“Risk losing the very base Biden needs to win”.

I still don’t get what would make the white woman who voted for 45 make the switch to a democratic ticket simply because Klobuchar is on the squad. It doesn’t make any sense.

What do you say to Black people who believe this vote could result in continued police brutality and or racial violence so a black woman on the ticket is an absolute must? You don’t see the validity in the concerns of black voters? Especially with the shit that regularly spews outta Joe’s mouth? Why are we so quick to give old white men MORE opportunities to fuck shit up.


You can’t blame special interest groups whose special interest is deeply rooted in living without fear of death. You shouldn’t. I mean you did...

A Biden/Klobuchar ticket? Or we could just nominate a loaf of Wonder Bread. Lord. 

I play tennis at a country club in South Carolina, so I know my share of white women who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Hillary in 2016. They’re not coming back to us for Amy Klobuchar. They might hint that they’re considering it, because deep down they know that voting for Trump is shameful, but eventually they’ll come up with a myriad of excuses as to why they just couldn’t bring themselves to vote for the Democrats once again.

You just got to love these special interest groups when it comes to elections.  They become so focused on what’s important to them personally they ignore the big picture and by staying home to “send a message” that the ticket wasn’t just the way they wanted it to be, they often end hurting themselves even more then if they showed up to vote.

Now we have members of the Hispanic and black communities telling Biden don’t pick Amy as his running mate, because if you do we may just decide to stay home and you need us to win.

Did these individuals ever stop to think what their lives would be like for the next 4 years if trump is re-elected?  I mean isn’t that like “cutting off your nose to spite your face?”

And I guarantee you, we’ll get the same reaction from some other group of individuals if Biden picks a black woman to be his VP or a progressive like Warren.  And let’s not forget about the group who won’t be happy because Biden has committed to picking a woman as his VP.

For any one group to “dictate “ terms for their vote in this election is just plain stupid considering the potential outcome for pulling this stunt is four more years of trump.

From Politico...link

“Black activists warn Biden: Don't pick Klobuchar as VP”

“The Minnesota senator and former prosecutor has problems with communities of colors that another top white contender, Elizabeth Warren, does not.”

Amy Klobuchar performed abysmally among black voters in the Democratic primary. It’s haunting her now as Joe Biden decides on a running mate.

The Minnesota Democrat has the governing experience and ideological profile to mesh well with Biden, and she’s regularly appeared as a surrogate and a fundraiser for him, raking in more than $1.5 million for a single event she headlined. The pair have a warm relationship, trading phone calls when her husband was hospitalized with Covid-19 and they didn’t tangle publicly during primary.

But more than a dozen black and Latino strategists and activists warned in interviews that selecting Klobuchar would not help Biden excite black voters — and might have the opposite effect. Klobuchar would “risk losing the very base the Democrats need to win,” said Aimee Allison, founder of She the People, which promotes women of color in politics. They pointed to her poor performance among non-white voters during the presidential primary, as well as her record as a prosecutor in Minnesota.
It’s not yet clear how much the opposition of activists matters to Biden. He's made clear that the electoral politics of his pick matter less than choosing someone who can be a governing partner and step into the top job without worry.

But the vocal contingent of African American and Latino detractors — many of whom said they would prefer Biden to select a black woman as a running mate — is unique to Klobuchar; Elizabeth Warren, another top contender for VP, doesn’t elicit similar antagonism from communities of color.

"It comes from her performance in the primary — her weakness in being able to motivate them,"  - me - I would think the potential of 4 more years of trump would motivate any sane person.  said Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of BlackPAC, who supports several potential vice presidential selections. “The engagement and the enthusiasm of black voters is going to be a difference-maker in this election, and the concerns about her in this role stem from the degree to which she resonated or not with those core constituencies.”

Earlier this week, Biden confirmed that "multiple black women [are] being considered" for vice president. Those often named include Sen. Kamala Harris, former Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams and Florida Rep. Val Demings. Other Midwestern options, like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, have also been mentioned.

But for many of these operatives, Klobuchar symbolizes a strategic division within the Democratic Party: Whether to focus on winning back white, Midwestern voters who flipped to Donald Trump in 2016, or on activating voters of color who were not excited to vote. She “represents that tension,” said Rev. Al Sharpton, who said he’s told Biden that he would prefer a black woman on the ticket but noted he’s “not anti-Amy.”

“It is not her fault, but she is in the middle of an ongoing battle from the last few presidential races,” Sharpton continued, adding he would be “concerned” that selecting Klobuchar would not help energize black and brown voters.

In a Washington Post op-ed this month urging Biden to select a woman of color as VP, seven black strategists and activists called out Klobuchar, warning she would “only alienate black voters.”

"Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, does not need help winning white, working-class voters — he serves that function himself," they wrote. Referring to her record as a chief prosecutor in Minneapolis, they added, "A choice such as Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), who failed to prosecute controversial police killings and is responsible for the imprisonment of Myon Burrell, will only alienate black voters."

“If it was important enough to raise in an op-ed, it speaks to how serious we are,” LaTosha Brown, a co-founder of Black Voters Matter and the lead op-ed author, said in an interview. “Her campaign appeal was about bringing in working class, white people from the Midwest, and perhaps that’s true, but that’s a particular strategy that doesn’t align with what it’s going to take to win. You need to excite the base.”

Angela Rye, a Democratic strategist and the former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus, who also signed the op-ed, called Klobuchar a “non-starter.”

Klobuchar's boosters counter that Donald Trump will drive out the Democratic base no matter what, and that the key Rust Belt states that Democrats have to win play to Klobuchar's strengths.

"I think she could help put the upper Midwest in play, and that's an invaluable asset," said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who backed Bernie Sanders during the presidential primary. He also noted that "there are a lot of black people" in the Midwest, in cities like Detroit and Milwaukee, who will also be key for Democrats in winning back those states.

"I think the base is going to be excited enough because, before, Trump was an idea, now Trump is the reality," Ellison continued.

Klobuchar has been working to improve her relationships with minority activists and politicians since she dropped out of the presidential race. She endorsed a slate of racially and regionally diverse candidates in down-ballot races. She’s worked with Stacey Abrams, another VP contender, to promote a vote-by-mail bill, which was endorsed by Voto Latino and Rev. Jesse Jackson earlier this month. She also wrote a bill to expand broadband access to studddents at historically-black colleges and Hispanic-serving institutions. And she participating in a virtual town hall hosted by the NAACP on how the coronavirus is disproportionately hurting black and brown people.

During the presidential primary, Leah Daughtry, CEO of the DNC’s conventions in 2008 and 2016, hosted Klobuchar with a group of influential black women leaders, “half she knew, half she didn’t,” and “people walked away with a favorable impression.”

But, Daughtry noted, “building relationships in every area of our lives takes time, including in politics,” and “it isn’t something you can do in a matter of weeks.”

The primary results illustrate the Klobuchar's failure among voters of color.

In South Carolina, she won 1 percent of black voters, even though they make up a majority of Democratic primary voters in the state. It was the lowest total for any of the presidential candidates on the ballot.

In Nevada, Klobuchar received 4 percent support of the Latino vote, the lowest share of any presidential candidate other than Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. Nationally, Klobuchar regularly polled in the low single digits among voters of color.

“Could she have done more? Absolutely,” said Antjuan Seawright, a South Carolina-based Democratic consultant. “But she knew where her bread was buttered, and that started in Iowa. She was taking the race as it comes.”

Seawright noted that Biden’s own strength in the black community — as evidenced by his resounding victory in South Carolina, which revived his flailing campaign — “gives room for the potential for Amy Klobuchar” as vice president.“



Note:  I used “special interest groups” because I couldn’t think of a better term to describe a group of individuals, whether they’re male or female, young or old, white or folks of color, college educated or not who put their own personal interests before the best interests of the country for the upcoming election.  I don’t think this country can stand another 4 years of trump.  And while Biden and whoever he picks for his VP might not be our individual choice, if that ticket wins we can at least stop the damage trump/GOP are doing and start moving the country in the right direction.  So now, IMO, is not the time for any of us to stamp our feet and threaten to take our marbles and leave if this ticket isn’t exactly the way we want it.   What we must do is to turn out & vote regardless who Biden picks as his VP.

Wow. One would think these uppity blacks have no business imposing conditions. Guess what? Biden is a big boy and he’s got advisers aplenty who know how to read an electoral map. With such an easy condition to meet (there’s no shortage of qualified black women in the Democratic Party), there’s no need for this much hand-wringing. He and his people know he has to hold onto the black vote and energize enough of them to turn out or he’s toast, and what better way to do that than have a qualified woman of color on the ticket? Hillary was far and away a better candidate than Biden and she lost in the EC. We Dems should not kid ourselves – Biden alone ain’t gonna cut it.

And yes, blacks are a special interest group – they have a special interest in keeping themselves alive and unmolested while walking, jogging, standing around, barbecuing, or just breathing. That you say this special interest is being put above the good of the country is plainly ridiculous, a bifurcation that makes no sense. What would make you think that the preservation of life and civil rights is not good for the country? Maybe if your life was endangered or scrutinized every time you’re just standing around minding your own business, you wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss their social and justice system concerns as “stamping our feet and threaten to take our marbles.”

And thanks for dictating to black people when the wrong time is to impose conditions because heaven knows they need to be told what to do and when to do or not do something. Since you’re telling them now is not the right time, am I to assume you’ll tell them when the right time comes along, your statement that solutions to racism are long overdue notwithstanding? What special skills or knowledge do you possess that makes you think you’re a better judge of when the right time is?

You’re telling blacks they’re “plain stupid” to “dictate terms for their vote” because Trump is the alternative. Get real. Every politician is pressured to cater to different segments of society all the time as a condition for votes. Black people pulled Biden’s campaign up from the ditch and paved the way for him becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee. Black people delivered your wish – a run-of-the-mill moderate without an iota of progressive cred. A plain vanilla neoliberal. Now, some of them want representation on the higher echelon by someone who really understands what it means to be a woman of color in this country, and maybe, just maybe, will have a hand in remedying some of the injustices done to them, their husbands, their sons, their brothers…something vital to blacks that you call a “stunt.” A person who might have to take the reins of the presidency given Biden’s advanced age and can push for aggressive reforms. Will that scare the Independents or swing voters? How would anyone of us know? (I actually want to go further – get an uber-progressive black female lesbian VP and send the Right scurrying for smelling salts.) If Independents, swing voters and those who switched to Trump have not figured out what a shitty president and raving imbecile Trump is regardless of who Biden’s VP choice will be, nothing on this green earth is going to open their eyes.

Olan’s right – you’re rallying the wrong people because black women consistently deliver to the Democratic Party (so much so that the bloc of black female voters who vote D no matter what has been called a political phenomenon unmatched by others). They didn’t give this country Trump. White women did that. So you know what you can do with your “%” of black voters not voting in 2016.

You’ve had some posts before that made me roll my eyes but I just ignored them. Not this time. Stop pretending you “understand racism.” That’s the same useless lip service blacks have been hearing for decades. Ersatz wokeness that delivers nothing. By dismissing and insulting blacks who dared to impose conditions for their votes, you’ve proven you do NOT understand the toll racism exacts.

If you take nothing away from my post, at least take this: Blacks are intelligent enough to determine when to call in a chit. Not too long ago, 200 black women wrote a letter to Biden urging him to choose a black female as his running mate. These were professionals who wrote – mostly leaders in their chosen fields. One of them was Johnetta Cole, the former president of Spelman College. She was one of an expanding contingent of black females saying now is the time. Obviously, she didn’t need you and others like you saying the same thing to tell her and the growing chorus of black female voters when the right time is.

Should the occasion arise when your ability to live and breathe free of harassment becomes dependent daily on the whims of a white public or some law enforcement officer who maims and shoots first, feel free to demolish me in a post. Until then, stop telling black folks what they should or should not do with their vote, and I promise I won’t tell you what to do with yours.

www.cnn.com/2020/06/18/politics/biden-vice-president-amy-klobuchar/index.html



"This is a historic moment, and America must seize on this moment. And I truly believe as, I actually told the vice president last night when I called him, that I think this is a moment to put a woman of color on that ticket," Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, told MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell.

Interesting!  Does that mean its primarily between Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren?  I confess, this Canadian is a huge Elizabeth Warren fan.  I seriously love her.  BUT, isn't Kamala Harris or another woman of colour kind of a no-brainer at this point?  Or am I not reading the room?