Demings or Duckworth (UPDATED)

Update: The other co-founder of Black Lives Matter, Alicia Garza, says 

that Joe Biden should select a Black woman as his running mate because “Black voters are who essentially made Joe Biden the presumptive nominee

What she doesn't tell you is that she was and is a die-hard Bernie supporter. So what gives her the right to speak on behalf of all African Americans? They didn't go for her candidate; they chose Biden. Why should Biden take advice from an enemy?

Garza and her partner, Patrisse Cullors, also rather notoriously described themselves as "trained Marxists." Of course, this self-description is probably bullshit. Who did the training? Where is this training school?

Most of the claimed "Marxists" I've met over the past half-century never read much Marx. Marx focused on economics, not race -- and he was a philosopher proudly within the Enlightenment tradition. It's the postmodernists who oppose the Enlightenment, and who see all human phenomena in race-vision. I don't know for sure that Cullors and Garza are of the postmodernist persuasion, but these days, that's the way to bet.

That's an essay for another time. Come to think of it, I wrote a version of that essay not too many days ago. Let us now return to the small post I wrote earlier today...

* * *

I went into this post thinking that it could be my final word on the veepstakes, but now we learn that Biden has put off his decision for a week. Ah well. Too much vetting is better than too little.

I've given Val Demings little consideration heretofore, due to the experience factor. She's in the House, not the Senate. She has served only four years. And frankly, she hasn't done much.

That said, she has signaled a willingness to regulate or break up Big Tech. This position has been gaining ground in recent times (and not just on the left).

I've been watching her on YouTube -- and y'know what? She's good. She carries herself well.

Plus, I like the fact that she was a police chief. That'll go a long ways toward blunting one of Trump's main modes of attack. You know damned well that the Trumpist ratfuckers and trolls are going to promote violence and outrageous rhetoric in order to make Trump's "law and order" message seem all-important.

Demings was able to reduce crime in Orlando by a staggering 43 percent. And she's black. Thus, she's well-positioned to outdo Trump on the "law and order" messaging while simultaneously speaking to -- and for -- the majority of black voters (most of whom are more centrist than the "woke" would have you believe).

Karen Bass? She's good, but this bit of oppo research is devastating. In 2010, any politician should have been wise enough to treat Scientology as toxic.

Here's the National Review's oppo dump on Susan Rice. Most of this stuff will not matter to most Americans, but a few items are worrisome.

(Frankly, it's a little strange to see the pro-GOP media reveal their oppo before the pick. Are they genuinely trying to help Biden?)

Look, the election won't be won by increasing the woke vote. Most progs live in solid blue states. Although we're constantly being told that a youth vote tsunami will soon overwhelm us, that tsunami never seems to arrive. I first heard the "tsunami" myth back in 1972 -- and I actually believed it, because I was just a kid. The hard truth is that young people don't vote. They party and palaver and play video games, and sometimes they protest. But they don't vote. They turn into voters when they acquire careers and infants and mortgages, by which point their thinking has shifted.

Biden can win by appealing to swing voters in swing states. Too many Obama 2012 voters became Trump 2016 voters; Biden needs to fetch 'em back, and then fetch a few more. He seems to be doing spectacularly well right now, but the poll numbers will change once the smears hit.

Duckworth or Demings. Those are the choices: The war hero or the police chief. They will appeal to the voters Biden needs.