Willie Brown: Kamala Harris Should Say No to Biden

Not because the former San Fran mayor doesn't like her, however. Just the opposite
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 10, 2020 4:32 AM CDT
Updated Aug 10, 2020 5:07 AM CDT
Former SF Mayor Willie Brown: Kamala Harris Should Say No
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., pays her respects to the flag-draped casket of Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., as he lies in state on the East Front Steps of the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, July 28, 2020.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Kamala Harris for vice president? No thanks, says former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown in a new op-ed. Brown is a fan of Harris, and he acknowledges that if Joe Biden wins the election, she'd have a place in history as the first-ever female VP. However, "the glory would be short-lived," he writes in the San Francisco Chronicle. The vice presidency is often "a dead end" to a person's political career, and while the veep is in office, the situation is not much better—he or she "has no real power and little chance to accomplish anything independent of the president."

So what to do? Should Biden ask Harris to be his running mate, she should "politely decline" and instead ask to be considered for the position of attorney general, Brown says. "From atop the Justice Department, the boss can make a real mark on everything from police reform to racial justice to prosecuting corporate misdeeds," he writes. "And the attorney general gets to name every US attorney in the country. That’s power." Plus, as a bonus, Harris as AG gives her "enough distance from the White House to still be a viable candidate for the top slot in 2024 or 2028." Click for his full column. (More Kamala Harris stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X