For very different reasons, Biden’s decision on his running mate might be as important as that of John McCain in 2008. Far from needing to revive a flagging campaign, Biden needs to avoid shooting himself in the foot, as Democrats are consistently prone to do.
Biden wants to heal the nation and our nation surely needs healing from the corona virus, the Trump virus and from several decades of governmental grid-lock and deep divisions. The mantra of the Biden campaign, now leading in most polls, must be the same as the oath that doctors take: “First, do no harm.”
Biden’s top options for Vice-President include Karen Bass, Susan Rice and Kamala Harris. Among those three I favor Susan Rice. I am most concerned about repercussions if Biden selects Kamala Harris. My concern about Harris as Biden’s running-mate is two-fold. It appears that voters’ distrust of Harris is similar to the deep distrust they had for Hillary Clinton which scared them away from voting for her. It is also likely that Trump’s base will view the selection of Harris as proof that white working-class and middle-class men and their macho values are under attack by Biden and his supposedly radically leftist democrats.
While Biden is a moderate, a voter’s belief is his reality, even if it has no basis in truth or facts. Trump’s base has already been primed to fear Biden and democrats. There is no reason to hand a ‘Harris hammer’ to the Trump campaign to rile up its base and to use in its forthcoming scorched-earth attacks on Joe Biden and his running-mate.
Biden needs many votes from Trump’s base to win. Biden winning a huge majority of the popular and electoral college votes telling Trump “You’re Fired” will help Biden and the country withstand Trump’s assault on the legitimacy of the election results and will provide Biden the strong mandate he will need to govern.
While Bass, Rice and Harris are all well qualified to serve as Vice-President, Ambassador Rice seems the best candidate to help the Biden Administration with the many challenges it will face. With her extensive foreign policy and national security experience Rice will be able to do what Biden will not have time to do: rebuild our overseas alliances and re-establish America’s credibility in the world as a responsible and reliable partner and champion of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. This will allow Biden to focus on healing the nation and working across the aisle to develop bipartisan solutions to the many issues we face.
Most importantly, Rice satisfies a key criterion of Biden’s selection requirements; that his Vice-President is ready to assume the responsibilities of President from day one.
Ambassador Rice, having been an integral part of the Obama-Biden team, is ready to hit the ground running. No doubt she and Biden already have a close working relationship of trust and respect. No doubt they are ready to work together to rebuild our nation. While Ambassador Rice does not have the executive experience of being a governor, nor has she been tested seeking elective office, no single candidate can tick off anyone’s or everyone’s desired qualifications. She has more foreign policy and security experience than any other contender for the Vice-Presidential that have been under consideration. She has the competence, judgment and experience to rebuild our country’s standing on the world stage.
Selecting Ambassador Rice as Vice-President will send a signal to the world that America’s retreat from international leadership is over. It will also send a domestic signal, that Biden fully understands that his number one job is restoring and rebuilding America at home.
Biden’s list of legislative priorities – jobs, healthcare, education, racial and social justice, immigration, infrastructure, climate change, gun control, campaign finance reform – is just a laundry list of dreams if Biden and his team fail to end the selfish ideological divisiveness and racial and class warfare that have brought our nation to this sorry state in our history. Importantly Biden recognizes that restoring the soul of our nation is where he and democrats across the country must start.
While there is strong sentiment for a progressive vice-presidential candidate, Democrats for a change need to play the long game. They are well positioned to play it. The 2018 mid-term elections brought many strong new faces to the democratic party at state and national levels. This year’s democratic primary offered a raft of charismatic, thoughtful and accomplished candidates burning with desire to right our listing ship of state. All of them can and should be part of Biden’s Administration. There is no end to the work that needs to be done. And there are more than enough leadership positions across our government to put all the new-found democratic talent to work and enable them to burnish their potential presidential timber should they have future presidential ambitions.
Karen Bass has said she does not intend to run for President. The country would be better served by a Biden partner who believes in and wants to succeed Biden as president to carry forward the policies and agenda of the Biden Administration since it will take a generation at least to undo the damage done by Trump’s intentional and destructive attacks on all of our democratic institutions, values and traditions. Susan Rice is ready to do that.
There will be plenty of opportunity for a Biden-Rice Administration to draw upon and utilize the talent and respect that Karen Bass brings to the table. She can and will be an integral partner and force for fairness and reform in a Biden Administration. She can help craft and advance the ideas and legislation that will be necessary to begin to solve the many lingering issues facing the nation.
Similarly, there are many roles Kamara Harris can play in a Biden Administration. She could be a great Attorney General. That would position her well to run again in a democratic primary or perhaps again be a serious Vice-Presidential candidate in a post-Biden administration.
Should Biden select Bass or Harris or Governor Gretchen Whitmer or someone else as his running-mate, Ambassador Rice can still play an important role in a Biden Administration and as a presidential candidate in some future election.
The good news is that voters have finally started to come to their senses about the Trump presidency. His base is beginning to abandon him. It appears that many Trump supporters are asking themselves the famous 1980 Reagan presidential debate questions: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago? Is it easier to buy things in the store? Is there more unemployment now than four years ago? Is America as respected around the world as it was four years ago?” The answer appears to be a resounding, deafening “No!” American voters are realizing there is no reason to stick with a loser.
Trump’s base has been loyal but that loyalty is wavering. They don’t know what to fear more: Trump’s re-election or a Biden victory. Biden and his vice-president need to give Trump’s base and voters of all persuasions another compelling reason to vote for Biden and Democrats up and down the ballot.
When Biden announces his choice for Vice-President he must persuade voters that she was chosen as his running-mate because of her competence and character, not her color. It must be clear to voters that the Biden team and vision for America offer the best chance for voters four years from now to answer Reagan’s questions with a resounding ”YES!”