An “August” Political Season - “The Sunday Political Brunch” August 2, 2020

Sunday, August 02, 2020

Mark Curtis, MINDSETTER™

 

View Larger +

Former VP Joe Biden

This is an August no one saw coming. Instead of being a month of “august” political events, it may be a month of great disappointment and few big headlines. Or, will it? Despite the doomed, “Zoomed” conventions, there might just be some real excitement after all. Let’s “brunch” on that this week!

“A Sleeper for Vice-President?” – She was on almost no one’s radar screen (including mine), but suddenly Rep. Karen Bass (D) California has rocketed out of nowhere to be under serious consideration. Here’s her :30 second biography. Bass is in her fifth term in Congress, representing a district in Los Angeles County. Prior to her ten years in the House of Representatives, she served six years in the California Assembly, including as Speaker of the House from 2008 to 2010. She was the first African American woman in America to be a House Speaker. I’ve interviewed her in both offices and she’s a force. On a sad, ironic note, if Bass joins the Biden ticket, you would have two candidates who lost a daughter in a tragic car accident. The odd, cross-paths of politics.

“Pros and Cons on Bass” – She rocketed into the leadership early in both the State Assembly and the House of Representatives. She’s a liberal and a partisan, but is known for having cordial, effective relationships with Republicans. She also served as Speaker of the House for a state – that if it were a stand-alone nation – would have the fifth largest economy in the world. So, she has chops. On the downside, (as with Sen, Kamala Harris), she comes from California, a state Democrats are likely to win no matter who is the VP choice. With Florida and Georgia in play as battleground states, I still say Rep. Val Demings (D) Florida, and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) Atlanta are the more likely picks. Stay tuned, we could know this week!

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

“What Next?” – I was on the “Copeland’s Corner” podcast this week with my old pal Brian Copeland from KGO Radio in San Francisco. He asked me if Joe Biden should start naming his cabinet now, rather than wait for the traditional post-election appointments. I have written about this topic often over the past year, basically saying any Democrat who won the nomination should announce the cabinet well before November. You can imagine Biden picking Sen. Kamala Harris for Attorney General, and Pete Buttigieg for Housing and Urban Development, and Sen. Jack Reed for Secretary of Defense, and so forth. It would be unprecedented. No one has ever announced the team they planned to field in January, this early. I’d do it! Go!

“Why Telegraph Your Moves?" – Yes, naming a cabinet early has its risks. Despite good vetting over the years, we’ve seen surprises in the conformation process that no one saw in the background check. Senator John Tower’s nomination for Secretary pf Defense misfired, not two mention Bill Clinton’s first two choices for Attorney General, Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood. But there are pluses. Ronald Reagan promised during the campaign that he’d name the nation’s first female Supreme Court Justice. And while he did not mention Sandra Day O’Connor by name until he won and there was a high court opening, she was a hugely successful and popular choice.

“The Unconventional Conventions” – It’s August and the Democratic National Convention is supposed to be meeting in Milwaukee the week of August 17th, with the Republicans scheduled in Charlotte the week of August 24th. Neither conventions will really happen as we know it. A small smattering of dignitaries and limited media will be in both cities, as the conventions will largely be viral. These conventions have largely become, “political cocktail parties,” for the last several cycles but quite honesty have lost their relevance. They are political dinosaurs in an Internet age. I’ll be on vacation and not attending this year. I may weigh-in on this blog, but I suspect I will zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! “The Times, they are a Changin,’” sang Bob Dylan.

“Remembering Herman Cain” – Last week I paid tribute to Rep. John Lewis (D) Georgia, whom I came to know well as a Washington, D.C. Correspondent for WSB-TV in Atlanta. This week the nation lost Herman Cain, a former Republican presidential candidate in 2012. These two very different men were not natives of Atlanta, but both made their political legacy there. Lewis was a liberal leader of the successful 1960s Civil Rights Movement, while Cain was a politically conservative, successful businessman. There’s always been this odd political assumption that to be successful, or progress as an African American, you had to vote Democrat. Why? As a white male I was free to vote for liberal Ted Kennedy or conservative Ronald Reagan. Shouldn’t black voters have the same political options as me, without reproach? Both these men should be honored for being successful African American role models – albeit at opposite ends of the political spectrum – and for their contributions to this nation.

Who would you like to see as Joe Biden’s Vice-Presidential pick? Just click the comment button and let us know!

View Larger +

Mark Curtis, Ed.D., is a Chief Political Reporter for the six Nexstar Media TV stations serving West Virginia, its five neighboring states and most of the Washington, D.C. media market.

 

Related Articles

 

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

 
 

Sign Up for the Daily Eblast

I want to follow on Twitter

I want to Like on Facebook