The Great Vice President Search Is On
Plus: Supporting local journalism, making bread, and learning online.
In 2012, a friend alerted me to an interesting tech story that has proven pretty accurate over the past few presidential elections. As we’re getting to a point where Joe Biden has to make his campaign more visible and try to overcome the sexual assault allegations leveled by Tara Reade, the need to pick the female candidate he promised for his running mate becomes more urgent.
Over the last three presidential elections, the VP picks have come in mid-July at the earliest (Trump), and in August for most (Obama, McCain, and Romney). We’re just getting to May, so it’s understandable that they haven’t made a choice yet.
But they should get on it. Before a couple of weeks ago, Biden was essentially invisible. Now, he’s at the center of a #MeToo allegation, and it’s mostly surrogates doing the talking. He’s only discussed it publicly once, and that was on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
So, what’s the state of play on his shortlist?
Let me go back to that tech story.
In 2008, there was a massive spike in edits to the Wikipedia page of Sarah Palin in the days leading up to her being named John McCain’s running mate. Likewise, Joe Biden’s page saw the same thing. In 2012, there was a sudden spike in edits to Paul Ryan’s page.
So, I went in and analyzed the pages of all the people who are being considered on Biden’s shortlist. Stacey Abrams and now Elizabeth Warren are getting a lot of media play, but there have not been any spikes in recent days. Both women have about 100 edits on their Wikipedia pages since February. Likewise, Klobuchar’s hasn’t seen much more than that.
Gretchen Whitmer, the Governor of Michigan, has seen about 200 edits since February, but the page appears to have been locked at one point for vandalism. There are multiple revisions on the edit history there showing an undoing of what had been done by the vandals.
But Kamala Harris has a Wikipedia edit spike. Around 200 edits since February like Whitmer, but there are two important distinctions: The edits on the Harris page have all been made by one person/account and the vast majority have come within the last couple of weeks.
It’s not a guarantee that she’s got the nomination, but it is a sign that someone thinks it maybe her.
Looking at the edits, it’s all on topics relevant to a political campaign that would be progressive and race-focused. Given her history as a prosecutor, it might seem like a weird call, but the evidence suggests she is the frontrunner right now.
Warren, however, appears to be filling the void left by Abrams. She is clearly auditioning for the job, but less obviously than Abrams.
After Abrams was publicly chided for openly running for the spot a week ago, the media stopped giving her so much airtime. CBS News then ran an online survey poll - which are questionable in terms of accuracy - that showed Warren way out ahead as far as who Democrat voters want to see as VP.
Like Abrams, who is the beneficiary of a lot of white-guilt based media coverage (they ignored her for Beto O’Rourke in 2018 and feel bad about it), Warren is almost entirely a media creation. Her popularity within her state has waned. She never had a great national platform and couldn’t connect with people. But the media adored her - a strong, smart, educated socialist woman running for the most male-privileged job in the world.
The problem is that she would offer nothing for Biden. At least Harris would add some diversity. Warren is a white woman who has no appeal outside of her own state, and that state didn’t even go her way on Super Tuesday.
But she can afford to run openly for the spot. She was silent after dropping out, except for endorsing Biden, and all of a sudden she’s now out there defending him against the Reade allegations. I think she’s dipping her toes into the water a bit, and she won’t get the backlash Abrams got for openly running for it. She’ll show a bit more tact than Abrams, but also get credit from Democrats and the media because she’s won statewide races before and has experience in Washington D.C.
I doubt she’ll be picked, though.
Support Local Journalism
Our national press is so focused on resisting Trump that it is completely unable to handle information that doesn’t prosecute him.
Jim Geraghty at National Review writes about it with his usual grace.
In short, this crisis has revealed that our largest and most influential media institutions are well-prepared to cover some stories but are barely able to cover others. Events in New York City, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles are covered the most, because the most media institutions are based there. Covering a story like the unprecedented disruptions to our food-supply chain requires paying attention to what’s going on in places such as Pasco, Wash., Logansport, Ind., and Waterloo, Iowa. The national media is much more interested in celebrity chefs than in where and how we produce the food we eat.
Cable-news networks really like covering a politician’s latest pronouncement and then having a roundtable of commentators argue about what he said. This is relatively cheap, easy, and quick. Donald Trump has been a godsend to cable news, because he’s always saying or tweeting something outrageous, and it is easy to find talking heads willing to declare his daily statements or actions the best or worst thing ever. American media institutions love stories about big personalities, and stories with binary conflicts, because those stories have an instinctual, visceral appeal for viewers.
That’s why I’ve had to be very vocal about supporting local journalism. The fact is that local journalists are feeling the effects of the shutdown, and they are covering some very heavy stuff, many times because their own beat is not really a hot one with things shut down.
Companies like Gannett are seeing massive layoffs and furloughs, and that is bad enough to break some of them. The long term prospects aren’t great either, as advertising is way down with local businesses shut down and not seeing income.
So, I want to share a bit from Brett Blackledge, the executive editor of my local paper, The Daily Advertiser (full disclosure: Homestyle, the podcast I do and link to every week, is hosted by The Advertiser).
As we do in any crisis facing our community, we offered our coverage for free. It's not that we're immune from the tough financial struggles that Acadiana businesses face. But we are called during these times to this public service, to offer our neighbors the best, most complete coverage that empowers and, we hope, comforts in such time of uncertainty.
Like many businesses, ours has been pummeled by the coronavirus epidemic. So I wouldn't be honest if I didn't admit that we are struggling along with all of you. Like other businesses, we've been forced to make cuts as we work to meet the challenges confronting us all.
I believe we will all be stronger, better from the experiences we are going through now. We all will adapt, draw strength from those around us, and appreciate what we often take for granted. The very selfless act of staying home all these weeks has helped your neighbors and coworkers stay healthy. It's limited the deadly impact this virus could have had on us all.
It's that sense of kindness and charity that will continue to lift us up beyond these difficult days we have weathered since the outbreak began. And it is a spirit that I hope remains long after the pandemic passes.
Tuesday will be celebrated across the world as Giving Tuesday, a commitment to strengthen our communities in a powerful show of global force for good. This is a day dedicated to those many nonprofit Acadiana businesses that need our support to continue serving. They, too, are struggling as the numbers of those all around us in need soar. Consider supporting these organizations listed here who are participating.
And I'll close asking this favor. The Advertiser doesn't want donations that are so desperately needed by other organizations working hard to provide for the less fortunate among us.
But if you believe in what we do, if you have enjoyed our work, I am asking you to support us as a local business. If you're not a subscriber, please consider becoming one. If are a subscriber, consider giving a subscription to someone who would benefit from reading The Advertiser.
Whatever your local media is, support them. They are needed. They are vital in times of crisis like this.
Homestyle: Let’s Talk Distance Learning
In this week’s episode of Homestyle, Leigh and I use our expertise as parents, her expertise as an education reporter, and mine as a teacher to talk about the use of distance learning during a time period where schools are shut down but kids still need to learn.
We touch on how our kids are distance learning, how much or how little my students are participating, and how school systems are struggling in some areas - like resources for students who don’t have computers or Internet capability at home.
You can always go back and listen to previous episodes, and we’d love to hear your feedback. Subscribe, rate, and review the podcast here, and if you have cooking, crafting, or family activity ideas, you can find us on Facebook and on Instagram (@Homestylepod).
Recipe Of The Week: Let’s Make Some Bread
Everybody’s doing it, so I might as well show you the recipe I use when making bread now. It’s based mostly on Ree Drummond’s white sandwich bread recipe over at the Food Network, but I changed out the butter for olive oil.
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for buttering the bowl and loaf pans
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
5 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring the board
Combine the yeast with two cups of warm water and stir to dissolve. Then add the oil, sugar, and salt. Add 1/3 of your flour (about 1 and 3/4 cups), mixing it together with your hands until it feels smooth, then add another 1/3 of your flour. Note: Dip your hands in a separate bowl of water occasionally to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers.
Put your dough on your counter or board (after flouring the surface) and begin to knead for about 15 minutes, adding the remainder of your flour while you do. After about 15 minutes, put the dough in an oiled bowl and let it rise, covered, for about an hour (it will roughly double in size).
Take it out of the bowl, oil the bowl again, and knead the dough for another 10 minutes. Put it back in the bowl for another hour.
Take it out again. Oil two loaf pans (if using) and knead the dough for another 10 minutes. Divide and transfer into the pans (or form them into two round loaves) and let rise for another hour.
During this time, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Uncover and bake the loaves until they are a golden brown on top, which should take 30-35 minutes. Pull them out and set them on a rack to cool completely.
Final Thoughts
Some of the feedback I’ve gotten from you all is that you like the diversity of offerings (political, non-political, and recipes), and I really think it will help fill a void we don’t get in a lot of our public discourse. I am still working on ways to grow this newsletter and need your support. Please share this issue on social media and with friends and family so this newsletter and what it offers can continue to grow. Thanks, everyone!