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I do get the impression that Biden wasn't all that enthusiastic about Kamala, mostly because she was sort of imposed on him. He'd shot his mouth off about making a woman his VP, and then the black Democratic leaders wanted their pound of flesh in return for all the support, so it had to be a black woman. And it does look like Kamala got chosen as "nobody wants her but everyone will take her instead of the other choice because they want the job themselves and don't want a rival to get it".
So all the leaks about problems in the VP's office etc. that were trickling out were, I think, part of the Biden staffers strategy to keep her in her lane if she showed signs of trying to grab the reins herself. In contrast, Trump seems to like Vance just enough, or not be threatened by him, that he lets him do a more public job as VP.
Who would "the other choice" have been at that point? Biden kind of painted himself into a corner there. Michelle Obama might have worked but I don't think she wanted the job.
Several pundits and outlets liked making little lists of "possible VP picks".
Politico's list included a gay woman (if we're talking about why Kamala felt she couldn't pick Pete), so I do think picking Kamala was due to some internal politics in the party. For example, again from Politico's list:
Hmm, that wouldn't be you throwing your hat in the ring as "I will serve my country if selected", now would it, Karen?
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Stacey Abrams, might've been even worse than Kamala. According to wikipedia Val Demings was one of the alternatives, but didn't get picked; maybe due to Kamala's higher name recognition from her failed primary run?
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Reading between the lines of the info and reporting we have, Biden did choose Kamala and felt pretty OK about it. He chose her because she convincingly assured him that she would stay loyal. And she basically did, to her and his 'credit'. That's on a personal level between Joe and Kamala. So in that respect I don't think that's right, he trusted her just fine. Was it enthusiasm? No. She wasn't a social friend, and I don't think ever became one, although I'm pretty sure at least some of the bigger decisions he let her in the room for.
However, and this is the huge caveat - Biden's staffers did not get converted to Kamala. I think it's even been explicitly reported that several of Biden's inner circle literally never forgave her for the bussing accusation during the primaries, implying that Biden was a segregationist sympathizer. So yes, on a lower level, her staff was often iced out, I think that's pretty clear. (It's also clear that her camp has always been chaotic, and although Biden's staff didn't ever push back on those allegations, unlike Kamala I don't think that was the Biden staffers' fault, just her own).
Vance? Well, for one, even though staffers are rarely super visible, Vance's keep pretty quiet as far as I know. I'm pretty clued in politically, and I can't even name one. While by contrast I can name drop Susie Wiles, Chris LaCivita, Stephen Miller, and a few other close-orbit Trump team people easily (to be fair not all of them are attention-seekers, but there plenty of others who are). Looking at the list, most of them don't seem to be super frontline warriors, other than maybe his Senate buddies Mike Lee (ugh), Josh Hawley (ugh), and Tom Cotton. Plus, he adopted some Don Jr. people and so there's some bridges in place. And you know Trump is still absolutely glowing after Vance attacked Zelensky for disrespect a few months back on Trump's behalf.
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