ETA: I really got carried away & didnt' mean to post a treatise. My bad!
My latest take on it is that Rice is in it for the Sec of State slot that Obama couldn't move her into for sundry reasons. She's universally panned by the Right across the board from Reagan Republicans to the Trump cult. She's never campaigned for elected office, aka never engaged in the all-important task of fund raising. Biden and his inner circle are not new to this. Their focus is squarely on a path to 270. I wouldn't worry too much about Rice getting the nod.
It seems that Karen Bass now has a Fidel Castro problem akin to the bullet Obama had to dodge w.r.t Rev Jeremiah Wright. Marco Rubio and a few of his friends in South Florida are actively painting Bass as the mother of all Castro sympathizers. She's made a few trips to Cuba and used a poorly chosen & translated phrase in Spanish that the right is characterizing as a term of endearment for Castro. Even Bass has responded with a pithy "lesson learned". If she can get past this tempest in a a teapot, I wouldn't rule her out.
Now, I hope you all don't attack me for what I write next. But, it's been weighing on my heart lately. I think that Kamala Harris has a character problem similar to the burden carried by Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Klobuchar. She is guilty of the one unpardonable sin for any American woman, the desire to be president. I really wish that men of a certain age would reveal the gist of the private discussions we have among ourselves about what a woman president should look and sound like. Dana Milbank arguably failed at it today in what reads more like a "hit piece" on Susan Rice in WaPo than an objective and balanced assessment of what Rice brings to the table. A few African American women blew up my Inbox with "did you see that bullshaite that Dana wrote about Susan Rice...why be coy about it...just call her an uppity angry black woman already". One of those women even accused Biden's team of planting the hit piece via Milbank to clear a path for either Kamala Harris or Tammy Duckworth, which is an excellent segue.
IMHO Tammy Duckworth is looking more viable with each passing day. She is a hero. Biden's team would not have to manufacture a hero narrative for her. And it would be extremely difficult for Captain Bonespurs and his henchmen to swiftboat her like the neocons did John Kerry in the past. When Kerry ran, the Vietnam War was becoming a distant memory for many voters. He was able to return home after the war with both life & limb. That is only partly true in the case of Duckworth who bears visceral evidence of the cruelties of war. Come to think of it, she'd be only person out of the group with a record of military service, which includes Trump, Pence, and Biden. Let Trump & Pence label her a "limousine liberal" at their peril.
One thing is almost certain...the woman picked by Biden as running mate will instantly become the most vilified person in the nation by right-wing media. She'll need to be thick-skinned and comfortable with the most scrutiny she and her spouse will likely receive in their lifetimes.
Finally, I'm going to offer a friendly reminder to some of the BLM adherents on here. Politics is about "compromise". If Kamala, Val, Karen, Susan, (or even Stacey for the sake for argument) appear to deter Biden in any way from having a shot at 270, sistah gurl needs to take one for the team gracefully. Reality set in fairly quickly for Amy Klobuchar , Elizabeth Warren, and Kirsten Gillibrand all of whom did the right thing at the most appropriate time. Unlike Obama, Kamala came nowhere close to capturing the party nomination which speaks volumes; Susan Rice wisely withdrew her nomination for Sec of State under Obama to avoid an utter humiliation; and Stacey Abrams lost her last statewide race which is a kiss of death politically. That leaves Karen Bass, Tammy Duckworth, Val Demmings, and the darkhorse Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer. I personally would be quite comfortable with either Bass, Duckworth, Demmings, or Whitmer as Biden's veep. 2024 will take care of itself.
#FactsMatter...your feelings not so much.
Updated On: 8/1/20 at 07:21 PM