By Clarence McKee
Former Vice President Joe Biden is again showing how Democrats disrespect and take Blacks for granted.
He told a Black radio host, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t Black.”
Biden then attempted to sugarcoat his remarks, adding, “There are multiple Black women being considered” for vice president.
Biden is committed to naming a woman as his vice-presidential running mate, and there is growing pressure for him to select a Black woman.
Black women are among the Democratic Party’s most loyal constituencies.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez has said that they are “the backbone of the Democratic Party.”
A group of over 200 signed a letter urging Biden to select a Black woman.
It’s not going to happen.
Biden and Democrats know that they have Black voters in their hip pockets and will get at least 90% of their vote if recent history is any guide.
If they don’t, they’ll lose — especially if Trump can convince Blacks that he can bring the economy back to the record levels of Black unemployment before the pandemic.
Why should he name a Black woman when he can count on Barack and Michelle Obama, most of the national Black political, academic, legal, and media communities?
Do you think any of them, or the women who signed the letter, will refuse to support him if he doesn’t select a Black female?
No way!
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., who engineered Biden’s big South Carolina victory, said having a Black woman on the ticket is “not a must.”
There are many outstanding Black female Democrats in the country. Of those mentioned, few would bring any unique geographic or political benefit.
Some could even hurt Biden’s chances.
Four thought to be under consideration are Stacy Abrams, former Democratic leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, Rep. Val Demmings, D-Fla., Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Susan Rice, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and national security adviser under Barack Obama.
Abrams appears to be the only one of the four actively campaigning for the job doing numerous media interviews. Other than serving as minority leader of the Georgia House as noted above, her single claim to fame is losing her 2018 governor’s race.
She has been complaining and pretending she is the real governor to anyone who would listen ever since.
She has the least to offer in terms of background and experience.
Rep. Demmings was the first female police chief in Orlando, which is in the crucial Florida I-4 corridor. The Sunshine State is a vital political battleground in any election.
A significant negative is that she is relatively unknown nationally, having served only three years in Congress. She would become a lightning rod for conservatives because she was one of the House impeachment managers and is a loyal mouthpiece for U.S. House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Another drawback is that she would not attract Florida’s Cuban, Puerto Rican, Central, and South American Hispanic voters — a crucial voting bloc.
If you think these choices are troubling, look at California’s Sen. Kamala Harris and her blemished record as a prosecutor in The Golden State. As the New York Times reported, she “fought tooth and nail to uphold wrongful convictions.” Those convictions were purportedly secured through official misconduct including “evidence tampering, false testimony and the suppression of crucial information by prosecutors.”
As to her horrible presidential campaign, she was unable to connect with voters, including Blacks.
Harris had no consistent message.
Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton put it well, writing that the California senator should “never have run for president in the first place. Her ambition far exceeded her ability.”
Finally, there is Susan Rice, former United Nations ambassador and national security adviser under Barack Obama.
Rice carries more baggage than a family of four on a six-week vacation.
She repeatedly lied on national television, saying a “video” was the cause of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Now she is up to her neck in the events surrounding the unmasking and FBI investigation of former National Security Adviser Gen. Michael Flynn.
The only Rice qualified to be Vice President, or President of the United States, is not Susan — it is Condoleezzaformer national security adviser and Secretary of State under President George Bush.
If Biden were sincere about selecting a black female — and he’s not — he should put another hook in the water.
This group should go back.
If Biden wants to play the ethnic and gender political game, he would display a higher level of strategic poltical logic selecting a Hispanic female.
Clarence V. McKee is president of McKee Communications, Inc., a government, political, and media relations consulting firm in Florida. He held several positions in the Reagan administration as well as in the Reagan presidential campaigns. He is a former co-owner of WTVT-TV in Tampa and former president of the Florida Association of Broadcasters.
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