There was a time in American history when it was considered very poor form to actively campaign for oneself for president. Instead, candidates relied on supporters to campaign for them, leaving the candidate above the political fray. No less than Lincoln did this. (thread)
In 1860, Lincoln--like all the other major candidates--had sent advisors who did all the politicking on the ground for him in Chicago. They even made deals to secure delegates against his explicit instructions. Candidates did not outright campaign for themselves.
Of course, even this would have been considered scandalous to those decades before, when Andrew Jackson was urged by his staff to not give public opinions AT ALL in 1828. Polk and Van Buren advised him that it violated presidential decorum to do so. It was beneath him, they said.
As late as the 1884 election, decorum was still quite important to many folks. Republican candidate James Blaine was widely accused of "vote begging" because he gave hundreds of speeches around the country. Vote begging. In an election. His incumbent opponent Garfield did not.
But let's fast forward. At the 1956 Democratic National Convention, young (and relatively unknown) Senator John F. Kennedy and his supporters made a feverish blitz trying to secure the VP nomination under Adlai Stevenson. You wanna talk about politicking? Kennedy did it.
There are so many examples of this. So many weird moments of pearl-clutching from pundits at the audacity of a candidate intentionally seeking a nomination instead of playing coy and superior, as though they must be called by destiny and nothing less.
Here's where I'm going with this: these rules of etiquette and decorum were created by white men and for white men and enforced primarily by white men. Because white men don't need to worry about their abilities being overlooked due to racism and sexism.
I have zero issues with Stacey Abrams publicly lobbying to be Joe Biden's running mate. I wish we would encourage this more. Because expecting women and people of color--and particularly women of color--to play by the low standards assigned to white men seems pretty ridiculous.
I don't know who Joe Biden should choose. I proudly supported Elizabeth Warren in the primary and believe she'd make a great VP. I also think Kamala Harris and Stacey Abrams and others would make great VPs for what they bring to the table. There are no shortage of great choices.
But expecting someone as brilliant and capable and visionary as Stacey Abrams to just wait her turn instead of proudly standing up and making her pitch to the country seems bizarre to me and sends a terrible message to young women of color to play by antiquated, unfair rules.
If you want to critique Stacey Abrams as a possible choice for Biden, you can probably find a bone to pick with her on the issues. I think she'd welcome the discussion. /thread
