MichMash: Who will Kamala Harris choose to be her VP candidate?

“MichMash” host Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben sat down with former state Rep. Adam Zemke to talk about Harris’ chances of winning.

Vice President Kamala Harris at a roundtable event in August 2020.

Vice President Kamala Harris at a roundtable event in August 2020.


It’s been another week of major historic political events. President Biden walked away from his race for reelection, and Vice President Kamala Harris came sprinting in to pick up the baton. On the latest episode of MichMash, host Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben sat down with former state Rep. Adam Zemke from Ann Arbor to talk about her chances of winning. 

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In this episode:

  • President Biden dropping out of the race for reelection
  • How the election cycle for 2024 compares to 2016
  • Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances of winning the election

Zemke defended Biden after the debate, saying that criticisms about his cognitive ability were unwarranted.  

“I watched his NATO Q&A. That was really what did it for me. That hour-long Q&A that was, off the cuff with reporters. I watched all of that intently, and I sent out a tweet afterwards saying I didn’t see any cognitive decline at all,” said Zemke. “I thought he was very sharp on policy.”

The former representative compared that moment in the media to when Hilary Clinton emails were brought up in 2016. He said both moments were overly criticized and received unbalanced attention from the media.  

In regards to Harris succeeding Biden in his run for office, Zemke said we learned a lot as a people during that time.

“In 2016, I think people did think, ‘how could Donald Trump actually win? They had more supporters that voted. The reality is this, I think people are hell-bent on making sure that that doesn’t happen again.” he said. 

He added that both Hilary Clinton and Harris bring different qualities and background to the table. That along with the experience from 2016 makes Zemke feel Harris has a shot to make it in November.  

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Author

  • Hernz Laguerre
    Hernz Laguerre Jr. is a Multimedia Journalist at 101.9 WDET. He is one of the co-host for "Detroit Evening Report," one of the weekend anchors for "Weekend Edition," the producer for our political podcast, "MichMash," and reports on arts, culture and politics.