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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTammy Duckworth is Biden's safest -- and smartest -- vice presidential pick
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is playing prevent defense. Biden is ahead of President Trump by six points in national polls and leads in swing states such as Wisconsin, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona. He doesnt need to recapture the news cycle, retool his strategy or reinvent the wheel to beat Trump. He just needs to stay ahead and run out the clock.
So when Biden picks his running mate, he should simply try to minimize risk. Biden should stay away from big-name progressives such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), future superstars such as Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) or Georgian Stacey Abrams and swing-state saviors such as Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) or Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.). Those candidates might net Biden some votes, but choosing them would also pose real risks to Bidens campaign and to his agenda. The safest choice, and the one most able to bolster important parts of Bidens message, is Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).
Duckworth easily meets the basic requirements for the job. She served in the House for four years and has been in the Senate since 2017, giving her more congressional experience than Donald Trump or Barack Obama had when they were inaugurated. As a 52-year-old religiously unaffiliated Asian American, she would balance the ticket demographically. Shes plausible as commander in chief, an essential qualification given Bidens age. And, like Biden, shes neither too liberal nor too moderate data-driven measures place her right in the middle of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
And more than that, adding Duckworth to the ticket would also fill in some of the gaps in Bidens experience while amplifying his vision. Biden constantly touts his foreign policy experience, but he has never served in the military. Duckworth is a combat veteran who lost her legs in the Iraq War, and as vice president, she would be able to provide a soldiers firsthand perspective on war in the Middle East. More broadly, her time in the military would underscore Bidens emphasis on service and sacrifice, especially at a moment when Trumps handling of the pandemic has raised questions about how he treats members of the armed services.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/29/tammy-duckworth-is-bidens-safest-smartest-vice-presidential-pick/
CatWoman
(79,302 posts)I don't have anything against her -- actually I love her.
But leadership of America should look like America.
elleng
(130,974 posts)CatWoman
(79,302 posts)exactly
greenjar_01
(6,477 posts)Huh?
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)CaptYossarian
(6,448 posts)It's not her fault. Her parents were white.
CatWoman
(79,302 posts)i thought she was
mucifer
(23,553 posts)CatWoman
(79,302 posts)however, as I stated above I did not know she's not white.
mucifer
(23,553 posts)family's patriotism because he considered her 100 % Asian:
OrlandoDem2
(2,065 posts)That said, I wouldnt mind the governor of NM.
elleng
(130,974 posts)and Franklin Duckworth. Her father, who died in 2005, was a U.S. Army veteran who traced his family's American roots to the American Revolutionary War.[5] Her mother is Thai, of Chinese descent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammy_Duckworth
rurallib
(62,426 posts)Jake Stern
(3,145 posts)They're both bi-racial.
abqtommy
(14,118 posts)Last edited Wed Apr 29, 2020, 03:42 PM - Edit history (1)
at my local WalMart. It looks like the friggin' United Nations, you know what I mean? I see people of every ethnic background, gender and age. That's what America looks like!
Crunchy Frog
(26,587 posts)Notwithstanding that, I'd still love to see her as veep and later president.
Jake Stern
(3,145 posts)She would make an awesome VP.
rurallib
(62,426 posts)there is one small problem. That is that Duckworth's state is already pretty certain to go Democratic. So what do we gain? Same is true of Harris and probably Warren.
Whitmer in Michigan would probably assure her state going Democratic.
Not sure if Abrams could turn Georgia, simply because the elections are {shall we say} crooked there.
Lujan-Grisham from NM is an intriguing thought, although NM is a small electoral state.
With Warren, does the governor replace her in the senate? He is a Republican.
mucifer
(23,553 posts)CaptYossarian
(6,448 posts)That isn't a sure thing in other places like Wisconsin.
You can't gerrymander a statewide Senate election, but there is voter suppression.
judeling
(1,086 posts)It is stupid and unfair, but Biden is starting to make real inroads into the demographics that the age of Tammy's adorable daughters will be an issue. She just doesn't gain enough elsewhere to offset that.
marybourg
(12,633 posts)count against him? Anyone who wouldnt vote for a ticket where the VP nominee had young children would be voting for the malevolent nincompoop anyway.
judeling
(1,086 posts)is the operative pronoun.
Biden is making huge gains in 65+ and those that attend church.
babylonsister
(171,074 posts)overjoyed if its a Biden/Duckworth ticket.
Bradshaw3
(7,522 posts)I see nothing but positives from him choosing her. Female and Asian American, smart, empathic, experienced, replaced by a Democratic governor, war hero. Of course she will be attacked but so will any nominee, and having watched her on tv, she has a great way of dealing with tough questions while being very personable. And wouldn't it be wonderful if one day she would be our first female President.
fleur-de-lisa
(14,627 posts)Mosby
(16,319 posts)I'd be happy with Amy, Val, Tammy, Tammy, Grechen, and I could live with Liz.