Liz could sink Joe
Liberal darling may spell doom for Biden
Things are looking up for Joe Biden.
The former vice president is out of his basement bunker, his fundraising is strong enough to run TV ads, and his lead over his Republican opponent, President Trump, is running into double digits.
What could possibly screw it up now?
Elizabeth Warren, that’s what.
The Massachusetts senator is reportedly on Biden’s new short list of running mates, and the two former rivals who once openly sniped at each other are now getting along swimmingly. Don’t. Just don’t. Given the racial turmoil roiling the nation, putting another elderly, white candidate on the Democratic ticket could be considered political malpractice.
If Democrats want to walk the walk on racial justice, and not just talk the talk, they can’t have an all-white ticket.
And Warren just isn’t your typical white candidate.
She’s a white person who, early in her career, listed herself as a racial minority. An “American Indian,” as she put it in her 1986 Bar of Texas registration card.
This is a fact. The media may not want to acknowledge or remember it, but it’s a fact. This isn’t a wild, Trump campaign talking point.
Putting Warren on the ticket would damage Biden in other ways, too.
Throughout her failed campaign for president, Warren consistently failed to draw any moderate or independent voters — and in fact polls showed she turned off moderates in large numbers, contributing to dismal showings like her thirdplace finish in her own home state.
Biden cannot afford to lose any moderate Democrats to Trump, and he needs to beat Trump among independent voters to win the presidency, especially in swing states like New Hampshire. U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California and U.S. Rep. Val Demings of Florida are examples of two candidates of color who wouldn’t turn off moderates. Both have extensive law enforcement experience — which some progressives won’t like — but could be an asset with more centrist voters.
It’s OK for Biden to choose a progressive as his running mate as long as she doesn’t repel moderates. That should eliminate Warren right there.
Biden should also stay away from Warren because of her East Coast residency and Harvard Law background. As much as she tried to convince the nation she was an Okie, Warren is an elitist Massachusetts liberal at heart. She would bring nothing to the table geographically. Combined with Biden, who hails from Delaware, it would be an allEast Coast ticket.
All those negatives should eliminate Warren, but they probably won’t. Warren has always been the media’s darling in the race, and she’s likely to hang on as a short list candidate for veep — if only to appease her progressive supporters and her media enablers. Biden can pretend that he’s seriously considering Warren to keep the far left in the fold.
But if Biden actually loses his mind and picks her?
He deserves to lose.