Who will Biden choose as running mate?

[Mike!]

Biden campaign says he is so close to a VP pick he can smell her

Bee for the win!

 

[varwoche]

Why is a Stalinist on Biden's short list? Who in his entourage has those ideas and that kind of influence? Previously I said I'd be okay with a Biden administration in counterpoint to a GOP legislature. But if he's got actual Stalin apologists nudging his policy positions, I'm going to have to nope out of that. Four more years of Trump is infinitely preferably to a Stalin-adjacent presidency.

I've been smirking for 24 hours since reading this hilarious post. What's funny is the astounding eagerness to buy in, to assign that much weight to things a person said decades ago, and to elevate it to Stalin adjacency. I especially enjoy the "infinitely preferable" part, as if Trump wasn't an actual authoritarian, never mind adjacency. Laughing dogs etc.

 

[acbytesla]

[qimg]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/imagehosting/thum_670705f279bd3b71f7.jpg[/qimg]

But I think Harris will get it. How many times has a VP pick influenced their home state to switch vote?

Hard to say. But LBJ in 1960 for sure. Kennedy doesn't win without him.

 

[crescent]

I think he'll choose Elizabeth Warren. She seems pretty popular with Democrats, though so is Kamala Harris. But he's pretty conservative so he'll choose someone white.

I really like Warren, I voted for her in the primary. But I don't think he should pick her, I think he should pick someone younger (if Warren had won the nomination, then I think she should have also picked a younger running mate). Partly to reach out to younger voters, and also as a backup plan in for COVID-19 - if older people are at higher risk, then I would prefer Biden's choice be someone from a lower-risk group.

If he picks Duckworth, it will be Birtherism 2.0 because she was born in Thailand and her mother is Thai. Her father is American, he was stationed in Thailand in the military and his American ancestry dates back to the Revolutionary war. But my social media feed is full of claims that's Duckworth is ineligible because (they claim) she's not an American-born citizen. (They are wrong, of course.)

At this point though, I think birtherism 2.0 would hurt the Republicans much more than previously. At good part of the GOP would like to pretend birtherism never happened, it now embarrasses the more moderate voters and complicates outreach to minority voters. Strategically, it could be a good old-fashioned "wedge issue" to divide the more moderates (now embarrassed by birtherism) from the more rabid conspiracy-driven wing of the party.

(more or less off topic, I learned from these "debates" that John McCain was not born on U.S. soil either. His father was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone, which was U.S. soil at the time. But the birth itself happened in a hospital outside the canal zone, not on U.S. soil. If Duckworth isn't eligible, McCain wasn't either).

 

[theprestige]

I've been smirking for 24 hours since reading this hilarious post. What's funny is the astounding eagerness to buy in, to assign that much weight to things a person said decades ago, and to elevate it to Stalin adjacency. I especially enjoy the "infinitely preferable" part, as if Trump wasn't an actual authoritarian, never mind adjacency. Laughing dogs etc.

Forget about years ago. Here she is yesterday on Meet the Press, claiming that Cuba has medicines for diabetes and lung cancer:

https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-august-2-2020-n1235604

On the the other hand, she seems to have hardened her stance on Cuba at least a little bit. So perhaps she's no longer the Stalinist she once was. Still, with all the other people to choose from, it's still kinda weird to have a (former?) Stalinist on the short list.

I'm not even concerned about the tu quoque. I think we can both agree that neither Biden nor Trump should pick a Stalinist VP.

Anyway, it's unlikely Biden will pick her, so all's well that ends well I suppose.

 

[crescent]

Forget about years ago. Here she is yesterday on Meet the Press, claiming that Cuba has medicines for diabetes and lung cancer:

https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-august-2-2020-n1235604

That seems a pretty harmless quote:

The Cubans also have two medicines, one for diabetes, of which my mother died for, lung cancer, which my father died for, and I would like to have those drugs tested in the United States.

I can't find the least fault with wanting to test potential new medications.

 

[theprestige]

That seems a pretty harmless quote:


I can't find the least fault with wanting to test potential new medications.

You think it's plausible that Cuba has developed a medicine for lung cancer that's unheard-of elsewhere?

 

[Firestone]

Maybe Bass was referring to Cimavax and Heberprot-P?

 

[crescent]

You think it's plausible that Cuba has developed a medicine for lung cancer that's unheard-of elsewhere?

She didn't say they have come up with a 100% cure-all for all lung cancer in all people. She didn't even say what they have works, or that it works better than what's already available. She suggested that it get tested, to see if it works - you know, science.

There are a lot of medicines for all different kinds of cancer, often used in combination, all with varying degrees of efficacy. It does not seem a stretch at all to think that someone has come up with one more that is at least promising enough to test in more than one country.

 

[theprestige]

Maybe Bass was referring to Cimavax and Heberprot-P?

I will assume, for the sake of argument, that this is the case. Assuming there's even something you want to argue about.

 

[crescent]

I will assume, for the sake of argument, that this is the case. Assuming there's even something you want to argue about.

????? You're the one who brought it up!

 

[Trebuchet]

I also voted Duckworth because I like her, but I'd actually rather he didn't pick any sitting Senator. And Warren is too old.
If it's Duckworth, the R's will be screaming about her citizenship within seconds of the announcement. Probably faked her war wounds, too.

 

[theprestige]

She didn't say they have come up with a 100% cure-all for all lung cancer in all people. She didn't even say what they have works, or that it works better than what's already available. She suggested that it get tested, to see if it works - you know, science.

I assume the Cuban government has already carried out substantial scientific testing of these treatments.

There are a lot of medicines for all different kinds of cancer, often used in combination, all with varying degrees of efficacy. It does not seem a stretch at all to think that someone has come up with one more that is at least promising enough to test in more than one country.

If Cuba has already established the basic efficacy and ethicality of these treatments through scientific testing, then I'd be very surprised if they're not getting further trials in more than one country already. Canada, the EU, China, and Brazil all spring to mind.

If Cuba is using untested treatments, not currently recognized or endorsed by any other country, I don't see why this should burden the US medical community with any obligations other than perhaps "hey maybe you shouldn't give patients untested medicine."

It'll be interesting to see if a Biden administration pursues independent (or even joint) research into these medicines. Whether or not Ball gets the VP nod.

Incidentally, Bass is a California legislator. Are there industry or trade regulations at the federal level that prevent her state from pursuing its own research into these treatments? Given the highly distributed nature of government authority in the US system, it annoys me when state policymakers seem to be sitting on their hands waiting for the federal government to enact the policies they claim to want.

 

[Brainster]

Incidentally, Bass is a California legislator.

Was. She was term-limited out of the legislature in 2010 and handed a congressional seat on a silver platter.

 

[theprestige]

????? You're the one who brought it up!

An observation in passing. I question the plausibility of Cuba having a scientifically-tested treatment that is being ignored by the rest of the world, but I don't see much point in arguing about it. Do you want to argue about it? No? Then we can move on to other more likely VP picks for Biden.

 

[theprestige]

Was. She was term-limited out of the legislature in 2010 and handed a congressional seat on a silver platter.

Thanks for the correction.

 

[timhau]

How about Angela Davis? I bet we can get more drama out of the impossible options than we ever could with the exceedingly unlikely.

 

[Ron Obvious]

That seems a pretty harmless quote:

The Cubans also have two medicines, one for diabetes, of which my mother died for, lung cancer, which my father died for, and I would like to have those drugs tested in the United States.

Died "for", really? I know I'm a grammar pedant, but that's a bizarre way of phrasing that.

 

[Puppycow]

I think he'll choose Elizabeth Warren. She seems pretty popular with Democrats, though so is Kamala Harris. But he's pretty conservative so he'll choose someone white.

You do know that Warren is considered more "progressive" of the two.

I really don't think it will be Warren.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I really like Warren, I voted for her in the primary. But I don't think he should pick her, I think he should pick someone younger (if Warren had won the nomination, then I think she should have also picked a younger running mate). Partly to reach out to younger voters, and also as a backup plan in for COVID-19 - if older people are at higher risk, then I would prefer Biden's choice be someone from a lower-risk group.

If he picks Duckworth, it will be Birtherism 2.0 because she was born in Thailand and her mother is Thai. Her father is American, he was stationed in Thailand in the military and his American ancestry dates back to the Revolutionary war. But my social media feed is full of claims that's Duckworth is ineligible because (they claim) she's not an American-born citizen. (They are wrong, of course.)

At this point though, I think birtherism 2.0 would hurt the Republicans much more than previously. At good part of the GOP would like to pretend birtherism never happened, it now embarrasses the more moderate voters and complicates outreach to minority voters. Strategically, it could be a good old-fashioned "wedge issue" to divide the more moderates (now embarrassed by birtherism) from the more rabid conspiracy-driven wing of the party.

(more or less off topic, I learned from these "debates" that John McCain was not born on U.S. soil either. His father was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone, which was U.S. soil at the time. But the birth itself happened in a hospital outside the canal zone, not on U.S. soil. If Duckworth isn't eligible, McCain wasn't either).

Neither was Ted Cruz.

I think birtherism when the US citizen was a soldier rather than a female single mom is just not going to fly the second time around.

Besides, Duckworth was born in Thailand. There is no CT she is pretending to have been born in the US.