Xavier Becerra has served in public office 30 years, Congress 24 years, and House leadership 8 years.
Why exactly is Tim Kaine considered the qualified, sensible pick, and not Xavier Becerra? Any guess? After Paul Ryan and now Mike Pence on the GOP side, the House not Senate argument is no excuse. Let’s compare the records of all the leading candidates. With Sherrod Brown likely out that’s easier.
Brown has more experience than Becerra but will never be picked, sacrificing a Senate seat in a year the Senate hangs in the balance. You might disagree, but I’m assuming Brown will not be her choice, and when you exclude Sherrod Brown, then Xavier Becerra becomes the experienced pick not Kaine.
In fact, Xavier Becerra has served around twice the time in public office as anyone else but Perez.
Xavier Becerra — Deputy Attorney General, 4 years, State Assembly, 2 years, US Congress, 24 years.
Tom Perez — Lawyer, 12 years, Councilman, 5 years, DMV, 3 years, Asst AG, 4 years, Labor, 4 years.
Tim Kaine — Mayor, 4 years, Lieutenant Governor, 4 years, Governor, 4 years, US Senate, 4 years.
John Hickenlooper — Mayor, 8 years, Governor, 6 years.
Cory Booker — Mayor, 8 years, US Senate, 4 years.
Elizabeth Warren — Advisor, 4 years, US Senate, 4 years.
Julian Castro — Mayor, 6 years, HUD, 2 years.
Tim Kaine was also a lawyer but in private practice where as Perez was a Senate and Justice lawyer. Other names have been floated too but I’m looking at those previously confirmed by the campaign. Perhaps this is part of the reason two more were added so late. The rest lack Becerra’s experience.
Tom Vilsack — Mayor, 5 years, State Senate, 6 years, Governor, 8 years, Agriculture, 7 years.
James Stavridis — US Navy, 37 years.
I think some assume Becerra is inexperienced because he is unknown, despite his leadership posts, but I attribute this to the “invisible Latino” phenomenon. They also assume this because he is young, he began public service at 28 and was elected to Congress at 34, in ‘92, the same year as Jim Clyburn.
You might argue, some experience is more important than others. Even though Becerra has been in leadership positions in Congress the last eight years, let’s propose Mayor or Governor is double the experience of a leadership post in Congress. Becerra still leads the top seven, with 30 years in office.
Current VP Joe Biden is probably the closest match to Becerra. Biden served 36 years in the Senate.
UPDATE: Here is some more biographical detail on Becerra for those who still doubt his experience:
Hailing from Sacramento, California, and the son of working-class immigrants, a young Xavier Becerra grew up in one-room house with three sisters. His father was a blue-collar laborer, spending most of his career shining shoes, canning tomatoes, and working construction. Xavier inherited his father’s work ethic and showed unbridled determination from a young age; he taught himself golf and made his high school’s golf team and learned how to play poker well enough that he was offered a job as a Las Vegas casino dealer. Despite, moving up considerable rungs on the socioeconomic ladder, Becerra has not forgotten his working-class roots; he still wears his father’s wedding ring as a constant reminder of his upbringing….
Since coming to Washington, D.C., Becerra has held a series of positions that have garnered him “rising star” status. He became chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in 1997, despite causing a stir when he visited Fidel Castro in Cuba prior to the election – this move prompted the only two Republicans in the caucus to quit after Becerra was elected. In addition to his position in the Hispanic Caucus, he was given a seat on the House Ways and Means Committee in 1997.
Notwithstanding a failed run for mayor of Los Angeles in 2001, Becerra’s political evolution has been relatively smooth. In 2006, after the Democrats gained a House majority, Nancy Pelosi chose Becerra to be assistant to the speaker, making him the highest-ranking Latino in the House Democratic leadership and allowing him to shape the party’s politics and agenda. In 2009, Becerra became the vice chair of the Democratic Caucus, after Caucus Vice Chair John B. Larson became the chair following Rahm Emmanuel’s move to the White House.
Here are some more details on Becerra from his Congressional web page:
First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992, Representative Xavier Becerra serves as Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, is a member of the powerful Committee on Ways And Means and is Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security.
His committee is responsible for formulating our nation’s tax, Social Security, Medicare, trade and income security laws. As Chairman of the Democratic Caucus, Rep. Becerra wields a strong voice in House Democratic leadership, helping to set priorities and drive the legislative decision making process.
He has dedicated himself to promoting issues affecting industries critical to the economic vitality of the Southern California region such as health care, high technology, entertainment, and stimulating free, yet fair, trade.
The first Latino to serve on the Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Becerra has used his position to increase opportunities for working families, to improve the Social Security program for women and minorities, to combat poverty among the working poor, and to strengthen Medicare and ensure its long-term viability. He currently serves on the Social Security Subcommittee. In 2010, Rep. Becerra served on the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.
Becerra also makes frequent live TV appearances on both Spanish language and cable news shows.
Politico reports Hillary will announce her pick on Friday in Florida. Especially if it is in Central or South Florida that could indicate a Latino pick, or it could indicate nothing, she has gone to Florida for other key milestones during the primary. Neither Perez nor Becerra are without any scandals.
Regardless, I really hope Clinton takes Becerra seriously, since he is the most experienced choice.
One more interesting thing to watch this week will be Democrats in Cleveland, including Becerra.
The Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee are gearing up for their own joint counter-convention during the Republican National Convention next week, sending a full staff to Cleveland to troll the Republicans and fight back against every attack made against them throughout the week.
The effort, according to a Clinton campaign official, will be titled “Better Than This” and will include daily press conferences, press calls and rapid response from top aides and surrogates. The RNC runs July 18-21.
The campaign –- which will work out of their headquarters in Cleveland located less than a mile from the RNC's venue, the Quicken Loans Arena -- has also enlisted celebrities and other allied organizations. They plan to tweet along with the convention program using the hashtag, #BetterThanThis, the aide said.
DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz will head to Cleveland, along with a number of elected officials who have agreed to participate. Among the participants are Sen. Al Franken, Rep. Tim Ryan, Rep. Marcia Fudge, Rep. Joyce Beatty, former Ohio governor Ted Strickland, Rep. Xavier Becerra, Rep. Ruben Gallego, Rep. Joe Crowley, Rep. Bennie Thompson and former senior economic policy adviser to President Obama, Austan Goolsbee.