Klobuchar asked Biden to take her out of VP pool: "It's time to put a woman of color on the ticket."

[StarfishSaver]

She just said on Lawrence O'Donnell a moment ago she called Biden last night and said she no longer wants to be considered.

[sheshe2]

1. I agree with AMY!

[FM123]

2. Thank you Amy!

[Iliyah]

3. K & R!

[ecstatic]

4. Good, but I think a scandal is about to come out

and that's why she is preemptively bowing out.

[StarfishSaver]

6. Why do you think that?

Why can't it be that she's just trying to do the right thing?

[ecstatic]

8. Her demeanor and response to questions surrounding her time as prosecutor. nt

[StarfishSaver]

10. I didn't get the sense that she feared a scandal

But she did make clear that her record as a prosecutor could be problematic and now is not the time to get distracted by a fight about that.

[elleng]

12. Yes

[cilla4progress]

14. Nailed it.

Yes this.

[elleng]

11. No, she said there's a lot of 'baloney' (my term) on the subject,

which she doesn't want to get into now.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

18. Her record as a prosecutor is well-known.

She's my senator. That record has been gone over with a fine-tooth comb. The big controversy about Derek Chauvin isn't her controversy - it has been claimed that she failed to prosecute him for a previous shooting when she was county attorney, but that's false. She was a senator by the time that case was sent to a grand jury; it was handled by her successor and not by her.

[BlueLucy]

21. Nope. You're way off.

Amy is selfless and not ego driven. She knew exactly what she was doing here. She just made Liz look like a selfish ego driven contender.

[womanofthehills]

35. She knows she made some past decisions that will not look good at this time

Amy said she is now regretting her decisions not to bring charges against police officers who were involved in shootings

[RhodeIslandOne]

39. .....

What will we do if we can't pick on Amy?

[herding cats]

5. She's definitely not wrong, and I respect her all the more for this.

[jimlup]

7. Damn! She's right as usual but....

Wow! I feel like crying. She is so right that I wish she could be our leader. But others are there too.

[NurseJackie]

9. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️👍👍👍👍👍

[Docreed2003]

13. I applaud her leadership here

[melman]

15. She knows her record of refusing to prosecute cops makes her ineligible.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

20. That's simply not true.

She was already a senator when a previous charge against Derek Chauvin went to a grand jury. The case was handled by her successor and not by her.

[melman]

22. It actually is true

Sorry. Note that I said "cops" and wasn't talking about any one particular case.

https://www.apmreports.org/story/2019/03/25/amy-klobuchar-police-hennepin-county-prosecutor

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/us/klobuchar-prosecutor-myon-burrell.html


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/amy-klobuchar-was-a-tough-on-crime-prosecutor-will-a-diverse-democratic-base-accept-her-record/2019/03/21/739e6984-4057-11e9-9361-301ffb5bd5e6_story.html

[George II]

25. Reminds me of someone, and it's not Fred Astaire.

[nolabear]

16. What a great woman. What a leader.

[PatrickforO]

17. To her credit. It is only my opinion and I'm not asking any of you to share it,

but I find Biden by himself pretty uninspiring. I'm just not excited nor am I enthused by him. Oh, I've often said that I will crawl over broken glass to vote for him, and I will. But...

His choice of a female person of color to be his VP will galvanize the whole Democratic base. And it won't hurt us at all with independents because those who will be 'upset' or are 'not ready' for a VP who is a woman of color likely would not have voted for Biden anyway.

Thank you Amy!

I'm excited about who he might choose, and he has a bunch of well-qualified women-of-color, for sure!

[sharedvalues]

19. Sorry this is BS: she knows she's out. She's not withdrawing

You don’t “withdraw” from the VP race, this VP race, while you still have a shot. She knows she has no shot so she’s fake resigning from a job she doesn’t have a chance at.

[StarfishSaver]

23. Wow

Your insight into how people under consideration for VP think and what motivates them is very enlightening. I had no idea no one ever asks to no longer be considered for the position and anyone who says they did is lying.

Thanks for the inside information!

[George II]

26. Yes indeed. I'm sure there have been extensive interviews with people who were under consideration..

...but didn't get the job, and that was their consensus.

I stand with the position that it was a great move by Klobuchar. Impressed.

[RVN VET71]

34. She's smart and canny.

The move was well timed and, no question, politically motivated. But good for her. She's smart and talented and will continue to be a strong Democratic Senator, letting Biden know that there will be absolutely no hard feelings between them for his ultimate choice for VP -- and that choice will, of course, be an African American woman. I'm still hoping for Susan Rice.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. I think her public and very graceful withdrawal - regardless of

whether she felt she had no chance - accompanied as it was by a heartfelt endorsement of a woman of color for the position, was not at all fake. I found her enthusiasm to be both exciting and honest.

[StarfishSaver]

30. This

She could have just let it play out. Or she could have told Biden to take her out of the running but not said anything publicly. This was a classy move.

[Awsi Dooger]

40. I like the way Amy handled it

Lawrence should have been more aggressive in response. In fact, I wish this happened with Chris Matthews as host. He would have been immediately blunt toward Amy's timing and reasoning

I can't watch MSNBC without Matthews. Sure he has flaws but he was the only unpredictable one of the bunch.

[JonLP24]

56. I remember Matthews praised Bush's flight suit

His comment about executions in central park is part of why I can't watch MSNBC anymore.

[LiberalLovinLug]

28. Its also a shot across the bow at Warren

Publicly pressuring Biden to dismiss the progressive values candidate, and giving him an excuse to not pick Elizabeth.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

45. Some think this is a diss at Warren.

[George II]

24. That is wonderful, impressed with that gesture. I've always liked her, but not as President or VP.

[dixiechiken1]

29. Nice gesture, albeit more symbolic on her part.

I think she had already been removed from consideration. After George Floyd, her record as County Prosecutor came under scrutiny and pretty much took her out of the running. Right or wrong, she was going to be a liability.

[Maru Kitteh]

31. Translation: Klobuchar found she was out of the running. I'm sorry,

but this just DRIPS of white privilege.

I like AK, but she should have thought about this a little imo. If she were still in the running, she could take herself out quietly and then merely state that she's encouraged VP Biden to seek a WOC.

Instead we have white lady stating "I will step aside" so that a WOC can have the spot. Ugh. Just rubs me sideways a little bit.

[StarfishSaver]

32. I don't see it that way at all

And if white privilege is involved, she's using it the way an ally should.

She's not actually telling Biden what he should do - he's gonna do what he's gonna do. She's inoculating him from criticism from white Democrats who might go after him for "playing identity politics" if he picks someone of color.

[progressoid]

36. +1

[Chemisse]

38. I agree. She is an ambitious woman; she's not going to just bow out.

I don't know much how the selection process, but don't they keep a few names simmering as decoys so the announcement can come as a surprise?

And if they do that, don't they pretty much let those people know - as a courtesy - that that is what they are doing? So if she has been kept 'on simmer', then this was an opportunistic and selfish move designed to gain approval.

In addition, she forces Biden's hand in that he now HAS to pick a woman of color (I think that is the case anyway, given the recent events, but that is for Biden to announce, not for her to mandate). So she is getting undeserved credit while screwing Biden over.

On edit - I completely changed my mind on this after reading this:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=13615903

[Laura PourMeADrink]

33. She knew she wasn't the pick. He should pick the best

BEST person to help him beat trump. FIRST! Then what ever that person looks like is SECOND. Male, female, white, black, brown, gay, straight, whatever.

I still can't believe Biden limited the entire pool by one half- so just because a person is born male they are excluded. All this is so antithetical to our core beliefs!

[Sunsky]

47. The male gender is accounted for

At the top of the ticket. He wants to give the other gender a chance.
Also, the societal the outcry for racial justice/ equity has seemed to impact his selection process and rightfully so. It is believed that a person of color would be the best person to help him beat Trump in this climate.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

48. Just have to repeat, sorry... Best human being first. What they

look like second.

Picking people based on their gender or skin color is antithetical to everything we stand for.

How about starting with who would be most effective to help Biden dig us out of the pandemic starting in January 2021? If nothing dramatically different starts happening then, we could lose any goodwill we've accrued since President Bozo started committing negligent homicide while playing golf in Jan and Feb.

[Sunsky]

51. What you stand for.

Ensuring that the lesser among us get representation is what the party I belong to stands for. This is why as a minority I stand with the Democratic party.

It's the thought process like this that breeds statements such as all lives matter. The playing field is not even. There is no problem with giving a certain set of people who are systematically overlooked a chance to represented at the highest level. It's honorable. I'm sure are there are competent women of color who fit the criteria you've specified. No? Every presidential nominee gets to select their VP out of certain conditions. There is nothing wrong in selecting a qualified woman of color, who can stand up to Trump (Biden stated is one of his condition).

[Laura PourMeADrink]

52. Sounds like you believe in picking a gender and race and

orientation first, then look for a qualified person.

I believe in the exact opposite. Qualified person then WHATEVER they happen to look like second. Did people say, we need a bi-racial man, then seek out Obama? No. Did the people say we need to find a gay man for mayor then look for Buttegieg? No. They shone on their merits first.

This certainly doesn't mean, like you imply, that caring deeply about those less fortunate among us is mutually exclusive with picking the best person blind to what they look like.

[Sunsky]

53. False choice and weak analogies

We the people, do not seek out candidates for the most part. We choose from the lot who enter the race. A presidential candidate on the other hand gets to select his or her VP candidate.

Nowhere did I ever state I believe picking anything or any group first. I believe in all groups have a seat at the table. A qualified candidate can be a woman of color. There are numerous "qualified" women of color. The choice is Biden's. I applaud the Democrats for actively recruiting minorities for key roles in politics and that is one of the main reasons that I am a proud Democrat. The first African American president came from our party. Let's have the first female VP and hopefully the first female president as well. We have the doubt many years of white make ruling the country, give others a chance. So yeah because of our history I am happy Biden decided to go with a woman. I'm African American but my VP choice was a Hispanic female.
I didn't imply anything. I explicitly stated that the Democratic Party seeks to give representation to underrepresented communities (due to race, gender, and sexual orientation). Therefore, while we the people may not "seek out" the candidates, the party officials do actively seek out gender, racial, and other minority groups to provide each group with political representation. Perez happily spoke about this during the 2018 election.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

54. Not a normal typical world. We have to defeat the monster. That is

the overriding goal. Due to the severity of this moment in history, we don't have the luxury of just cavilierly saying, "it his choice.". Because if this choice is not the right choice, not the most qualified person from the entire country, there is too much to risk. He has gotten worse since day one and no one can stop him.

I don't know who that person is... But they had better look at it based on who can demonstrably help lead us out of the pandemic and reverse the damage trump has done everywhere.

[C Moon]

37. Trump will follow suit by having Pence seen in public only with minstrel show blackface.

[RhodeIslandOne]

41. Well, this thread didn't disappoint.

that's no knock on you Starfish.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

49. So you were looking for a thread where everyone agrees?

[RhodeIslandOne]

55. I don't see a reason to "disagree"

Unless someone just wants to be spiteful and snarky.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

57. Disagreement Snark?

[Cha]

42. I know Sen Amy Klobuchar is a TEAM PLAYER...

She proved it when she bowed out of the presidential primary along with Pete Buttigieg.. Endorsed Joe Biden.. and Changed Everything..!

I Thank Her!
💙

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

43. Yeah for Senator Klobuchar

[Hermit-The-Prog]

44. Hey! How about a man of color? I've got a nice pasty, fishbelly, cracker complexion with spots!

I also have a grand policy for the nation: Round up all Republicans and put them in cages. Treat 'em exactly as they've treated the children.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

46. How about best person