Is Kamala Harris the best vice president in history?

Author: RationalMadman

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Yes or no? Why?
oromagi
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No.  She has only been in office for 100 days.  Ask again around 2050.
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@oromagi
So vs others in their first 3 months
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There's a number of VPs whose overall performance certainly exceeds the unequal comparison against Harris' first 100 days but comparing vice-presidential first 100s is tricky work.  

John Adams has to get the top slot since he spent all of his first 100 days bullying and inveigling the newborn Senate into many habits and precedents that have endured  the test of 245 years.  No other VP was ever so thoroughly the President of the Senate since (which is probably a good thing).

Tyler's had to assume the presidency on his 30th day under terrible circumstances.  He was a bad president but he fulfilled the chief job of the VP with aplomb.

Likewise, Truman had to take over leadership of WW2 on his 82nd day as VP with no preparation or brief.

If we call Walter Mondale the first VP with any  independent authority, we see that the number of VPs who merit an apples to apples comparison is only 8.  Of these, only three had a genuine seat at the table in terms of executive power.   Biden's service as chief advisor to a President with little DC cred or experience can't be overestimated.  His gravitas during the first 100 days offered an important counterweight to Clinton's hawkish policy-making.  Likewise, Al Gore was a true counselor-in-chief.  His first 100 days gave critical force to the creation of the internet according to US standards and to the US's incredible economic benefit.  Cheney  was the most power VP ever but he used all of his power for evil.  In his first 100 days, he secretly assembled the world's oil executives, promised to re-invade Iraq and break OPEC once and forever.  He made these things happen but the resulting fractures led directly to the present imbalance in the ME, the Arab Spring, Syrian Civil War, Yemeni Civil War, etc.

I think my list would go something like

Adams
Gore
Biden
Truman
Tyler
Harris

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@Dr.Franklin
What say you Doc?......Given the nature of our Tim Scott discourse.....Brief as it was....But meaningful nonetheless.


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Best VICE president? What's the Vice all about? Both she and Biden know otherwise.
But, no, she is not. I'm kind of partial to  Dan Quayle because he basically sat down and shut up, though I was not so thrilled with his President. Kammie knows neither consequence of office, and her smile would sink a thousand ships.
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@fauxlaw
Her smile is attractive af I find but her efficiency is off the charts, as you say she's a very active VP, a lot of Biden's success so far is due to her behind the scenes work I'm sure.
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@fauxlaw
I disagree with your view of what the best VP is like.
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@fauxlaw
Quayle, didn't you just love him.


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Lol, people brought space blankets to mock Harris.
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@RationalMadman
Harris has already cast more tiebreaking votes than Biden did during his entire tenure as vice president, and will likely continue to play an integral part in parlaying Democratic legislation through the Senate, especially with growing Republican dissatisfaction with the White House’s trillion-dollar infrastructure and family care bills. 
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@RM

You've missed my point. Kammie is not the Vice. She IS the Pres. Biden is the shiny gold tooth in the smile.
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Who?
bmdrocks21
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Answer: no

Reason: Richard Nixon was VP
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@bmdrocks21
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@Greyparrot
Boy what does that have to do with the topic XD
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@bmdrocks21
She is the border czar and has yet to see what is going on there.

But she can spin a few cackles when prompted about it. So classy.
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@Greyparrot
*sigh* Diversity hires, amirite?
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@bmdrocks21
She wasn't solely hired for being female and non-Caucasian. Sure, they were most likely factors but look at her life and career, she's an extremely competent choice both on paper and in practice.

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@RM

I'm surprised you seem to like her because of her hard crackdown on weed possession and even fighting to make truancy a misdemeanor for parents when she was DA
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@bmdrocks21
Considering it's now up to States to make weed legal, that's always been the case... That's not new, she just made it clearer in the law.

Truancy stuff shouldn't be enforced to some hardcore tyranny level but if a kid is missing like 3 or more days (especially in a row) and it's nothing to do with revision around exam time then yeah that's bad parenting. I think schools should come down heavy on bullying that may inspire truancy though.

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@RM

The truancy law was even more generous than that. It was if more than 10% of the school year was missed without a valid reason. Definitely strikes me as some type of neglect at that point.

I actually somewhat liked her early career tough-on-crime stances. Quite surprised you don't disagree with her choices.

But as of right now, she has abandoned everything that I would have liked about her. My vote: definitely not the best VP
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@bmdrocks21
You think Nixon was the best President. I think that itself highlights how different you and I are.

She has to sway centrists to all vote her next election (she's running let's face it). So, I am very happy with her strategy so far, I never want a piece of shit like Trump to even have a chance at power again.
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@RM

With no moves on weed legalization and outlawing menthol cigarettes, she is disappointing her base.

Mishandling the border crisis will probably turn away moderates (that is more of an issue for conservatives, but a decent chunk of centrists care too)
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@bmdrocks21
Keep dreaming
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@bmdrocks21
I think that you misinterpret the base.
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@zedvictor4
Go on. What has she done that you think energizes the base and attracts moderates?
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@RM

I don't know how I'm dreaming. Are you saying that decriminalizing weed wasn't a campaign promise and/or isn't popular among Democrats?
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Kamala Harris the definition of a hypocritical liar. I had no problem with a Biden presidency, be it I preferred Trump, but her wrap was egregiously hypocritical.

She incarcerated nearly 250k people due to marijuana charges but admitted herself to smoking weed. She covered up evidence for an innocent man looking to be sentenced. She may change the political landscape as she is the first female and POC to ever be a Vice President, but her reputation and hypocrisy does not make her the best
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@RM

With no moves on weed legalization
That's false. 

Chuck Schumer has has the lead on national weed reform and has promised to submit a bill (over Biden's objections) before 4/20/22 (Schumer considers the bill popular with the people  but hard to pass so I suppose he wants it as close to mid-terms as he can get).  He may need Harris's tie-breaker and Biden won't commit to signing so Harris may face a difficult choice.

and outlawing menthol cigarettes, she is disappointing her base.
That's false.

NAACP: "The NAACP has been calling for a ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes for years now, and we applaud the FDA’s latest plan to do just that. It’s about time we prioritize the health and well-being of African Americans."