Why Joe Biden Can’t Pick Elizabeth Warren to Be His VP

Credit Image: DonkeyHotey via Wikimedia

Elizabeth Warren is rumored to be one of Joe Biden’s most likely picks for Vice President. He promised to choose a woman, and Sen. Warren is that, and nationally known. Most importantly, a recent poll “found the majority of Democrat registered voters, 71 percent, want Biden to consider Warren as a running mate.”

Two things make this choice unlikely and foolish. The first is obvious: She is white (rumors of her American Indian ancestry were greatly exaggerated). Democrats need high turnout among blacks and Hispanics, and non-whites turn out in lower numbers for white candidates. This is part of the reason why Hillary Clinton — who foolishly chose a white running mate — lost in 2016. The poll I just mentioned found that 59 percent think Mr. Biden should consider choosing Sen. Kamala Harris, and 50 percent also liked the idea of considering Stacey Abrams. All other possible choices (most of them white) fell under 50 percent.

The second reason Sen. Warren is a bad choice is less well known: Bernie Sanders supporters, who can make or break the Democrat Party, despise the Massachusetts Senator. The reason is that at the beginning of the fight for the Democrat nomination, the left-most half of the party worried that their vote would be split between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and let the moderates crush both of the leftists. If just one ran, a leftist could win.

For a time, there was an uneasy truce between the two leftist candidates and their supporters; they didn’t snipe at each other. Détente was shattered in January during a debate when Sen. Warren claimed Sen. Sanders had told her a woman could never be President, implicitly calling him a sexist.

Supporters of Sen. Sanders saw this as a lie and a pathetic attempt by Sen. Warren to save her flailing campaign. Then Democrats started voting and Sen. Sanders suddenly seemed poised to win the nomination, while Sen. Warren suffered defeat after crushing defeat. For a brief moment, supporters of Sen. Sanders forgot about Sen. Warren.

This changed after Joe Biden’s campaign was revived with a crushing victory in South Carolina. Once again, there was a fear that the progressive/socialist vote would be split between two candidates, while one centrist candidate Biden put together a winning majority. At this point, supporters of Sen. Sanders argued, quite reasonably, that since Sen. Warren had yet to win a state — or even place second in a state — and wouldn’t be able to win the nomination, she should “take one for the team” by dropping out and backing Sen. Sanders.

There was a strong push for this:

• “Elizabeth Warren, Please Drop Out for the Sake of a Better World,” by Hamilton Nolan, In These Times, March 2, 2020
• “It’s Time for Elizabeth Warren to Drop Out,” by Sarah Jones, New York Magazine, March 2, 2020
• “It’s Time to Drop Out, Senator Warren,” by Kalewold H. Kalewold, Jacobin Magazine, March 3, 2020
• “Warren has the chance to unite the left by endorsing Sanders. She should take it.,” by Connor Turque, USA Today, March 4, 2020
• “ELIZABETH WARREN, PLEASE ENDORSE BERNIE SANDERS NOW,” by Mindy Isser, In These Times, March 5, 2020
• “Why Elizabeth Warren Should Endorse Bernie Sanders,” by Natalie Shure, Jacobin Magazine, March 6, 2020
• “Elizabeth Warren Should Endorse Bernie Sanders — Not for Him, but for Herself and Her Mission,” by Ryan Grim, The Intercept, March 6, 2020

This list includes most every important leftist outlet, and many respected leftist pundits. On March 8, after Sen. Warren finally ended her campaign, Bernie Sanders made this pitch himself:

We would love to have Senator Warren’s support, we would love to have the millions of people who supported Senator Warren. . . . We’ve reached out, we’re looking and asking for the support of Senator Warren’s supporters, and hope they come onboard.

But Sen. Warren never endorsed her supposed comrade. Instead, she made light of the situation on Saturday Night Live. (Skip to the one-minute mark.)

Sen. Warren waited until the race was all but over to endorse Joe Biden. Supporters of Sen. Sanders have since seen Sen. Warren as a treacherous phony with a mean streak. More than one of the many popular socialist podcasts that serve as the intellectual vanguard of the Sanders movement dedicated episodes to attacking her.

It’s a f***ing game to her. https://t.co/zGumQgE67s

— grillpilled_cushbomb (@cushbomb) March 8, 2020

Although supporters of Sen. Sanders dislike most of Mr. Biden’s possible choices for VP, the only one they hate is Elizabeth Warren. Mr. Biden needs those voters; Sen. Sanders overwhelmingly won both young people and Hispanics. If Sen. Warren becomes the VP candidate, many “BernieBros” will stay home in November out of spite.

I say: Good for the BernieBros! They fought hard, had their hopes dashed, and now can hold the party hostage. Racial dissidents and nationalists should consider doing the same. Consider this message from Hubert Collins (retweeted by Ann Coulter) to President Trump:

Hey @realDonaldTrump in 2016 I spoke with over 5K voters on your behalf. But given your treatment of @jeffsessions I will not be doing so again. You can guarantee I vote for you by endorsing Kris Kobach. Or guarantee I don’t by endorsing Roger Marshall.https://t.co/TLtSvrLQjC

— Hubert Collins (@HubertCollins13) May 24, 2020

We won’t get anything we don’t fight for.