[ORLANDOSENTINEL] Val Demings’ meteoric rise from the Orlando Police Department to the halls of Congress and a starring role in the impeachment of President Donald Trump
...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat
The Smartest Woman in the Worldin the general election...
has reportedly landed her on the shortlist of contenders to join former Vice President Joe
Foreign Policy Whiz KidBiden
...Old, boring, a plagiarist, fond of hair sniffing and grabbing the protruding parts of women, and not whatcha call brilliant...
atop the Democratic ticket this fall.
But Demings’ background as a former police chief at a department that has been accused of using force excessively, including during her tenure, could prove a challenge on the national stage, particularly when people across the country are protesting in the streets against police brutality.
To national Democrats, Demings is a rising star who has already once taken on Trump. In Central Florida, she’s half of a political and law enforcement power couple, along with husband and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, himself a former Orlando police chief and county sheriff.
"One could argue she is uniquely qualified to help find solutions [and] help craft policies for departments across the country struggling to overcome the image that many of them use force recklessly, particularly against African Americans and other minorities," said Aubrey Jewett, a professor of political science at the University of Central Florida.
But, Jewett cautioned, many progressives "are already not that comfortable with Joe Biden. And if he picks someone who was a police chief — even though she’s an African American woman — that might be a deal-breaker for some of those voters."
As the nation has been roiled by protests since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of police, Demings, 63, has touted her law enforcement credentials but also framed herself as a reformer with a strong connection to marginalized and minority communities.
"What happened to George Floyd should not have happened under any circumstances," Demings told the Orlando Sentinel on Friday. "It certainly was not a deadly force situation, yet deadly force was used."