I have found people surprisingly welcoming of the selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate and heir-apparent should the ticket win in November (and also beat back the authoritarian attempts to undo the results).
Yes, there have been some naysayers, mostly about Harris’s background in law enforcement, something of a problem for Biden as well given his hand in the tough on crime 90’s laws. But in general, people have evaluated this as a potentially winning move by Biden, even if it does not suit their personal politics. The New York Times covered this phenomenon today, and worth a read. www.nytimes.com/…
However, what to say to the intransigent Berner who has started making noise about voting for the Green party candidate for President? They seem to believe this was a kick in the teeth. They ask how can we stomach Prosecutor Harris in the post-George Floyd world? She was for Medicare for all before she was against it. Lots of handwringing and speculation about the “establishment” and the “DNC” not recognizing the grassroots and future. And frankly and undoubtedly there are bots and foreign influencers who will twist every vote and comment to make the ticket out to be the boogeyman.
My response is simple, if you really care about policy moving in a more progressive direction, the strong Biden/Harris ticket could have bigger coattails in downballot races and most critically in some marginal Senate races. Those coattails could be the difference between Mitch McConnell continuing as Majority Leader and progressive heroes Senators Sanders and Warren taking the reins of powerful committees.
As chairs of committees or subcommittees with a solid majority, a hypothetical President Joe Biden would be negotiating with these two. Sanders, Warren and a boatload of other admirable Democrats would be the ones running the committees, setting the agenda, holding the hearings and getting the votes.
Sanders, for example, is ranking member of the Budget Committee and would be in line to take the gavel for the full committee. He also sits on Energy & Natural Resources and Environment and Public Works committees. Perhaps most importantly for Medicare for All, he is the ranking member of Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, part of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and would have a heavy hand in crafting any universal health care legislation should he run that subcommittee.
Warren is the ranking member of Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection, part of the Banking Committee, where she would be the natural fit to run the subcommittee, if not the entire committee…. although current ranking member Sherrod Brown would also be just dandy as Chair of the Banking committee. Duckworth, Cortez-Masto, Wyden, Reed, Hirono, go down the list. These folks will get control of committee staff, resources and authority to write and set the agenda for their committees and subcommittees.
In the words of one Joseph Biden, this is a big f*&#ing deal.
Go look at the current committee assignments and dream of a world with 8 or 10 less republicans replaced by fresh Democratic faces in the back bench supporting the Senators you already trust to be progressive advocates. Give those advocates the ammunition and power to be at the negotiating table. Give them the gavel.
So, when you are confronted with the inconsolable about Biden/Harris, don’t try to mollify their feelings. It won’t work anyway. Give them another goal, a more important goal. I’m using the pick 3 strategy… pick a competitive race (CO, AZ, ME, NC), a toss up (IA, MT, GA1 & 2, AK) and a long shot (TX, KY, SC, KS) and get involved in all 3. Winning the Senate majority will do a hell of a lot more to advance progressive causes than putting a token liberal in as VP.
Yes, I will also acknowledge talk of elevating a more progressive voice to be majority leader. Frankly, I don’t mind the idea of Schumer/Durbin/Murray continuing to take the political heat of leadership while Sanders, Warren, Brown and others get the business done. But that’s a discussion for another diary.
