see url:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/08/11/biden-vp-choice-running-mate-black-racial-393337
see full article...interesting dilemma...
Quote<<<
Black voters are growing worried that he might not pick a Black woman as
his running mate, and that could have consequences.
As the country is within days, or perhaps hours, of learning who Joe
Biden will select to be his running mate, last week’s primary elections
in Michigan might serve to eliminate one variable and one candidate from
the equation. Voter turnout in Michigan’s election last week, along with
the most recent polling, suggests that Biden won’t need Michigan Gov.
Gretchen Whitmer on his presidential ticket in order to win the state in
November. Yet Biden reportedly met with Whitmer over the weekend anyway.
According to recent reporting, most of the other shortlisted candidates
are Black women: Kamala Harris, Susan Rice, Karen Bass, Val Demings.
Biden needs to think carefully about the message he’s sending to Black
voters with this decision.
True enough, Whitmer is the only VP shortlister with executive governing
experience, which could be a big deal to voters looking at what could be
the oldest newly elected president in history. (Although, in some parts
of the state, that experience isn’t all golden, with many residents
unhappy that Flint’s water is still unhealthy and Michigan public
schools, particularly in Detroit, are still under-resourced.)
If Biden picks Whitmer over a field of qualified Black women, it is
likely to shake Black voters’ confidence in Biden by reminding them of
his long and troubling record on racial issues. They are likely to
conclude that when push came to shove, he was just more comfortable
having a white person as his VP. And that could hurt him a great deal
more than some votes in Michigan.
When it came to Whitmer, until last week, the main theory from some
pundits was that in order for Biden to reverse the Democrats’ narrow
2016 loss in Michigan, he would need to have the popular governor on the
ticket. However, recent polls of Michigan voters show Biden polling high
and Democratic enthusiasm surging. Biden has expanded his lead over
President Donald Trump, including one poll last week which shows Biden
with an 11-point margin. More important, there was record voter turnout
in Michigan’s elections last week, as 2.5 million voters participated.
Not only was this higher than the previous August primary record of 2.2
million voters set in 2018, it was also significantly higher than the
August 2016 primary which saw only 1.4 million ballots cast.
If you are wondering what these record turnout numbers mean in terms of
party enthusiasm, we can look at the primary races for U.S. Senate, the
one statewide office on the ballot. The candidates in both parties were
unopposed, but the total Democratic votes surpassed the votes in the
Republican primary, 1,177,175 votes versus 1,002,235 votes, respectively.
To many observers, all this suggests that the electoral map does not
require Biden to select Whitmer to be his running mate. So the natural
conclusion that many Black analysts and voters will make is that if
Biden selects Whitmer over the four or five Black women he has himself
acknowledged are on his shortlist, then he will be doing so based on
some other factor or factors beyond electoral math.
>>>End of Quote
