Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) is very impressive, in fact gallant, on paper. Joe Biden could do worse as his veep. That’s why DC rumors have her on a very short list for Biden’s final consideration as the vice-president nominee. Duckworth is, as a Democrat of course, suitably loony on most major issues.

She is a female (tick off that veep nominee box) Asian. There is the woman of color thing (though not quite the color some Democrats had in mind). She was a highly decorated U.S. Army helicopter pilot who lost both her legs in combat over Iraq. Rightfully she gets massive credit and would have great appeal for that. She would be an interesting choice for another reason.

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If she ran and won —she would make an able opponent against Mike Pence in debate if only for her military record— she would have to leave the Senate. That would leave Democrat Governor J.B. Pritzker with an appointment to make for the remaining two years of her Senate term. And gee, I wonder what female resident of Illinois he would consider for the job. You guessed it: Michelle Obama.

The Obamas have been looking for a way to thread that needle without upsetting too many apple carts. And given Michelle’s “I’m just a nice mommy staying at home and baking cookies” charm offensive over the last couple of years, Pritzker will play it as if he just gave the seat to Betty Crocker. Betty Crocker by way of Jane Fonda.

Duckworth is a dark shade of green on environmental issues. She is a big fan of carbon credits and other green silliness. On foreign policy and defense she is rather more in the middle. Along with Marco Rubio (R-FL), she co-sponsored a bill in 2019 that hit China on Chinese aggressive actions in the South China Sea and surrounding areas. The NRA rates her as pro-gun control, though she owns a gun herself. Hypocrisy? Surely not from a liberal.

Duckworth supports every possible crazy idea on immigration and illegal aliens. Open borders, unrestricted immigration, funds for illegal aliens for any and all purposes? She’s there. She would even admit 100,000 Syrian refugees into the United States. As that kind of thing has worked out so well elsewhere, like in Germany and France, what could possibly go wrong here?

In August 2018, Duckworth was one of seventeen senators to sign a letter launched by Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, demanding that the administration take immediate action in attempting to reunite illegal aliens with their families, citing each passing day of inaction as causing “trauma that this administration has needlessly caused for children and their families seeking humanitarian protection.” Typical hysterical prog boilerplate and not a word that the program she referenced started under the Obama regime. So yes, gallant on paper and in uniform, foolish and Bolshie otherwise.

Perhaps the best part of a Duckworth veep nominee nod would be the strangled cries of agony from the likes of Kamala Harris, Val Demings, and Stacey Abrams. When they advocate a “woman of color” on the ticket they are thinking only of themselves. For Biden to take an end run around them and watch them have to take it would be the most amusing thing (at least intentionally) Biden could do this whole campaign season.