For well over a year, former Vice President Joe Biden has carried forth a simple strategy: Be nonthreatening. Facing a volatile, mistake-prone incumbent, Biden merely had to mimic vital signs, stay out of the spotlight and avoid looking off-putting or radical. And he accomplished those objectives, to great effect. He barely stumbled his way through the Democratic primaries, representing the nonradical voting repository for those alienated by the extremism of Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren; he refused to kowtow to the Twitter blue checkmarks calling for him to endorse rioting and looting; he shied away from insane slogans about defunding the police. He stayed in the basement, playing prevent defense against President Donald Trump.
All he had before him was one final hurdle: picking a vice president.
Usually, the vice presidential pick means little or nothing. The vice presidency is a uniquely powerless office, and presidents rarely hand over power to their vice presidents. But Joe Biden will be 78 in November and appears to be slipping significantly mentally — despite CNN’s protestations that he can still ride a bicycle. There is a reason nearly 6 in 10 Americans, according to a new Rasmussen poll, think Biden’s vice president will finish his first term.
So Biden had one task: to pick a vice president who would appear nonthreatening, mainstream and generally normal. The onus would then lie with President Trump to shift the spotlight from his own campaign.
Biden couldn’t do it.
He made an early error on that score when he declared publicly that he would pick a woman. This made it obvious that Biden was seeking a token -- some sop for the woke progressives in his base. And that sop opened the door to further demands: the demand, for example, that he pick not merely a woman (or, as the woke left might have it, an individual with a cervix) but a black woman. And so Biden was trapped into a limited selection of politicians, ranging from the unknown (Rep. Val Demings of Florida) to the communist (Rep. Karen Bass of California), from the quietly sinister (former President Obama's national security advisor Susan Rice) to the loudly ridiculous (Georgia non-governor Stacey Abrams).
None of these picks would be great; some would be far worse than others. But there was one pick who would prove far worse than all the others: Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. Harris is deeply radical. She endorsed "Medicare for All" while announcing that she would move Americans away from their private health care plans; she announced in open debate that she would use executive orders to ban "assault weapons"; she said she would ban fracking; she attacked Justice Brett Kavanaugh as a purported rapist and Judge Brian Buescher for his Catholicism. Harris is unpopular with many black Americans: As a prosecutor, she was fond of pursuing heavy sentences for light charges, as well as civil asset forfeiture -- and then she bragged about smoking marijuana during her campaign. Harris has similarly alienated moderates, attacking Biden himself as a vicious racist for his unwillingness to support forced school busing in the 1970s, and suggesting that she believed Biden's sexual harassment accusers. There is a reason Harris utterly flamed out in the primaries, aside from her bizarre habit of breaking into a Joker-esque whoop when asked difficult questions.
Nothing about Harris screams nonthreatening. In fact, in her Machiavellian campaign manipulations, she appeared deeply threatening -- threatening enough that Biden campaign adviser Chris Dodd reportedly wondered why Harris "had no remorse" for her opportunistic and dishonest attacks on Biden. At the very least, Biden should hire a food taster.
In selecting Harris, Biden has opened the door to the Trump campaign. And Trump should take full advantage. Biden's alleged moderation means nothing if he is willing to place Kamala Harris one heartbeat from the presidency. Biden's entire campaign strategy has now been undercut -- all in a vain attempt to please the Twitterati, who will remain pleased for precisely seven seconds. Trump should be ecstatic. The race is on. And that's all on Biden.
Ben Shapiro, 36, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of "The Ben Shapiro Show" and editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com. He is the author of the No. 1 New York Times bestseller "The Right Side of History." He lives with his wife and three children in Los Angeles.
Keep letting the public know the truth about the danger of K. Harris along with Biden’s weaknesses.
Any choice is better than what we have in the current administration. She is honest and fore right at best.
Are you trying to be funny? Honest! This person is an absolute hypocrite, just read about her flipping. She’s also a tyrant, she’s used her position and power to go after people, at the fringe of what’s legal. If you say that about Trump, then you have to say it about her. Don’t be a hypocrite as well.
Liar she is a whore cannot be trusted as well as not qualified to be VP get a life.
Better check that statement out again. Looks like everyone is getting in the lying game.
I have never seen a more despicable group of individuals in my whole life as the Democrats have put forth. I cannot vote for these people.
Just wait, it will not be long until we will ALL BE RACIST if we do NOT vote for KAMAL!!!!
If America loses the election to the Biden/Harris duo we can kiss America goodbye as we have known it and will be forced to accept the full Communist Agenda as the rule of law. At least we have had the past 4 years as a free Country.
Both of these individuals are the EMBODIMENT of the Spirit of Antichrists’ who is attempting to TAKE away EVERYTHING that God Gives us through the Documents that GOD gave us . . . That is, the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. This is when the American Spirit, given to us by GOD himself rises up WITHIN us (those that BELONG to God and his purpose) and says NO! Do NOT vote for them if you value your COUNTRY, State or TOWN! Christians: Pray against this Antichrists’ Spirit. We’ve got POWER over it in the Name and The Blood of Jesus! One Enlightened Patriot. Team Trump and his allies 2020.
If Id’a been Joe The running mate would’a been Tulsi cuz at least she has a head on her shoulders and is a great debater and seemingly sensible person who has served her country in the military . That way at least one of them two would’a been able to make a decision when the time comes. This Kamala seems to not be who she purports to be.
Not only that. do you want tto hear her cackling laugh for four years?
he picked her to get the trash votes , women who vote for their sex , blacks who vote for the color of your skin and latino’s that have no brains at all , but then i don’t care who wins , it doesn’t do any good , government is the down fall of our country because politicians have abandoned the constitution for their own profit
Ben,
This piece is excellent as is book, ” How to Destroy America In Three Easy Steps” All America must be informed of Kamala Harris’ leftist positions. She is a total phony. I’ve seen her in action since 2004.
Michael Antonini San Francisco
BEN YOU ARE SO RIGHT. THANK GOD BIDEN IS A PUPPET AND MADE WRONG DECISION
Truth of the matter is Biden had no one to pick from. There is not a single democrat woman today that is any good! But gald Biden picked Harris, this will help our President win re-election. As for Warren, many MA voters are sick of that woman!
So why pick a woman? Pick the best candidate.
Normally, the VP choice is no big deal. But given Joe’s 0% chance of making it through 4 years, Trump/Pence should frame her as running for “President-in-waiting.” If her Party rejected her, why should we be for her?
And remember her tear-jerker story bout being bused, “that girl was me”? I wouldn’t be surprised to learn she wasn’t “bused” in the traditional sense at all, but rode a bus to the neighborhood school.
Please tell me who believes Biden picked anyone for his vp pick? He hasn’t the brain power to make a choice. The corrupt Democratic Party picked Harris Probably the most corrupt and nastiest piece of work around. Women in politics today are a disgrace and Harris is one of the worst.
Joe Bidden made a FANTASTIC choice for vice president. HOORAY for Kamala!!!!!
Who do the DEM;S kidding DUMMY HARRIS WILL BE THE PRE;S IN A HEART BEAT SO LONG AMERICA GOD BLESS US ALL
Who do the DEM;S kidding DUMMY HARRIS WILL BE THE PRE;S IN A HEART BEAT SO LONG AMERICA GOD BLESS US ALL bul shit aol
HARRIS ISN’T EVEN ELIGIBLE TO BE VP OR POTUS SINCE SHE IS NOT A NATURAL BORN CITIZEN, A REQUIREMENT OF OUR CONSTITUTION, SINCE BOTH HER PARENTS WERE NOT US CITIZENS AT THE TIME OF HER BIRTH. HER FATHER IS STILL NOT A US CITIZEN. SHE WAS RAISED IN CANADA NOT AMERICA.
Joe picked Harris, because she is beautiful and lovingly ready to tell him fart off.
The author is mistaken Trump was not making mistakes as much a thauthor tried to imply he was doing far far better than Obozo did even in his second term’s last half. As for Pedo Joe all he does is make mistakes. Even with what is supposedly his VP pick he made a MASSIVE MISTAKE. From the way he botched her announcement to why she was picked were and still are MASSIVE MISTAKES. Normally a VP pick in meant to unite and Harris does not do that in FACT she divides even more. Biden picked her based on two things and one of them even divides. His reasons Harris is female and Some say also Black . There is the division part many Blacks say NO to her being Black. Now from his time running as Obozo’s VP we know Biden to be a serial sexual abuser of Women. During his(Biden)reign as VP he sexually assaulted little girls and the younger the girl the bigger his smile. Well if the Democraps RECTUM SUCKING PUPPETS the MORON MEDIA has not deleted all the evidence there is plenty of proof of his crimes. So Harris better pray she spends all her time on the Campaign trail or she will qualify as Black and Blue.
A