BIG BREAKING: Joe Biden Has Made His VP Selection

AP featured image — Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event at the William “Hicks” Anderson Community Center in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, July 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Joe Biden has finally selected his running mate and it’s a bit of a surprise.

Susan Rice was the odds on favorite for most of the last month or so, both because of her personal relationship with Biden, and because Kamala Harris obviously hates Biden’s guts. Yet, Biden, perhaps not of his own volition, has chosen Harris as his running mate instead.

Breaking News: Sen. Kamala Harris of California is Joe Biden’s pick for vice president. A pragmatic moderate, she is the first Black woman on a major party ticket. https://t.co/Ttvh5RyxUB pic.twitter.com/NMcIz60ckH

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 11, 2020

Gotta love the Times describing Harris, who is a far-leftist more aligned with Bernie Sanders than Barack Obama, as a “pragmatic moderate.” But that’s exactly what they are going to do now. They will attempt to transform Harris into something she isn’t so that she becomes less scary to real moderate voters. That’s always the name of the game.

On the merits, this is probably a bad decision for Biden. Rice, for all her flaws (and they are many), carried less controversy and offered a bridge back to the Obama administration that could have benefited Biden. Harris, on the other hand, has lots of questions about her past, including her time as attorney general in California and her record in the Senate. She comes across as far more politically ambitious and radical than Rice does as well, which could turn some voters off.

There is a reason Kamala Harris bombed in the primaries. She is deeply unlikable and inauthentic. Let’s also not forget she accused Biden of racism late last year at the debates. Harris also said she “believed” Biden’s accusers after he was accused of sexual assault and inappropriate touching. The media will never bring it up again, but Republicans will have fun with that.

Given that, that Biden still picked Harris shows how weak and not in control he is. Someone else was pulling the strings here. Regardless, the tickets are now set and things are going to get even more focused now.

(Please follow me on Twitter! @bonchieredstate)