I switched back to Kamala

[Yosemito]

When I first entered this forum, My initial pick as preferred candidate was Kamala Harris.

then, I was impressed by Bernie Sanders' position in Venezuela. Like him, I oppose intervention.
Plus Bernie has been respectful to other Democrats so far.
But today I had an epiphany.

A couple of weeks ago, Bernie stated that he's leaning toward picking a female as his VP nominee in the event that he wins the Democratic primaries.

I thought. Ok. That is great. Kamala is young. She could soften the view of Bernie as attracting too many white folks. Good.

But today I thought. Holy shit! Bernie is gonna choose Tulsi Gabbard as the second in command to a man who is nearly 80!
Yes, Kamala is young. But Tulsi is younger.
Kamala is non-white. So is Tulsi.
Kamala didn't endorse Bernie in 2016. Tulsi did.

And guess who is attending events together?

Link to tweet

Under no circumstances will I vote for anyone who may give Tulsi Gabbard the position of VP nominee.
My best hope is that he will pick Warren (which I doubt because he may want someone younger).

But since I'm not 100% sure, I will play it safe.

[CharleyDog]

1. Kamala is way beyond vp material. She is presidential.

Tulsi, not so much. But then, Bernie is not my cup o tea. Kamala is probably my first choice, or perhaps, Elizabeth Warren.

[allgood33]

39. Tulsi is to Sanders as Sara was to McCain. nt.

[MadDAsHell]

2. "She could soften the view of Bernie as attracting too many white folks."

What does this mean? Are we looking for candidates that turn off white folks? Are we not seeking every vote, regardless of race?

[Yosemito]

5. As a proportion of his voters

He needs to attract more minorities.

[Sherman A1]

3. Choose whatever preference you like

But I don’t draw the conclusion that Gabbard would be the choice based upon the information provided.

[Quixote1818]

4. Agree. nt

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. Please continue to keep us apprised of your decision making process.

Thank you in advance.

[Yosemito]

7. I will

[Hassin Bin Sober]

13. Do you want to handle media alerts or shall I?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

20. We should get alerts when any poster changes their preference.

[Garrett78]

8. I'll say it again, look at the primary schedule. Sanders is essentially done after New Hampshire.

He won't be picking anyone as a running mate.

No matter how many times people post name recognition polls, they remain meaningless. After New Hampshire, Sanders is going to struggle mightily.

[madville]

18. Biden is pretty much going to bulldoze through Super Tuesday and it will essentially be over

So I do agree with you that Sanders, along with everyone else, will see the writing on the wall and it will be over with a fizzle. People will have to decide if they want to come hard at Biden throughout the primary campaign/debates and possibly work themselves out of VP consideration in the process though.

[Garrett78]

19. I think Harris will have a better Super Tuesday than any other single candidate.

I think Harris will also do quite well in the first 4 contests leading up to Super Tuesday.

After March 17, I think Harris will probably have the nomination in the bag.

You need to remember that the name recognition polls are meaningless.

I certainly think Biden has a better chance than most, though I disagree that he'll be the nominee. Sanders, on the other hand, has no path.

[madville]

21. We'll see

I predict she will consistently finish 3rd behind Biden and Sanders in a majority of the states she competes in, will have a few 2nd place finishes behind Biden and will win 2 or 3 states (California at least) in close races but not enough to gain any significant proportional delegate advantage from the wins.

We'll be able to tell by how she debates Biden I think, whether or not she is angling for VP, they won't go after him hard unless they believe they have a legitimate chance of winning the whole thing. She has gone out to the left on most issues so far and that is a very crowded space at the moment, Biden can sit back as cruise as long as he can maintain 30-40% support.

[Garrett78]

22. I'm sure that's what Clinton thought back in 2007.

[wasupaloopa]

31. I predict Sanders and Biden will drop out after Super Tuesday if not before. We know Kamala in CA

and we have the most delegates to win. Many of us have voted for Kamala twice already and will vote for her in the CA primary.

You don't win CA you are out period.


I really can't understand why anyone thinks Sanders will preform like 2016 with all the candidates to vote for.

And I believe that like me, 2016 Hillary supporters wouldn't vote for Bernie if you held a gun to our heads. He doesn't have any other pool of voters to draw from beside the few that support him based on 2016.

[madville]

41. California has potentially weakened it's influence by going earlier with this large a field

With this large a field and the system of proportioning most delegates by Congressional district for candidates getting over 15%, it's easy to see Biden and Harris potentially coming out of CA with an even split and Sanders getting a decent chunk as well. Warren and Booker still hanging around could pull some votes away from Harris.

It will also depend who all drops out after IA, NH, SC, and NV but you are still looking at potentially 1 top-tier candidate (Sanders) and 3 mid-tier candidates from the left (Harris, Booker, Warren) splitting votes 4 four ways while Biden gets more moderate support.

Biden and Sanders are going to be well funded, they won't be going anywhere before Super Tuesday. I would just hate to see Harris get desperate and ruin any VP chances by attacking Biden in a last ditch attempt to gain traction.

[wasupaloopa]

42. No way in hell will Biden or Bernie get any help from CA. Mark my word. Harris is the home town

favorite.

Both Biden and Bernie are from a past era. As in 2018 voters will look to younger leaders in 2020. You can take that to the bank.

I am not sure Biden will even run in 2020.

[Garrett78]

45. Harris has already gained traction.

If Sanders loses New Hampshire, he's done. But even if he wins New Hampshire, the road gets exceedingly difficult for him following that primary. After Super Tuesday, he'll essentially be eliminated, just as he was in 2016.

I agree that the potential is there for a lot of vote-splitting in California. I also think it's possible that Harris will win CA by a wide margin. And we may be down to fewer than 5 candidates on Super Tuesday.

The "conventional wisdom" regarding Biden may not be as conventional as you believe. Read this: https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/campaigns/article226007090.html. The only reason anyone thinks Biden is a good option is because he was Obama's VP (look no further than Biden's previous attempts to get nominated; pre-Obama Biden was never considered a good option). Otherwise, nobody would be promoting a 76-year-old with a penchant for gaffes and a good deal of baggage. Time will tell if having been Obama's VP and this narrative about needing to nominate a white male will carry Biden to the nomination. I think it's possible and consider Biden's odds better than most, but I think it's far from a guarantee.

[EffieBlack]

46. I like Biden - came to like him much more as Obama's VP than as a senator or candidate

Last edited Sun Mar 3, 2019, 12:59 PM - Edit history (1)

But the things that many of us find charming about him work much better in a VP when he's balancing out a serious president who has considerable gravitas than in a president himself. The nutty, gaffe-prone Uncle Joe routine is fun in a VP, not so much in a candidate or president.

I don't think Biden will do well in the primaries and don't think he'll win the nomination. I'd rather he wrap up his political career on a high note as a popular and beloved vice president rather than get drummed out in a failed and possibly painful campaign. It would be a shame for him to go out like that.

[Garrett78]

47. Well said. I agree.

Right now, he's remembered as lovable Uncle Joe who pals around with Obama buying burgers and ice cream. For that reason and the narrative about needing to nominate a white male to defeat Trump, Biden has a better chance than he's ever had to get nominated, so I'm sure he's very tempted by the narrative surrounding him. But Biden may find that an actual campaign doesn't serve him well.

[Wednesdays]

9. Is it a done deal that Gabbard will be his veep pick?

[oasis]

35. Early 2016, Tulsi forsook her role as DNC vice-chair and immediately

hopped aboard the Bernie train.
And now, her eagerness to sign on to what she knew would be a crowded field of heavyweights (by comparison) was a puzzlement to me. It all became clearer as Bernie officially threw his hat in the ring.

If Tulsi gets blocked for the 2 spot, then she can surely wrangle a cabinet position from her pal Bernie. She probably knows her number is up in her congressional district and that may be why she taking this route.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. I'm going to keep fence-sitting for awhile, except that I have a few

no-way-in-hell candidates that I would absolutely not support in a primary. Gabbard is one of them. If Bernie were to signal even the slightest possibility that he'd choose her as his running mate I'd put him on the same list. However, the fact that they are attending the same events isn't enough evidence of that possibility, yet.

[CentralMass]

11. I highly doubt that Bernie Sanders will chose Tulsi Gabbard..

[Power 2 the People]

14. +1

[Yosemito]

15. Why not?

They have a lot of views in common.

[True Dough]

12. For the record

I picked Pete Buttigieg at the outset and I'm still supporting Pete Buttigieg!

[patricia92243]

34. Just changed to him from Brown. Am listening to Mayor Pete now on a podcast.

[True Dough]

36. Welcome aboard!

I just checked, patricia, and unfortunately your endorsement wasn't quite enough to push Pete up to 2% support yet here on the DU. Maybe the next convert will do it. We'll have to start a recruitment drive!

[patricia92243]

37. I don't know how to post podcast, YouTube and such, but that would be a good

recruitment tool. The more people hear him or about him, the more they will support him.

He is one of the most articulate persons I have heard in a long time.

[still_one]

16. Let me ease your mind. He will select Nina Turner to obviously bring those who like Hillary aboard

[ronnykmarshall]

23. No that would be TINA Turner.

Nina makes me want to hurl.

[still_one]

40. perfect response!!!

[Nanjeanne]

17. Of course you can use whatever criteria works for you but you decided based on

your determination of something that hasn’t happened, Sanders has given no indication will happen, and no where is there even any inkling that it will happen.

Gabbard is giving support to the striking workers. Which is something Sanders is already doing. That’s all that tweet says.

Personally, I do not think Sanders will choose Gabbard - but we are a long way from anyone choosing anyone.

[Iggo]

24. Harris.

[Autumn]

25. I switched to decaff. It really helped

[True Dough]

26. How have I not noticed you over the past few years, Autumn?

Just the past couple of days, I've seen your posts. Gotta keep an eye out for more!

[Autumn]

28. Hey what about Sanders/Buttigieg 2020... Perfect? Kismet. Am I right?

They would be perfect for each other. A great ticket . I stick close to the Sanders group. The Warren Group. Wherever AOC is.

[Nanjeanne]

43. I've wanted that team since the beginning. Or Sanders and Stacey Abrams.

[Kurt V.]

27. i would like to see more talk about unions from all the candidates.

[blue cat]

29. I thought the same thing today

That tulsi was going to be his pick. Scary.

[wasupaloopa]

30. Don't worry. Bernie will not win CA and Kamala will. Bernie will not make it past Super Tuesday

[forklift]

32. I agree except

Tulsi Gabbard is 87.5% white and 12.5% Native Samoan. Her paternal grandfather was 100% white (English) although he grew up in Samoa. Tulsi's mother and maternal grandparents have German and Irish ancestry.

Kamala Harris's father was Caribbean Indian and Caribbean Black while her mother was 100% Indian. Thus Kamala is 0% white.

[earthshine]

33. You are drawing conclusions based on your own opinions. There is no evidence to suggest it.

Your opinions seem to be rather flexible, to put it politely.

I think Bernie would be more likely to choose Warren, but not vice versa.

[Devil Child]

38. Sen. Harris will make a damn good president

I will have no hesitation supporting her in the general if she secures the primary nomination.

[Gothmog]

44. I share your concern