Poll of the Day > Why do people care so much that we have a woman president of VP?

(+) Yeah! (+)

We've already had a black president, and a woman was elected as PM in the UK. Everyone knows that minorities can obtain a leadership role in any country(with the sole exceptions being the countries that are lacking in woman's suffrage).

What is with this fascination with the idea of having a woman as president? Why can't we just elect a leader based on their qualities, competence, and other important factors besides the fact that they might not be a white male?

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i don't think youre likely to find anybody here who cares about having a woman as vice president. so any of the answers you get are just going to be people speculating about other people's motivations.

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Because it's the only way to get anybody to care about Kamala Harris? She's certainly not appealing on her own merits, considering that -- among other things -- her office blocked releasing prisoners early because they were worried about a prison labor shortage. Because, you know, that's the most important consideration when deciding whether or not to release inmates.

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It was just dumb pandering by the DNC. They won't push for progressive policies, so they went with a black woman to make themselves look progressive.

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Zareth posted...

It was just dumb pandering by the DNC. They won't push for progressive policies, so they went with a black woman to make themselves look progressive.

If they wanted to go progressive then they should have chosen Bernie Sanders or Andrew Yang as the VP nominee.

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thedeerzord posted...

If they wanted to go progressive then they should have chosen Bernie Sanders or Andrew Yang as the VP nominee.

They DON'T want to go progressive, they just want to fool people into thinking that they are.

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Nothing wrong with a female presidential candidate. Clinton got plenty of votes in 2016 so people aren't averse to it.

For VP it's token af. See: Palin. It's a token position we don't nominate or realistically vote on, and succession is highly unlikely so it really comes off as a ploy for votes, not "they're the best for the job." I think a scenario where a woman does succeed to power will have more negative impact than positive.

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Nah, if a lady person becomes president, she will nuke a country every time she's having a bad day

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Harris had all of 3% of the fucks given when she was running for president. Now there's a very real chance Biden's head is going to melt if he's elected or he's going to be 25th'd.

And the third in line for the nuclear codes was duped by a hair salon.

Welcome to honkfuckingclownworldhonk.

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Veedrock- posted...

For VP it's token af. See: Palin. It's a token position we don't nominate or realistically vote on, and succession is highly unlikely so it really comes off as a ploy for votes, not "they're the best for the job." I think a scenario where a woman does succeed to power will have more negative impact than positive.

Palin wasn't token, she just had relatively weak credentials (which, ironically enough, were far closer to Obama's creds than Obama's were to McCain's, and I'm guessing that's why they often compared Palin and Obama instead of Obama and McCain) and an outsize personality. She was chosen to engergize the Republican base because McCain was more of a moderate (if not centrist) candidate at that point, having co-sponsored and co-written many bipartisan bills leading up to that point (humorously enough, most of the legislation Obama bragged about doing as a senator were things that McCain was on, too).

And, broadly speaking, VPs are often selected either to accentuate a politician's strengths or cover their weaknesses. Because Obama was politically inexperienced and didn't have deep party connections, he chose Biden. McCain had served at the national level for decades and therefore didn't need somebody with either deep experience or connections. He couldn't excite anybody, though, so Palin -- who was a rising star at the time -- was expected to cover him in that area. The ticket actually wasn't terrible, the problem was the GOP was coming off 8 years of GWB -- a historically unpopular president -- and he was up against somebody who could move a crowd. Under those conditions, I'm not sure anybody in the GOP could have won.


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Zeus posted...

Palin wasn't token, she just had relatively weak credentials (which, ironically enough, were far closer to Obama's creds than Obama's were to McCain's, and I'm guessing that's why they often compared Palin and Obama instead of Obama and McCain) and an outsize personality. She was chosen to engergize the Republican base because McCain was more of a moderate (if not centrist) candidate at that point, having co-sponsored and co-written many bipartisan bills leading up to that point (humorously enough, most of the legislation Obama bragged about doing as a senator were things that McCain was on, too).

And, broadly speaking, VPs are often selected either to accentuate a politician's strengths or cover their weaknesses. Because Obama was politically inexperienced and didn't have deep party connections, he chose Biden. McCain had served at the national level for decades and therefore didn't need somebody with either deep experience or connections. He couldn't excite anybody, though, so Palin -- who was a rising star at the time -- was expected to cover him in that area. The ticket actually wasn't terrible, the problem was the GOP was coming off 8 years of GWB -- a historically unpopular president -- and he was up against somebody who could move a crowd. Under those conditions, I'm not sure anybody in the GOP could have won.

Palin was one of the worst VP candidates of all time, she was so unqualified to be President it was unreal. If McCain bit the bucket and he won I can only imagine how shitty of a President she would make. It's blatantly obvious the Repub's picked her because she was a woman and would show the Repub's are willing to give women a chance. When the Democrats had a black man running for President on the other side.

The only hope for her being President is she would surround herself with much smarter people and then listen to what they say and do it 99% of the time. I am not sure she would do that though.

I don't, but a lot of people get excitement out of seeing straightforward examples of the first time someone sets some sort of record, particularly when it has to do with a person who in the past was banned from doing so or when it has something to do with tangible power that can affect others. Regardless of your politics, a member of a minority group getting the VP/P slot is historically significant, particularly in countries where that wasn't always possible.

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Monopoman posted...

Palin was one of the worst VP candidates of all time, she was so unqualified to be President it was unreal.

Based on what, exactly? She was a governor, she had been a mayor, and she had smaller roles in government. Obama had been a senator for about as long as she'd been a governor and had been a state senator for about as long as she'd been a mayor (and had no political experience prior to that). And keep in mind that the presidency is a executive-level position -- just like governors and mayors -- whereas the senate and state senate are both legislative positions. Obama's qualifications were as scant as Palin's.

Offhand, I *think* Obama might have been the least qualified Democratic presidential candidate in 2008 (possibly the least qualified overall, but the Republicans had an army of candidates that year and I can't remember everybody's qualifications).

Monopoman posted...

The only hope for her being President is she would surround herself with much smarter people and then listen to what they say and do it 99% of the time. I am not sure she would do that though.

...well, she was McCain's VP choice so right there you already have top-notch guidance. Once he set the table and guided her for a year, she would have been in great shape even if he kicked off right after that. She would just need to stay the ship at that point. It would have been an easier circumstance than Obama had going in.

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Because she was dumber than shit and she proved that when she couldn't answer any hard question about foreign affairs. The VP debate between her and Biden was a joke, Biden just ran her over and made her look ridiculous.

But we all know Zeus is the biggest Republican supporter on the entire site, so I'm sure you loved Sarah Palin.

Zeus posted...

Based on what, exactly? She was a governor, she had been a mayor, and she had smaller roles in government. Obama had been a senator for about as long as she'd been a governor and had been a state senator for about as long as she'd been a mayor (and had no political experience prior to that). And keep in mind that the presidency is a executive-level position -- just like governors and mayors -- whereas the senate and state senate are both legislative positions. Obama's qualifications were as scant as Palin's.

Offhand, I *think* Obama might have been the least qualified Democratic presidential candidate in 2008 (possibly the least qualified overall, but the Republicans had an army of candidates that year and I can't remember everybody's qualifications).

...well, she was McCain's VP choice so right there you already have top-notch guidance. Once he set the table and guided her for a year, she would have been in great shape even if he kicked off right after that. She would just need to stay the ship at that point. It would have been an easier circumstance than Obama had going in.

I was speaking about her in a presidential thing like if McCain died, and then she was put in charge. Not speaking about her as a VP when a VP doesn't do really jack shit of importance until the President dies in most cases. In most cases being VP is like being a princess or a prince in the British royal family you just stand around and look pretty and do public events.

I voted for Palin in 08'
I was way ahead of the curve.

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Monopoman posted...

But we all know Zeus is the biggest Republican supporter on the entire site, so I'm sure you loved Sarah Palin.

He seems to have a thing for Republicans with a history in reality TV.

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Don't forget that South Korea already had a woman president.(she did get impeached for being corrupt as shit though)
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It would be more desirable if we had a woman who was good for the role and wasnt a complete idiot. Harris got to her current job on her back for most of her political career and put people in prison and kept them there for minor things. Warren faked being a Native American, Hillary killed thousands of people in Benghazi and just sat by while her husband played with the interns. There has been no female candidate worth considering.

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sarah palin wasnt underqualified (at least not any more than a normal president), she was just kinda dumb.

governor => president used to be a pretty common move. the only thing slightly odd is that she hadn't finished her 1st term as governor yet.


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Metalsonic66 posted...

Nah, if a lady person becomes president, she will nuke a country every time she's having a bad day

Wow, sexist much?

Zeus posted...

And, broadly speaking, VPs are often selected either to accentuate a politician's strengths or cover their weaknesses.

So Pence was the exception to the rule, since he is as stupid or stupider than Trump?

Better than the homophobic religious zealot that's in there currently

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Arcturusisnow posted...

Wow, sexist much?

Whoooooosh

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Monopoman posted...

I was speaking about her in a presidential thing like if McCain died, and then she was put in charge. Not speaking about her as a VP when a VP doesn't do really jack shit of importance until the President dies in most cases. In most cases being VP is like being a princess or a prince in the British royal family you just stand around and look pretty and do public events.

P much. But Zeus doesnt want a female because it affects his sexuality.

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I mean, if you've got two candidates who are identical in every way and one is black female and the other white male, I would probably go with the black female, just because it would further what I perceive to be the normalization of diverse characters being able to play any role. We gotta break the norm first, before the norm can go away.

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beefcake71090 posted...

I mean, if you've got two candidates who are identical in every way and one is black female and the other white male, I would probably go with the black female, just because it would further what I perceive to be the normalization of diverse characters being able to play any role. We gotta break the norm first, before the norm can go away.

I can understand this.

I guess we should just elect every minority into every kind political office just so we can get it over with.

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Mike Pence is female?

LOLIAmAnAlt posted...

I voted for Palin in 08'
I was way ahead of the curve.

I think you meant behind.

Far-Queue posted...

Better than the homophobic religious zealot that's in there currently

He's a zealot?
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To recap, there's a statistically relevant chance that for one reason or another, creepy Joe is going to cede power to Harris, which to review had 3% of all the fucks given before Joe stepped in as "remember Obama?, I 'member" with a rousing platform of "I'm not Trump".

On some level, it's an end-around of the entire democratic process for reasons. Orange Man Bad.

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