What's the matter with Kamala?
Oakland/SF's Kamala Harris is always the front runner, but . . .
The word is that Joe Biden may announce his choice for vice president this week.
Thank God.
This VP bakeoff has lasted longer than Downton Abbey.
The odd part is, the story line hasn’t changed in months. Oakland/San Francisco’s Kamala Harris is acknowledged as the clear favorite. Which is then followed by stories of how some Democrats are having reservations about her, and promoting the hot name of the moment.
Stacy Abrams, Karen Bass and now Susan Rice have all had their moments as Not-Kamala. All seem logical in their way. Biden has already committed to choosing a woman VP, and in these times of racial divide, a woman of color seems like a choice that would be both obvious and smart.
So what’s the matter with Kamala?
She’s politically youthful at 55, telegenic and has experience as California Attorney General and now, Senator. When she gets into her prosecutorial mode, she has been impressive at televised Senate hearings. She made a solid run for president. What’s not to like?
For the Biden people, it is apparently still about the gotcha moment in the June primary debate, when Harris flustered Biden with her story of how, although he opposed federally-mandated school busing, there was a young girl in Berkeley who rode one of those buses to an integrated school.
“That little girl was me,” Harris said.
It was a viral moment for Harris (the campaign even printed “little girl” T-shirts.) And at the time it looked like a debilitating blow to Biden.
He, or at least his advisors, don’t seem to have gotten over it. In a leaked story this week, former Sen. Chris Dodd, who is part of Biden’s VP search committee, was quoted in Politico as telling a campaign donor that he asked Harris about the ambush and “She laughed and said, ‘That’s politics.’ She had no remorse.”
Really? After all these years in politics Biden is such a fragile flower that he can’t take a shot across his bow? Breaking news Joe. Trump is going to go after you like a dog for a pork chop. How many times have we heard someone say: politics ain’t beanbag?
Also, the whole incident turned out to be a bust for Harris. It turns out supporting federally-mandated busing isn’t popular and neither is defending it. Harris finally had to admit that she opposed it, and favored letting individual communities make the choice, which was Biden’s point at the start.
What might be of more concern is what happened after the June debate. Harris, whose campaign began with a jam-packed crowd estimated at 20,000 in Oakland, wasn’t able to capitalize on her momentum and slowly slipped back in the polls, withdrawing from the race in 2019.
More worrying, I suspect, are the stories from her campaign, which Politico calls, “beset by staff drama, infighting and leaks.” In fact, in his Wide World of News newsletter, political pundit Mark Halperin says there are three groups actively trying to undermine Harris.
Two are obvious — (1.) Biden friends and staffers because (see above); (2) supporters of VP competitors.
But he also says there’s a third group —some people who have past professional associations with Senator Harris.
That’s never a good sign. And Harris can be abrupt. I had coffee with her when she was still the San Francisco District Attorney. All seemed to be going well, when suddenly the tone of the conversation became uncomfortable. I’d clearly done something to put her off. It was so unexpected that I’ve thought about it many times. I’m still not sure what happened.
Meanwhile, as he keeps saying, Easy-going Joe wants someone “simpatico.” Which is why Rice’s name has bubbled to the top. Rice, also 55, has never run for office, but she was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and national security advisor in the Barak Obama administration, where she worked with Biden.
Rice wrote a book about her experiences and there are some charming references to Biden as,“my favorite unannounced visitor.” She describes Biden dropping by her office to shoot the breeze or talk politics.
And if that’s what Joe wants, fine. Picking Rice would surely launch Republicans on yet-another what-really-happened-in Benghazi, where four Americans died, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya. Right after the attack Rice went on Sunday talk shows to say the violence was caused by an anti-Muslim video. That didn’t turn out to be true.
Rice is always ready to provide a tart rejoinder and one account says new members of her staff can be “taken aback by her tough standards and liberal use of curse words.” But they also say she won them over.
Rice is eager and willing to take on President Trump. After Trump cancelled his appointment to throw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium, Rice Tweeted a photo of herself throwing out a first pitch at a Washington Nationals game.
“What’s the matter, Mr. President? Can’t get it up and over the plate?”
Wow. So if you want someone who is pals with Biden and will trash-talk the president, Rice makes sense. But it still has the look of trying to find someone, anyone, who will be the alternative to Harris.
Because now, despite the slings and arrows, Harris is still generally considered the front runner. If Biden picks someone else, he is going to have to answer the question: What’s wrong with Kamala?
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Sports — an unlikely change agent
I imagine we all had pretty much the same expectation for the sports in a time of racial unrest and pandemic. The games would give us a little mental vacation, a respite. Hopefully teams would be able to keep the Coronavirus under control because we could use an enjoyable break.
Instead, as I said in my Santa Rosa Press Democrat column sports is making real, lasting changes. The Washington Redskins, after years and years of refusing to even admit that their nickname is a racial slur, abruptly changed their minds and announced they would no longer use the name.
That can have an effect. Canada’s Edmonton Eskimos and the Cleveland Indians are discussing changing their names. Washington, of all teams, serves as a positive example to say: “Look at us. We realize that using racial nicknames are demeaning and hurtful. And we’re not going to do it any more. You shouldn’t either.”
And shout-out to NASCAR, who banned the Confederate flag at its races. If there is a better example of how quickly opinions have changed in this country, I don’t know what it is.
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Was it a mistake for the 49ers not to trade for Jamal Adams? Discuss among yourselves
Jamal Adams, after weeks of speculation, signed with Seattle. That ended rumors that the 49ers were eager to trade for the All Pro safety.
GM John Lynch denies that they were, but an ESPN story said there were three teams in the bidding, Seattle, Dallas and the 49ers. Not going to disagree with Lynch, but there was an awful lot of smoke to that trade talk. You’re going to tell me there wasn’t even a little fire?
In the 49ers blog I write for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat we discuss the advantages of Adams — young, Pro Bowl player — and the disadvantages — expensive and volatile.
Should the 49ers have gone all in? We open the debate.
Contact C.W. Nevius at cwnevius@gmail.com. Suggestions and compliments welcome. Complaints not so much. Twitter: @cwnevius