Blunder reveals Joe Biden’s pick for VP

Source: News Corp Australia Network:

July 28, 2020 at 21:50

US presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden. Picture: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFPSource:AFP

Joe Biden has promised to reveal his nominee for vice president of the United States next week. But a media error may have exposed it already.

Joe Biden’s choice for vice president of the United States appears to have been revealed prematurely, thanks to a blunder from US media.

Today Politico published a rather eye-catching update to its article tracking the candidates to join Mr Biden’s ticket as the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee.

“Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris to become his running mate for the 2020 election on August 1, two weeks before the Democratic National Convention, after keeping his choice close to his chest for months,” Politico said.

“In his announcement, Biden called Harris ‘a worthy opponent and a worthy running mate,’ alluding to the pair’s rivalry during the earlier stages of the Democratic primary.

“She will bring her experience as a prosecutor, household name recognition, and skill as a debater to the ticket.”

Mr Biden’s VP pick? California Senator Kamala Harris. Picture: Saul Loeb/AFPSource:AFP

Obviously, August 1 has not happened yet, and Mr Biden has not yet made any such announcement.

Politico promptly changed the article back to its previous iteration, which outlined the arguments for and against picking Ms Harris.

But it was too late – people had already noticed.

Huh?

Politico labeled Sen. Kamala Harris as Biden's running mate... that he chose on August 1 (4 days from now).https://t.co/M3dhmIwZ7o pic.twitter.com/99GDHzWPnL
— Mark Bednar (@MarkBednar) July 28, 2020

What’s up with this @politico? pic.twitter.com/vZ2wnEgdLr
— Henry Rodgers (@henryrodgersdc) July 28, 2020

Ms Harris, a US Senator and former prosecutor, has long been considered the frontrunner for the vice presidential nomination.

Mr Biden has explicitly promised to choose a woman, and has strongly indicated he would prefer someone who will bring racial diversity to the ticket.

Other names on the rumoured shortlist are Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Tammy Duckworth, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Representative Val Demings and former White House national security adviser Susan Rice.

At a campaign event today, Mr Biden told reporters he would name his choice “the first week in August”, which would line up with the date mentioned by Politico.

Despite her strong credentials, Ms Harris would be an awkward pick for a couple of reasons.

Ms Harris was one of the candidates running against Mr Biden for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination earlier this year, and during that effort, she went on the attack.

In one of the first debates of the Democratic primary season, Ms Harris ripped into Mr Biden’s credentials on racial issues.

“As the only black person on stage, I would like to speak on the issue of race,” she said.

“There is not a black man I know, be he a relative, a friend or a co-worker, who has not been the subject of profiling or discrimination. My sister and I had to deal with the neighbour who told us her parents couldn’t play with us because we were black.

“And I’m going to say that in this campaign, we’ve also heard — and I’m going to direct this at Vice President Biden.

“I do not believe you are a racist. And I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground.

“But I also believe — and it’s personal, and it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country.”

That was a reference to a controversial comment Mr Biden made earlier the same month, touting his working relationship with two pro-segregation senators decades ago as proof of his ability to work constructively with the other side of politics.

“At least there was some civility. We got things done. We didn’t agree on much of anything. We got things done,” Mr Biden had told the crowd at a fundraiser.

Kamala Harris on the debate stage. Picture: Jim Watson/AFPSource:AFP

In the 1970s and 1980s, a number of American school districts implemented mandatory bussing policies, which saw students assigned and transported to particular schools in an effort to achieve a level of racial balance.

The schools themselves had previously been segregated, and had struggled to achieve any sort of balance due to the continuing racial inequality between residential areas.

There was fierce opposition to the bussing policy from some quarters, and Mr Biden opposed the idea of a federal law mandating its implementation nationwide, arguing it was a matter for state and local governments.

“There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public school, and she was bussed to school every day. And that little girl was me,” Ms Harris said.

“So I will tell you that on this subject, it cannot be an intellectual debate among Democrats. We have to take it seriously. We have to act swiftly.”

Mr Biden dismissed the attack as “a mischaracterisation of my position across the board”.

“If we want to have this campaign litigated on who supports civil rights, and whether I did or not, I’m happy to do that. I was a public defender. I didn’t become a prosecutor, I left a good law firm to become a public defender,” he said.

That last jab at Ms Harris’s former career as a prosecutor brings us to the second reason she might be an awkward choice.

When she was attorney-general of California, Ms Harris took stances on some issues that no longer conform to the prevailing views of her party. For example, she did not join attempts to abolish the death penalty.

More significantly, Ms Harris did not back legislation that would have mandated independent investigations in cases where police officers killed people.

That might have been a small political problem before the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer. Amidst the current mass protest movement against police brutality and racial discrimination in the justice system, it’s a bigger one.

Americans deserve a president who is compassionate, empathetic, and will fight every single day for working families. That's @JoeBiden. pic.twitter.com/0qxUWzs6O9
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 28, 2020

Ms Harris has spent recent weeks relentlessly promoting Mr Biden’s candidacy. That push has included emails to supporters of her now defunct presidential campaign, asking for donations to help him defeat Donald Trump.

She has not yet addressed the Politico report.