Kamala, Choose a Boring White Dude
Following President Joe Biden’s sudden announcement that he will decline his party’s nomination, the Democrats find themselves in a period of both turmoil and excitement. With Biden endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, she stands as the new frontrunner for the nomination.
If Harris should prove to be the nominee, the choice of her running mate would be crucial. If you look at an electoral map, there are several paths to a Democratic victory: The first is that they’d need to pick up Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and either nab one of Nebraska’s electoral votes (the state breaks up its electors) or secure either Arizona or New Mexico. Alternatively, if they won Georgia or North Carolina (neither impossible at this point), they could then afford to lose Michigan or lose Wisconsin and New Mexico and still win.
Regardless, because of our ridiculous Electoral College system, its evident that the Democrats would be best served by either a Midwesterner or Westerner on the ticket, or someone from Georgia or North Carolina.
Some have speculated about the prospect of a progressive ticket, perhaps including Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg under Harris or a double-woman ticket of Harris and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Haili Blassingame, for one, wrote for the New Republic, “Elections aren’t endings; they’re beginnings. A two-woman ticket would demonstrate that Democrats believe there is an after-election world that they will be relevant in shaping.”
This is an understandable desire. I, too, would like to see barriers broken. If I could sign up to have Harris as president and Whitmer as VP, I’d do it in an instant. But before we can break down barriers, we first we have to break Trump. And break Trumpism. That means that the primary goal of this election must be to win, and that we must do what gives us the best odds of winning, since Trump is such a threat to democracy and the egalitarian values we cherish.
Following on that logic, we should consider limiting our progressive instincts until after victory is achieved.
America is looking for boring, and that’s what we as Democrats should give them: a boring, heterosexual white guy who can help win his state and make voters feel as if they’re not being asked too much of. Americans are willing to accept change — especially when the alternative seems a bit scary — but only if you don’t make that change too challenging and let them take it in small doses.
Sadly, Donald Trump would not be Kamala Harris’s only opponent: she would also be facing off against the racism and sexism he embodies. Those are heavy opponents and it’s going to be a tough fight. If we also ask Americans to accept a homosexual vice president or a double-woman ticket, they’ll likely feel it’s too much and revert to the white guys that somehow look more presidential to them. Donald Trump managed to win the Electoral College and make things pretty close in 2016 even though he was running against a woman in Hillary Clinton who was obviously his superior in class, intelligence, and experience. Do not underestimate our nation’s ability to reject candidates based purely on prejudice.
There are white men who could help the ticket. One is Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania. He’s fairly young and popular in his state. He’s Jewish, and certainly antisemitism is alive and well, but Americans have by-and-large accepted Jewish candidates. Another member of my former tribe, Jon Ossoff, senator from Georgia, could be a good pick: he’s young, energetic, and handsome (doesn’t hurt).
Maybe you’ve never heard of Martin Heinrich, the Democratic senator from New Mexico. He produces videos on his YouTube channel which literally get hundreds of views. He’s kind of a boring white guy, it seems. He should be a consideration. Why? He could help win New Mexico and maybe Arizona.
Roy Cooper, the governor of North Carolina, also may not be the candidate who most excites you. But white people will like him and he may be able to bring in his state.
While Democrat Andy Beshear, the governor of Kentucky, wouldn’t be able to move his state into Harris’s column, he could have some crossover appeal. Here’s a telling line from his campaign page: “His family attends Beargrass Christian Church, where both Andy and [wife] Britainy serve as deacons.”
We need something like that. Now is not the time to fulfill all of our progressive fantasies. Now is the time to win. And the best way to win is to go white and boring but energetic for a VP pick. Because losing is just not an option.
