Submitted 2 months ago by BeatTakeshi@lemmy.world to showerthoughts@lemmy.world
If you ask me, I’m upset no one picked up that this consideration was sexist and racist, although it is indeed the best choice for her to win, which reflects how bad US can’t get over race and gender.
Yeah, so was Biden when he was VP.
Everyone knows this, I do t know why so many people are treating it like a revelation. Mainstream news was openly saying it as soon as she announced she was running.
Her VP would be an older white guy for “diversity” of the ticket.
meanwhile, trump who will claim he’s “most qualified” for the job, REFUSES to let his college transcripts go public. i’m going to go out on a limb (except, not) and say he cheated his way through college, as with everything else, OR he’s a straight D student, hilariously
this is of course ignoring all the lying, raping, treasoning, failed businesses, failed presidencies, and other wannabe con man shit.
but people will still vote for him, because people are stupid gullible suckers
Even if you just randomly selected from the available options, 3/4 of them are older white guys.
Almost all VPs are DEI hires.
Trump chose Pence because he had government experience and his religious conservatism helped reassure the GOP’s religious voters.
Biden choosing Harris:
Biden committed to selecting a woman as his running mate … He noted that his selection would likely be younger than he is
Obama choosing Biden:
Obama recalled that he and his advisers Axelrod and Plouffe wondered if voters would accept a ticket of “two relatively young, inexperienced, and liberal civil rights attorneys” and ultimately Obama felt the contrast between him and Biden was a strength, and that Biden being older than Obama would reassure those voters who were concerned that Obama was too young to be president
en.wikipedia.org/…/2008_Democratic_Party_vice_pre…
Bush Jr. choosing Cheney
By picking Cheney, Bush had a running mate who had years of experience as well as an extensive foreign policy expertise.
en.wikipedia.org/…/2000_Republican_Party_vice_pre…
Clinton was an exception:
In making the selection, Clinton emphasized Gore’s experience with foreign policy and environmental issues.[1] Clinton’s choice of a fellow young southern centrist defied conventional wisdom
en.wikipedia.org/…/1992_Democratic_Party_vice_pre…
This pattern goes through the years. If the presidential candidate is a northerner, they often pick a southerner. If he’s old, he chooses a younger VP candidate. If he’s from a wealthy background, he chooses someone who has a more humble background. If he lacks political experience, he chooses someone who has it. If he lacks international experience, he chooses someone who has it.
All VPs are DEI hires, at least to some extent. It’s accepted that if the two candidates are too similar that the ticket will fail.
If he lacks political experience, he chooses someone who has it. If he lacks international experience, he chooses someone who has it.
I mean, this just sounds like good teamwork
Fundamentally DEI is about good teamwork. You want a diverse team of people with different backgrounds and experiences.
All VPs are basically picked because of what they are more than who they are. Since there aren’t a lot of actual duties assigned by the constitution, VPs are just picked to help win the election. That means their age, gender, skin color, birthplace, etc are more important than their achievements. That means almost all VPs, including Vance, are “DEI hires.”
I’d argue Walz bucks this trend, at least to a certain degree. His progressive policy and seemingly unwavering integrity seems to be a huge reason he was picked. They’ve leaned into his achievements and republicans are desperately grasping at straws trying to criticize him.
Yeah, I kinda wish Walz was the candidate instead, based on his progressivism and integrity.
It’s still about perception over tangible benefits, though. He’s not chosen because he’ll make progressive decisions, he’s chosen because he helps encourages progressives to vote come November. Just like if he was black or hispanic would help push those demographics to vote in the general election.
idk if vance is a DEI hire as much as he is a right hand man hire.
He was picked because he appeals to the wacko maga base while licking Trumps… uhhh… boots.
Polling wise VP’s have historically changed very little in elections.
I think that VPs are also a deterrent of presidential assassination. If the VP is seen as worse than the president by the opposing party members, then no one will try to assassinate the president. However, if the VP is better, that president’s life can be much shorter.
Would the Republicans prefer Walz as president? If yes, then he is a bad selection for VP. If no, Harris is safer as president.
If you care about his gender and race, YOU are part of the problem.
Most people care, and in a democratic election is about what most people care, not what an individual cares.
What happened to merit?
Walz seems to have pretty good merit, I think
I have no idea anymore. Politics is a cult of personality now. And one’s gender and sexual identity has apparently become part of that.
It’d be really cool if it were about the politics again.
It’s about everyone’s perception about how much other people will care.
He’s the token white dude!
I mean he did legalize weed… Token indeed🍃
I wish to have that job one day. I may even be overqualified as I’m quite pale.
Yes because a black woman needs a white man to “balance” the fact… :)
America is a very strange country.
I’m not saying it’s good (because it’s not) but I’m unfortunately pretty certain they’re correct.
There’s a difference in saying something sexist and racist to be sexist and racist vs being practical due to other people’s sexism and racism.
It’s politics. People literally make a living polling people about shit like this. It may not be right or even correct.
But it’s just where America is right now.
It’s progress. A little at a time.
It really is. Speaking as someone residing here. Send help pls
You shouldn’t eliminate someone just because they are a 60 year old white guy. He has an extensive track record of getting progressive policies passed with a 1 vote majority. By your logic, no one should be touting Bernie who is just as white and older.
He’s not even a boomer, he’s gen x.
i mean, yeah, if you’re trying to balance representation, why wouldn’t you pick a white VP pick as a black candidate. Considering that probably 70% of the US population is white, it seems like a reasonable choice to me.
i’m not sure what the intention of your comment is here, but i’m a little conflicted about it. Maybe i’m missing something.
You could also argue that he was hired for representation. The goal is not to get as many black women into power as possible, but to keep the congress diverse. So ideally, there would be half men, half women, some significant fraction black, and so on.
She could have picked another woman as a VP, and it would not have been too bad. But from a diversity perspective, it is better to represent more parts of the population in these positions.
This. I don’t understand why people think diversity is a bad thing. True democracy and progress comes when everyone is well represented and everyone’s opinions are heard.
With that said we have a lot of institutional barriers that need to be utterly demolished before the people will actually be heard. We have a long way to go, and the first step is to participate in your local elections and vote for the people who actually listen.
I would love to see Gretchen Whitmer but reality says we are (hopefully) ready for a woman in charge, two is sadly pushing it. Maybe in 20-40 years, it will be something to see before I die. (I’m 50)
I’m not sure I’m hearing anyone saying diversity is a bad thing.
People used “diversity hire” as an attack on Harris, but no one is using it as an attack on Walz, even though everyone basically immediately knew that the VP pick was going to be an older white man if only to make the ticket less of a “leap”.
That an all woman ticket, a ticket with two not-white people, or anything else not “default American politician” would face issue is kinda OPs point that we still have a long way to go to overcome those institutional barriers you mention.
Needing to consider diversity or representation when picking people is a sign that something has already gone wrong.
If the system were just and those barriers didn’t exist, people wouldn’t consider diversity, they’d just pick the best person and the diversity would just be there as consequence of demographics. (In a fair system, the top N% of the population will have a comparable demographic breakdown to the population at large).
It’s a sign of a cultural hangup that we definitely consider diversity, and need to in order to have decent representation, when making these choices, and even more sad that it’s only used as a cudgel against minorities , even when they were the first pick and others are being used to offset their “riskiness”.
I understand why affirmative action is needed to somehow bring back some fairness and equality, but it is just sad that it is accepted as a permanent feature of a system that is systemically racist/mysoginist. It prevents tackling the root causes and investing in a free education system which is the only way to fix this on the long run. But anyway we have science fiction movies and series that do it right…
The implication is they are chosen due to their demographics instead of merit/experience, and it “just so happens” white are only where they are due to merit.
The thing is… you’re not really represented because they look the same as you. Someone who could run as the Aryan candidate may represent the downtrodden PoC than someone who looks like them.
There’s plenty of PoC who still represent the GoP, even if it’s not the same as Democrats.
Values are about more than appearance, despite what many conservatives will tell you.
but to
keepmake the congress diverse
Because it definitely isn’t there yet, due to overrepresentation of white men.
So from a diversity perspective, she should have gone for anyone other than a white man, but instead she has to cater to white men who somehow still manage to feel like they’re lacking in representation, because picking a running mate that wasn’t a white man would have tanked her campaign. Everyone knows it, but few are willing to talk about why - racism, sexism, and a bunch of others too.
Is he the best from the options she had? Looks like. But the options she had were limited.
So from a diversity perspective
no, from a minority representation perspective she should’ve absolutely gone for another minority candidate who doesn’t get the same rep as these people do.
But for a diversity perspective, you’re picking the most immediately broad and comprehensive minority and majority/plurality groups available. You want a diverse coverage of the US population, and the easiest way to do like 50% of that is with a white candidate.
I realize you’re probably talking about the federal government more broadly, but that’s an unreasonable comparison because her running mate, and cabinet picks are what are arguably most representative of the average population here.
House and senate members are literally voted in, so that’s already a solved problem, just vote in minority candidates. Everyone else is an employee of the government, so who gives a fuck about them.
because picking a running mate that wasn’t a white man would have tanked her campaign. Everyone knows it, but few are willing to admit to themselves why - racism, sexism, and a bunch of others too.
you mean to tell me having representation of only like 20-30% of the population means you’re not going to do well? That’s weird.
Representative democracy.
Should represent the diverse concerns, culture, and needs of the diverse population.
Equitably including the diverse.
yes THIS, i don’t know why people don’t see this. Tim walz literally represents tens of millions, of people in the US population, it’s very clear why he was chosen.
Why do you think about US politics in the shower?
Same reason we think about mistakes we made in high school while we’re trying to go to sleep?
what do you think about in the shower?
Not about politicians in my country, that is for sure. They’re the last people I want to think about naked and soapy.
Maybe they just stare blankly at the floor, or read the ingredients on the shampoo bottle again for the 14 thousandth time.
Some people get off to politics.
It haunts us like the spectre of death.
Wow yeah, I guess I never sat around thinking “How can I make myself more depressed”
Why don’t you?
All VP picks are DEI hires.
Mike pence?
They went for white instead of orange.
He was to build a bridge to the evangelicals, they were all originally super skeptical of trump and needed pence.
In some circles they were voting for trump, hoping he got impeached so they could have pence.
All of that has shifted and Trump is their second coming, but originally, it was not like this.
Would be interesting to see the GOP try to run with this messaging. As much as they hate “dei hires” they would jump all over that part, but seeing that it benefitted a white male would likely make them short circuit.
Its “Walz”, no t, and yeah, Daily Show already made that association yesterday. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1geBpDjYb7c within the first minute of the clip.
Thanks, corrected the autocorrect
there are no black people, or white people. just shades of brown from light brown to dark brown.
I can’t believe we still use that antiquated differentiator. there can be both “white” and “black” people in the same ethnic group
Missing the forest for the trees or whatever. It’s not about skin colour but how society perceives and treats you. If Kamala isn’t black then why is she being called a DEI hire when Hilary Clinton never was?
Only a certain group called her a DEI hire… and only because they cant say what they reallly mean without massive backlash…
I don’t know about being called a DEI hire, but I DO remember Hillary being called the worst possible option. I DON’T recall anyone calling Harris the worst possible option. Oddly enough in 2024, that would be Biden.
because DEI literally didnt exist in 2016 to the same level it does now?
Hmmm how should I pick out who would be a good vice president… I’ll disregard outlook or voting history for reasons. Let’s analyze the implied genitalia and melanin production in the dermis!
Really bro?
Maybe, I think, it’s a possibility, that perhaps he is fit to be a VP…
Holy shit that is a bad take. My god, you hit every single bullet-point of bad takes!
To be fair, visible representation is arguably kind of the job description of (or part of) a head of state.
Vance is also a DEI hire. They didn’t want two geriatrics on the ticket so they chose someone young. Diversity in age. This can be spun many ways.
You watched The Daily Show didn’t you? www.youtube.com/watch?v=1geBpDjYb7c
it’s a catch 22 situation where you can’t have two minority picks because ostensibly, that would be DEI, but specifically picking a white guy for DEI is ostensibly not DEI because you’re picking the best candidate for the role.
i don’t really think it’s any deeper than the fact that tim walz was literally the perfect pick, he just happens to be white. I’m not sure you would be able to find an equally beloved and respected pick other than him.
like, just so we’re on the same page here, it’s not a bad thing that she picked a white guy, it quite literally broadens and diversifies her running, i believe she also wants to appoint more diverse office candidates as well, so we’ll probably see less white people there inevitably.
at the end of the day, it is what it is. You push for diversity in picking someone like Kamala, you also have to do the same thing for white people as well. It’s all strategic at the end of the day. They wouldn’t have done it if it didn’t make any sense.
I hated the way this was framed from the start, tbh I’d be more excited if she had chosen to buck expectations and put a non white guy in there.
I mean, what are dems gonna do? Not vote for her?
Oh gee another funnyboi making ammo for the right wing propaganda machine. Blocking time.
Every democratic ticket that’s won the presidency this century has been a mixed race ticket. If I had to guess, this election is gonna be a big win for democrats, and if they have any intelligence whatsoever, they’ll keep their presidential tickets mixed race for a while in the future. Some people will just always prefer to vote for their own race.
He was clearly chosen for the votes he’s likely to bring in. That’s smart strategy on Harris’ part.
As near as I can tell “the media” spent a few days wildly guessing about who her VP pick would be and many of them where white males. There are many articles that predicted that she would pick a white male but I couldn’t find any that argued that it should be a consideration.
Walz
dogsnest@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Image
Is Trump the DEI hire?
Fermion@feddit.nl 2 months ago
Yes, he was the first orange person to be hired as president. He was hired despite Hillary getting more votes because he was the DEI candidate.
someguy3@lemmy.world 2 months ago
was hired despite Hillary getting more votes because
he was the DEI candidateof special admission processes.Deconceptualist@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Oh damn, is oompa-loompa no longer considered acceptable?
RedditWanderer@lemmy.world 2 months ago
This meme is so inaccurate. Everyone knows he can’t say Kamala. Isn’t it weird people think you should elect someone who can’t even pronounce someone’s name?
SteveFromMySpace@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
It’s worse than that - it’s like how he and his cronies choose not to call her “Harris” like everyone else calls him “Trump” or the president “Biden.” No one says “Joe,” or “Donald,” or “Barack.” So to add insult to disrespectful injury, they refuse to actually say her name correctly. Hence the “Kamabla” shit he’s been doing too.
CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
His handlers have just barely managed to stop him from cashing her “Kamablack”.
PunnyName@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I need more of these critiques to download.