July 23, 2020

Susan Rice for Vice President?

Jay Godwin/Lbj Library/Planet Pix via ZUMA

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Jonathan Alter thinks Joe Biden should choose Susan Rice as his vice president:

Yes, President Trump still has time to stage a comeback but the new state of the race suggests that Joe Biden is free to shift from a tactical to a strategic approach in choosing his running mate. Biden’s longstanding prerequisite —a “strong” vice president who is “ready to be president on Day One”—should now be more than a platitude….By that standard, Susan Rice is his best option. He already knows and trusts her (their offices were next door in the West Wing during Obama’s second term) and she possesses a cool, commanding gaffe-free public presence that can fairly be called “presidential.”

This is a very mature approach to the vice presidency. I, however, am not as mature as Jonathan Alter. I could imagine Biden choosing Rice because it would send Republicans into spasms of indignation so severe it would probably cause a few radio hosts to have heart seizures. Fox News might literally melt down. That’s because, aside from Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice was probably the single biggest Democratic punching bag among Republicans during Obama’s second term. The conservative frenzy over Rice would be spectacular.

She’s also very well qualified, and mature observers will certainly consider that more important. I’m just not feeling especially mature at the moment.

POSTSCRIPT: It’s worth noting that choosing Rice would also give liberals a chance to redeem themselves for their lackluster defense of Rice over the Benghazi affair. This is not a matter of explaining her actions with additional nuance, either. She did absolutely nothing wrong. Ditto for the unmasking “scandal.”

Nothing. Period.

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It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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