The Biden surge continues
Joe Biden won the Hawaii and Oregon Democratic primaries over the weekend, giving him 440 additional pledged delegates toward officially becoming the party’s nominee. Both Hawaii and Oregon voted entirely by mail, confirming that voting by mail does work, contrary to “president” Donald Trump’s continued ranting.
CNN reported that Trump is especially angry that both Michigan and Nevada, two swing states, have approved voting by mail for the November election. Trump can find nothing wrong or unlawful about mail-in voting. He merely claims that it will “hurt” his chances of reelection. I hate to be the one to tell Trump, but mail-in voting is the least of his worries. We know Trump has never read the Constitution, so we certainly cannot expect him to know and understand states’ rights with respect to elections. Though Republicans have opposed federal interference in how states conduct their elections—repeatedly, according to CNN—Trump missed the memo, threatening to withhold funding to Michigan “if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!” He is so incredibly stupid. He will do literally anything to win.
Trump’s campaign just spent $1 million to “take advantage” of Biden’s comment that if you vote for Trump “you ain’t black” on The Breakfast Club radio show with Sanders supporter “Charlamagne Tha God.” This comment has been so taken out of context, primarily by whites who see it as offensive to blacks. I am about as black as they come. Trust and believe that I will let you know when I am offended. I do not need anyone to do that for me. Trump is a racist, and anyone who votes for him is not black. I get it. Do not let Trump fool you into doing something so incredibly foolish that we will not recover from it—like voting for him. Tune out the noise and keep focused on our future. Biden is certainly doing that.
According to NBC News, Biden is officially into the vetting process. It was revealed last week that he is vetting Amy Klobuchar, and NBC News reports that he is also vetting Val Demings. Both Klobuchar and Demings represent states Biden needs to carry in 2020. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer “has been in touch” according to NBC, but those talks are in the opening phase. NBC also reports that Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) declined to be vetted while her counterpart Maggie Hassan accepted. While not mentioned in the NBC piece, it is extremely likely that Elizabeth Warren, Stacey Abrams, and Kamala Harris are also being vetted. We will see whom Biden chooses shortly, as Biden said he expects the process to take “five to eight weeks” with an announcement coming no earlier than July.
Let the excitement begin. Regardless of whom Joe Biden ends up choosing, they are our ticket to recovering some normalcy and sanity for our country. If your favored candidate does not make the cut, stick with the team. Whoever Biden chooses, she and Biden will make life better for all of us.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years