As leftist media move to convey an aura of inevitability surrounding the Biden–Harris ticket, speculation is already moving toward who will replace the California senator when she becomes the next vice president.
Presumptive vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris is currently near the halfway mark of her six-year Senate term.
If she were to become vice-president, a replacement would serve until the next term begins in January 2023.
Politico reported that chatter included Rep. Karen Bass, whom Harris edged out for her new role.
Both are women of color, meaning there would be no outrage over replacing Harris with a white male.
There will be pressure for Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoints someone “[b]lack or Latinx, especially given the colliding tectonic plates of racial injustice, COVID and its long lasting health implications, and the economic collapse,” said Karen Skelton, a Clinton administration deputy White House political director who went on to found a Sacramento public advocacy firm.
Bass—an outspoken Fidel Castro communist—is currently the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
However, others speculated that with the task befalling Newsom, given California’s estimated 40 percent Latino population, a shrewd pick would be one of two high-ranking Latinos within the state government: Secretary of State Alex Padilla or Attorney General Xavier Becerra.
Both have taken the national state in their own public quarrels with the White House. But with a strong corral of radical leftists to choose among, Newsom also may opt for a white male, such as Rep. Adam Schiff, who—after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi—may be one of the most recognizable (and reviled) California Democrats in the mix.
Eric Garcetti, the Los Angeles mayor who has courted controversy for his coronavirus lockdowns while serving as a co-chair of Biden’s campaign, also has an ambitious future lined up.
But the most apropos pick of all would be Harris’s former lover, 86-year-old ex-San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, a longtime mainstay of the radical Left on the West Coast. Harris launched her career courtesy of Brown’s investment and patronage, starting off as the San Francisco attorney.
Newsom, who also served as mayor of San Francisco before heading to the Sacramento capital, also owes a debt to Brown, said Politico.
Brown first appointed Newsom to the city’s Traffic and Parking Commission in 1996, it said.
Skelton said that Brown would be more than an honorary choice.
“Smartest living political force in California,” she said. “Why the hell not?”
