THE OLD STANDARD OF "DO NO HARM" IN THE V.P. PICK WILL NOT HOLD THIS TIME

by Bob Walsh

Generally speaking in years gone past a vice-presidential candidate was picked on the basis of finding a person who would not harm the presidential pick.  The notion of ticket-balancing was also thought to be important.  For instance, an urban-liberal candidate might be linked to a rural-conservative candidate to spread the appeal of the ticket as a whole.  It may or may not have helped, but it certainly didn't hurt.

Then along comes 1944 and Henry Wallace.  By 1944 it was obvious to insiders that FDR's health was failing.  Republicans went to the Democrats and told them flat out that they would make FDR's health an issue in the upcoming campaign if Wallace was on the ticket.  Wallace was a huge cheerleader for the USSR, and was very likely himself a Socialist himself and possibly even a Communist.

So the Democrats went with Harry Truman for 1944.  He was a solid, safe bet.  He had been a Captain in the artillery during WW I and had gone bust in business during the depression.  He was known to be personally honest and headed an anti-corruption committee in the Senate.  He went after war profiteers with notable success.  It is said that FDR disliked him intensely.  After the election FDR had only three meetings with Truman, neither of them were one-on-one.  

Move forward to 1960.  JFK was considered by many to be a light-weight.  The DNC wanted somebody on the ticket to give him some punch, and some balance with the rural branch of the party so they picked Lyndon Johnson, who JFK allegedly despised.  Old Joe Kennedy, JFK's father, brought some fairly serious money to the party.  LBJ brought some muscle.  Pretty much every grave yard in Dallas and Chicago voted for the Democrat ticket.  Immediately after the election many of the RNC movers and shakers recommended that Nixon contest the election due to wide-spread voter fraud.  Much to his credit he refused to do so.  

Now comes Joe Biden.  He has painted himself into a corner very publicly.   He MUST pick a woman, preferably a woman of color.  He will make that pick very soon.  The pool is limited, and maybe pretty shallow depending on how you look at it.

There is some real concern about Biden's fitness for the job.  That concern is not conservative noise, it has trickled into the democrats as well.  Unless Joe makes a good choice it will hurt him, but he may not have any good choices.  As I write this it looks like Susan Rice and Kamala Harris are at the top of the pack, but it is hard to be sure.  Rice maybe has less baggage, but also less real-world executive experience (like none).  Harris is loved by the press.  

One thing for sure, this time around the pick will need to be an affirmative one as opposed to a not-negative one.  It is hard to make a pick for affirmative reasons when your potential choices have so little to recommend them to the voters.