Free Republic

Kamala Harris is playing a historic role in 2021: the nation’s first black, Asian, female vice president to serve as a sacrificial lamb. Like many other women before her, Harris has been tasked with coming in late to clean up a mess made by her boss. Joe Biden probably wouldn’t do too well in a “Jeopardy!” contest, or even on a circle-a-word puzzle, but he’s smart enough to know that when you’ve got a problem you can’t solve, you should grandly announce a plan to deal with it by … fobbing it off on someone else. Alas, unlike Barack Obama’s...

Trump and Biden’s ages have many wondering about their running mates’ influence and power. What is the historical precedent for a vice president’s role? “Democracy means that anyone can grow up to be president,” said the great TV host Johnny Carson. “And anyone who doesn’t grow up can be vice president.”But for all the jokes about the irrelevance of the office of Veep, America has been thinking about this year’s vice presidential candidates more than most.Sen. Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s running mate, has already referred to their ticket as a “Harris administration” in what many speculated was a telling Freudian...

In one swift motion during Wednesday night's debate, Mike Pence fact-checked Kamala Harris, indicted the media, and corrected a false narrative peddled by the moderator of last week's presidential debate. In one swift motion during Wednesday night’s first and only vice-presidential debate, Vice President Mike Pence fact-checked Sen. Kamala Harris, indicted the media, and corrected a false narrative peddled by the moderator of last week’s presidential debate — all at the same time.Attacking the Trump administration for what she called a “pattern” of racist behavior, California Democrat Harris said, “[Trump], on the issue of Charlottesville, where people were peacefully protesting...

Under a Vice President Kamala Harris, Americans shouldn't expect a war on poverty as much Harris to continue her prosecution of the poor. Catholic News Agency recently quoted several prominent Catholics who were positive about Joe Biden’s vice-presidential selection of Kamala Harris. Donna Toliver Grimes, for example, who serves as the assistant director for African American Affairs in the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, expressed her belief that a Biden-Harris ticket would have a “policy that is favorable to people on the margins.”That’s a curious comment, because Harris has spent considerable professional energy...

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine’s daughter instantly joined the ranks of celebrity NYU students when Hillary Clinton put her father on the ticket on Friday. We’re told students were clamoring to find out more about Annella Kaine

Most pundits consider Tim Kaine a safe, if boring, vice presidential running mate for Hillary Clinton. For those who truly understand the frontrunner, Kaine is an apt pick. Like Mike Pence, he is not exceptionally attention-grabbing. Neither of them has to be. The two top dogs in the race already have all the deep-throated growl they need. Kaine has been operating in the political arena for over 22 years. He has an all too familiar "insider" résumé that tracks his career moves through various levels of state, party, and federal government. He is being touted by Democrats as someone who...

Hillary Clinton seems likely to announce her choice for vice president on Friday while she’s campaigning in Florida. That on-the-record hint, which came after days of backstage rumors, came Tuesday while CNN’s Wolf Blitzer was interviewing Karen Finney, a spokeswoman for the Clinton campaign.

Tuesday’s primaries in California, New Jersey, and elsewhere solidified what was already known: Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump would be their parties’ presidential nominees this fall. Although a primary remains in the District of Columbia on June 14th, for all intents and purposes the primaries are over, and the Clinton and Trump campaigns must move on to the next phase of election. The next stage in a presidential campaign—following the end of the primaries and in the lead up to the party conventions—involves changes in staff organization, staff size, messaging, fundraising, state targeting, and more. However, one decision...

Would Bernie Sanders agree to be Hillary Clinton's running mate? He didn't rule it out when asked about it on NBC's "Meet the Press." Sanders told Chuck Todd he's focused on the California primary, but stopped short of refusing the offer should Clinton ask. "Here we are in California, I'm knocking my brains out to win the Democratic nomination," Sanders said. "What happens afterwards, we will see. But right now, my focus is on winning the nomination." The Vermont Senator called the California primary "the big enchilada." While Sanders admitted winning more pledged delegates than Secretary Clinton is an "uphill...

America is at a crossroads. Our government is out of control. All three branches of the federal government have abandoned First Principles and the Constitution. We have a president who ignores Congress and a Congress that cannot get anything done because of obstructionism by Big Government liberals in both parties. We have a Supreme Court Chief Justice who just ruled on the most evil piece of legislation this country has ever seen, one that will destroy America, not based on his understanding of the Constitution, but because he fears bad press for the Court! Corruption, from the Oval Office, to...

Reflections on the Vice-Presidency, as Mitt Romney considers his options… It is said that, just before he died, President Dwight Eisenhower said “I only made two mistakes as president, and both of them are sitting on the Supreme Court." He was mistaken. His biggest mistake was selecting Richard Nixon as a runningmate, because without those eight years as a vice president, it is inconceivable that ornery Senator Richard Nixon could have won the presidency. Only this credential from 1953 to 1961 could have facilitated that elevation. The same could be said of many presidents. The most important appointment – the...

In Monday afternoon Fox News interview, ex-Alaska Guv praises Santorum again and adds "Donald Trump has a lot to offer." Palin: "I did praise Rick Santorum and I'll praise him again...

Vice President Cheney on 'FNS' Transcript: The outgoing vice president marks 40 years in Washington by taking a few parting shots at Vice President-elect Biden and Capitol Hill • E-mail the show: fns@foxnews.com Videos Part 1: Outgoing vice president comments on current economic crisis; fires back at Joe BidenPart 2: Vice president on national security controversiesPart 3: Vice president on Iran, bin Laden and changes in Washington

The risk John McCain took last Friday is comparable to the 72-year-old ex-fighter pilot knocking back two shots and flying his F-16 under the Golden Gate Bridge. McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his co-pilot was the biggest gamble in presidential history. As of now, it is paying off, big-time. The sensational selection in Dayton, Ohio, stepped all over the big story from Denver -- Barack Obama's powerful address to 85,000 cheering folks in Mile High Stadium, and 35 million nationally, a speech that vaulted him from a 2-point deficit early in the week to an 8-point...

"Well, how could they be jamming us if they don't know...if we're coming?" - Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) If you watch TV or go to the movies, you're already pretty familiar with the black sidekick. From Rochester to Robin Quivers, there is frequently at least one African American in the crew to provide a little flavor and a little, um, color. Spenser: For Hire had Hawk, Bruce Springsteen had Clarence Clemons, and Han Solo had Lando Calrissian, but now the country might have a black guy sitting in the big chair and his lieutenant, his road dog, his ace...

Mitt Romney, proving himself ready to say all that the Republican ticket might count on him to say about the Democratic opposition, calls Barack Obama "an Internet date.'' But Romney does not say he's ready to join John McCain on the GOP's presidential ticket. He coyly suggests he won't be on it. (Which is precisely what a potential running mate should be saying.) Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts who ran as McCain's own rival in the Republican presidential primaries, had some tough words for Obama, the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee, on the air this morning. Appearing on MSNBC's Morning...

RICHMOND, Va. - U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia has been asked for "personal documents" by John McCain's campaign, a Republican knowledgeable with the discussions said Saturday. Cantor, 45, the chief deputy minority whip in the House, has been mentioned among several Republicans as a possible running mate for McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. The Republican familiar with the conversations between Cantor and the McCain campaign said Cantor has been asked to turn over documents, but did not know specifically what records were sought.

As Senator Barack Obama turns to the choice of his running mate, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has emerged as one of the campaign’s potential finalists, sources familiar with conversations in Richmond and in Chicago said. Kaine, an early Obama supporter whose biography nicely dovetails with the Illinois senator’s, "ranks very, very high on the short list," said a source who has spoken recently to senior Obama aides about Kaine. Kaine "is getting a critical examination," the source said.

Announcement coming “very soon.” Geraghty notes that Pawlenty’s still scheduled to give a routine speech on Wednesday, but TNR noted over the weekend that he’s already pulled out of one event and his plans for this week are suddenly and suspiciously hazy. See this recent item from Marc Ambinder, too, passing along a rumor that McCain was planning to meet with his inner circle about VP yesterday. And then of course there’s that CNN item claiming an attendee at a fundraiser heard McCain say conservatives are “really going to like” Pawlenty. Put it all together and today’s scurrilous veep du...

Franklin D Roosevelt's vice president John Nance Garner referred to the job as "not being worth a warm bucket of spit" - he used another word - but it seems Washington is abuzz with the ultimate parlour game: Who will be Obama's and McCain's vice presidential choice? Historically "Veeps" (vice presidents) have been an interesting lot. Since the assassination of William McKinley, when Theodore Roosevelt took over as the nation's youngest president, seven former vice presidents have either by election, assassination, succession - or in the case of Richard Nixon elected eight years after a failed bid - taken the...