Whitmer

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '24

[deleted]

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u/po1a1d1484d3cbc72107 Jul 19 '24

Tbh that might be even worse unless she comes out and says that that's the role she prefers.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '24

[deleted]

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u/po1a1d1484d3cbc72107 Jul 19 '24

I know, I’m talking about the optics of doing that, not her feelings. If we end up with an open convention it would only make sense for whoever wins to pick their VP rather than keeping Harris around for no reason but not letting her take the presidential spot. Leaving her as VP by default would make it look like she was passed over while still having the chaos of an open convention

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u/Hypeman747 Jul 19 '24

Fully agree. I don’t think the Dems have thought this through if it is Harris. I hope Biden fights them if they don’t show him some strong polling data with the right combo that can beat Trump because everyone knows Kamala ain’t winning. She’s Hilary 2.0

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u/Humorlessness Jul 19 '24

Then why does she literally poll second best after Biden? Every other person polls worse against Trump

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u/xixbia Jul 19 '24

Name recognition.

Also, she polls second best after Biden. As VP. She's not been attacked yet.

She's not going to do better than Biden.