https://tomklingenstein.com/donald-trump-doesnt-need-a-dei-running-mate/Donald Trump Doesn’t Need a DEI Running MateBy Frank Cannon
May 14, 2024
Donald Trump is likely still far off from announcing his vice presidential pick, but his “friends” in the party elite are already working overtime to undermine the ticket.
Republicans may give lip service to competence and merit over the equity regime, but they don’t really believe it. When they can couch it in terms of political advice, the GOP elite are every bit as woke as the Democrats.
Every election cycle, the usual suspects crawl out of the woodwork to announce their criteria for the perfect running mate: competent, sure; helpful as a surrogate, yes; but above all, they say, the vice president must be “diverse”—which is to say, not a white man.
Just last week, The Hill quoted an anonymous GOP senator making this very case: “Even Trump is smart enough to say two white men on the Republican ticket in 2024 is a bad idea when you have really good alternatives.” Other senators agreed, and they’re not alone. This idea crops up in article after article after article.
We should remember where that logic landed Joe Biden. His diversity-first VP criteria saddled him with Kamala Harris, one of the worst vice presidents in modern history. Trump should be seeking a running mate who can contrast favorably with Kamala, rather than falling into the exact same trap.
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The Republican Party needs to be the champion of competence and the opponent of race- and gender-based quotas. We should choose our leaders (or vice-leaders) based on the content of their characters and their aptitude for the job. This is already the way that normal people in the normal world operate. It is only elites in academia, business, and politics who see the world through the lens of race and sex.
Vice presidential DEI is not just a bad idea for good governance. It also clouds political judgment. This kind of analysis blinds Republican elites to the real strengths and weaknesses of candidates.
More at URL above...Poster's comment:The VP candidate should be a white male. Nuthin' else.
Mr. Trump will win or lose on his own.
The right VP will be in a strong position to continue Mr. Trump's policies after 2028.
Again, I suggest either J.D. Vance or Rand Paul.
