To know is science, to think you know is ignorance
If Barack Obama decided to change his vice president in the run-up to the 2012 election, who would make a good VP choice?
My response to question posted on Quora . . .
The only way Obama would dump Biden if Biden got caught in some salacious scandal or Biden was suffering from a major medical illness that would impede his ability to do his job or the job of the president if something happened to Obama.
Joseph Biden, Vice President of the United States (Photo/Wikimedia Commons)
The ramifications for Obama dumping Biden for some other reason(s) than the above would be serious. Obama would constantly face questions such as “Did you dump Biden because you were afraid that you would lose the upcoming 2012 election?” or “Did you replace Biden because it was politically expedient to do so?” Obama would end up spending so much time defending his VP switcheroo that it would be even harder to stick to his campaign agenda while fighting off the GOP presidential ticket. Replacing his VP would be a sign of weakness, no matter how Obama and his campaign team would try to spin it.
Also, Biden seems to still have pull with traditional/long-standing democrats (whites, blacks, etc.), independents, progressives, women, the 50+ crowd and those who appreciate that he’s not a slick-looking, smooth-acting politician (the under 40 crowd). That’s a lot to give up (replacing your VP) for one who might be able to attract the Latino vote and/or those small, iffy pockets of conservative democrats and moderate republicans.
I'm not sure that I can describe myself as succinctly as I would like in punchy paragraphs, so here's a list instead:
-- I get cranky when people spout their opinions and have done practically zero research to back up their thoughts.
-- I'm a democrat, but mainly by default because I'm not an enthusiastic party member.
-- I lack patience. I wish I could do something about it but it's part of my genetic make-up that simply can't be corrected.
-- I enjoy writing and editing a lot. I'm the type of person who wordsmiths and do grammar checks on everything. I contact websites when I spot errors. I once went in a store to let them know that their sign was incorrect because they used a noun instead of a verb.
-- I'm a serious Steelers fan who has found it hard to live in the DC area being surrounded by delusional Redskin fans.
-- I laugh at high-brow and low-brow humor; my weakness is really stupid puns and jokes
-- I'm not the most positive person; have tried to work on this over the years but my track record in this endeavor sucks. Luckily my husband is there to help counterbalance my moments of realism (aka gloom and doom).
-- I'm a cold-weather girl. I love the fall and winter season. DC is as far south as I want to live.
-- I actually don't get worked up about use of the 'bitch' word. I don't think that the term is gender-specific since men can definitely fall into this category as well. There are worse things to be called - it really depends on who is doing the name calling.
-- My favorite quote is by Hippocrates "To know is science, to think you know is ignorance."
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