DNC CIVIL WAR: Kamala's VP Choice Looms

Vice President and Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris now faces the largest test of her political career in her running mate selection.

There is a civil war in the DNC that will escalate if she does not choose wisely. Like many great enemies, the war between the party’s most important cohorts started with a close friendship.

During the Second Summer of Rage in 2020, the party’s wealthy New York-based, mostly Jewish, donor class poured funding into the party and causes like Black Lives Matter. At the time, this pleased all sides.

New York’s liberal donors thought they were supporting an allied cause, black racial activists had the funding to see their effort through, and the party coffers overflowed with cash.

However, all of that changed on October 7th, 2023. When Palestinian Hamas launched its offensive against Israel. While nearly all of the corporate press and political establishment rallied around Israel, BLM was an early supporter of Palestine.

Multiple BLM chapters posted graphics that appeared to not only support Palestine generally but overtly support the blood-letting Hamas was inflicting on Israel.

This shocked and appalled New York’s Jews. They soon turned their sights on high-profile progressive black congressmen.

The most expensive congressional primary this year was Jamal Bowman’s in New York’s 16th District. Pro-Israel groups poured money into defeating the vocal Israel critic.

$25 million was spent on advertising alone, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact — the most in American history. Nearly $15 million of that spending came from the United Democracy Project, a super PAC with connections to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which backed his opponent.

(Graphic a la New York Times)

Bowman was handily defeated by his opponent, George Latimer, who won with 58.7% of the vote.

Then, as the war raged on, the pro-Israel lobby set its sights on President Joe Biden, as his position slowly became more pro-Palestinian with the March announcement of a temporary port in Gaza.

“Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.”

-Margaret Thatcher

Now, neither crucial element of the party is happy. Leftwing Jews feel the Biden Administration has been too pro-Palestinian. Progressive blacks feel the president has been too pro-Israeli.

Obviously sensing this, Harris has been campaigning in Atlanta and in other areas with high black populations, trying to triage the support of the black voters.

So far, it remains to be seen if she will be successful. “Now, Democratic Party elites and billionaire donors are attempting to manipulate Black voters by anointing Kamala Harris and an unknown vice president as the new Democratic ticket without a primary vote by the public,” BLM said in a press release, “This blatant disregard for democratic principles is unacceptable.”

The organization went on to criticize the DNC for not holding a snap primary and Harris personally for not taking a clearer stand on any issues since her candidacy was announced.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro

With this in mind, it may seem obvious that she would choose Pennsylvania’s young Jewish governor Josh Shapiro as her running mate, in an effort to bring together the money and the voting base of the party.

However, if she does so, she risks antagonizing progressive blacks, whose votes are indispensable in places like New York and Georgia. The danger of this possibility is heightened by the recent revelation that Shapiro volunteered for the Israeli Defense Forces and wrote about his experiences glowingly in college.

Choosing him, despite making history by having the first Jewish VP, would almost certainly provoke a backlash in swing states like Minnesota where there is a sizable Muslim population.

Minnesota has one of the thinnest margins of victory for Democrats (less than 2% in 2016) and it has been a target of Republicans since 1984 when it was the only state to not vote for Ronald Reagan. If a few thousand Muslim Minnesotans do not vote because of a Jewish VP candidate, that could cost Democrats the state and the presidency.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear

Beshear is another widely floated choice for Harris. He is a Democrat governor of a blood-red state.

Selecting him would help with messaging and preempting the likely attack that the Democrat Party is the party of out-of-touch coastal elites.

However, Beshear governs a state where abortion is illegal in nearly every case. Abortion is the only major issue that polling indicates that Democrats are winning on. Moreover, the Kentucky governor is on the record supporting some restrictions on abortion like requiring an ultrasound before the procedure can be enacted.

Abortion has carried the Democrats to victory in states like Ohio, Wisconsin and Kansas. Moreover, the DNC is in need of a candidate with a strong stance on abortion given the current administration’s perceived failure to codify Roe v Wade into legislation.

If the feminist lobby is antagonized by the selection of Beshear as VP, that too could damage Democrats electoral prospects.

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly

Kelly is the most anodyne choice. Harris would choose him for the same reason Hillary chose Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate; he is forgettable.

The former astronaut brings little excitement to the table; and that is a sword that cuts both ways.

Kelly was elected to the senate in 2022, in part because he has no known scandals and no well-known positions on anything. In short, there is nothing to attack him on.

However, he also does not energize any group. Kelly is not associated with any major cause or issue. He is not memorable when he speaks and he is not likely to drive voters out to the polls; this could be crucial in a year when the Republican base seems extremely frustrated with the current administration.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom

He is ineligible to be Harris VP under the 12th Amendment. Harris and Newsom are from the same state, California, and therefore the constitution prohibits the state from casting ballots for both of them in the Electoral College.

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