Citing community activism and stalwart leadership, The Sacramento Bee has endorsed Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) for vice president.
“Politics typically rewards calculating and ruthless ambition,” The Sacramento Bee editorial board wrote. “That’s why it’s unusual to see Rep. Karen Bass on the shortlist of Joe Biden’s potential picks for vice president. Bass appears to be an anti-politician. She is undoubtedly a powerful leader and skilled legislator. But in a world of sharp elbows and mean tweets, she’s the opposite.”
Bass is indeed an unlikely choice. For months, political analysts, journalists and the public alike have speculated that another California legislator, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), was more likely to become Biden’s running mate.
Harris, former California attorney general and Indian American, was seen as the obvious choice. Slate’s The Surge column continuously ranked Harris as the most likely choice, over Bass and Tammy Duckworth, (D-IL) another Asian American senator.
However, the biggest newspaper in California’s capital city warns that Harris is a political opportunist, referencing her jabs at Biden’s racial justice record during democratic debates.
“When Biden was her obstacle, she treated him as one,” the editorial reads. “Now that he’s a stepping stone, she’d be honored to climb aboard. That’s how it works.”
The editorial also warned the Biden campaign of a secret $400,000 settlement Harris’ office paid to settle “gender harassment” complaints, which the senator has denied having knowledge of.
Harris’ own “tough on crime” actions during her tenure as the state attorney general should discourage the Biden campaign from selecting her as a running mate, it stated.
The editorial suggested that its endorsement of Bass was a symbolic gesture, stating “he likely won’t pick Karen Bass.”
“However, the community activist whose passion for service led others to draft her into electoral politics is the better choice,” the editorial read.
In response to the unexpected increase in national name recognition in the recent weeks, Bass told The Sacramento Bee that the next vice president must immediately address the pandemic, the economy and systemic racism.
“I think the president and the vice president in this historical period have to be healers to repair the divisions in our country,” she said.
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