Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown (D) advised Sen. Kamala
Harris (D-Calif.) to "politely decline" any offer to be
presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s running
mate.
Brown wrote that the vice presidency would likely hinder any
further political ambitions for Harris.
“Historically, the vice presidency has often ended up being a
dead end. For every George H.W. Bush, who ascended from the job
to the presidency, there’s an Al Gore, who never got there,”
Brown wrote in an op-ed for the San Francisco Examiner.
Brown, who served as mayor from 1996 to 2004, has said he
briefly dated Harris while she was an Alameda County, Calif.,
deputy district attorney. As Speaker of the California Assembly,
he later appointed her to positions on the state Unemployment
Insurance Appeals Board and the California Medical Assistance
Commission.
The former mayor further noted that Biden and his vice president
would almost certainly take office amid a continued economic
downturn.
“The next few years promise to be a very bumpy ride,” he wrote.
“Barack Obama and the Democrats saved the nation from economic
collapse when he took office, and their reward was a blowout
loss in the 2010 midterm elections.”
Brown suggested Harris could be more effective, and better
positioned for an ongoing political career, as U.S. attorney
general.
“Given the department’s current disarray under William Barr,
just showing up and being halfway sane will make the new AG a
hero,” he wrote. “Best of all, being attorney general would give
Harris enough distance from the White House to still be a viable
candidate for the top slot in 2024 or 2028, no matter what the
state of the nation.”
Biden has promised to name a woman as his running mate. In
addition to Harris, other contenders reportedly include Sens.
Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep.
Karen Bass (D-Calif.), former national security adviser Susan
Rice and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D).
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/511277-willie-brown-kamala-
harris-should-politely-decline-any-offer-to-be-bidens