Following Joe Biden’s new pledge to choose a woman as his running mate if he becomes the Democratic presidential nominee, his campaign said on Monday that it would run a “vigorous vetting process” of possible vice-presidential candidates, fueling further curiosity among party members about whom he might pick.
Mr Biden, the vice president under Barack Obama, has made clear that he already has his own detailed set of criteria for a running mate, requirements that go well beyond biographical or geographical considerations.
And while Mr Biden is certainly not yet the nominee — he has engaged on the subject in depth throughout the campaign, having fielded questions about a vice president from voters and journalists alike for months.
Here is a guide to how Mr Biden discusses what is poised to become one of the most closely watched matters of the campaign to come: the veepstakes.
Here are some of the possible candidates he has mentioned — and what his allies think about them
Mr Biden has mentioned by name, or alluded to, a long list of potential running mates, including several of his former 2020 campaign rivals. And his allies are already quietly — and largely unofficially — debating the merits of various vice-presidential candidates, mainly focusing on the names Biden himself has floated in public.
One school of thought holds that Mr Biden would have to choose a running mate who reflects the racial diversity of the Democratic Party, and he is already facing pressure from some of his most loyal backers to select a black woman in recognition of his unique debt to black voters.
Another view is that the stakes of the election are so high, and Democrats are so focused on beating President Donald Trump, that Mr Biden would have wide latitude to choose whichever person he concludes is likeliest to help him win the general election. And choosing a popular woman for the vice presidency might be greeted with strong enough enthusiasm within the Democratic Party to offset any reservations about an all-white ticket.
During an interview with NBC News last week, Mr Biden proactively raised Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Some close to Mr Biden’s campaign have noted that he appears fond of Ms Klobuchar, who endorsed him before Super Tuesday. He went on to win her home state, Minnesota, despite never having campaigned there this cycle, and he seemed visibly incredulous at his results watch party that evening when he noted the victory, a reflection of how unexpected it was.
Amy Klobuchar. Source: AAP
But it is clear that a number of his top supporters from across the ideological spectrum would like to see a black woman on the ticket.
“To look up and see a black woman on the biggest stage I think would say a lot about how much we value the most committed Democratic constituency,” said state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Pa., a Mr Biden surrogate.
Rep. James E. Clyburn, D-S.C., who played an influential role in Mr Biden’s decisive South Carolina comeback, also said in a recent interview with Axios on HBO that he preferred that Mr Biden select an African-American woman.
“I hope he would be listening to James Clyburn on this,” said former Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
The most obvious pick would be Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who ran against Biden for the 2020 nomination. The day after she dropped out of the race, Mr Biden said: “She can be the president one day herself. She can be the vice president.”
Kamala Harris. Source: AAP
A number of major donors who previously supported Ms Harris went on to embrace Mr Biden, and Ms Harris rallied with him on the eve of the Michigan primary. He dealt a major blow to Mr Sanders in that contest the next day.
But she also endorsed him after her home state of California voted, and there are still bruised feelings among some in the Biden camp over her lacerating remarks about his views on busing during a debate-stage clash. At the fundraiser this month, Jill Biden called that exchange a “punch to the gut.”
But Mr Biden has said that he struggles to hold grudges, and values the fact that Harris, the former California attorney general, worked with his late son, Beau Biden, when he was attorney general of Delaware.
He has also expressed openness to Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, though more recently he emphasised her value in the Senate. Still, he said on the debate stage on Sunday that they had spoken recently, and over the weekend he endorsed her bankruptcy proposal.
The most important factor: A running mate with whom he is “simpatico.”
While Mr Biden often says it is “presumptuous” to discuss a running mate, he has something of a routine down when asked about it.
He will discuss the strong working relationship he had with President Barack Obama, and say that he is looking for a running mate with whom he is similarly “simpatico” on key issues — and for someone who could be entrusted with presidential authority.
“I’m going to pick someone who is simpatico with me philosophically,” he said in August. “Agrees with me. Now if you’re not, that’s OK, I have great respect. But you’ve got to be able to turn and say to your vice president, ‘This is your responsibility.’ Because the job is too big anymore for any one man or woman.”
And in an interview on “The Last Word” with Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC last Monday, he added more texture: “Someone who is simpatico with where I want to take the country. We can disagree on tactic but not on strategy.”
The former vice president cares about experience.
Mr Biden often suggests on the campaign trail that the presidency is no place for on-the-job training — and he has signalled that he greatly values experience in a running mate, too.
In the past, some nominees have tapped vice-presidential candidates who were untested on the national stage as part of an effort to shore up a political vulnerability. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Sen. John McCain, for instance, picked Sarah Palin, then the governor of Alaska, in an effort to appeal to conservatives — but she often stumbled in the spotlight, creating problems for his team.
Mr Biden seems leery of that approach, though he has indicated that he would find a range of backgrounds to be useful, from presidential primary debate-stage experience to resumes forged at both the state and national level.
Age is also a factor, the 77-year-old Biden has said.
“One, that they are younger than I am,” he said in Hudson, New Hampshire, last month, “And No. 2, that they are ready on Day 1 to be president of the United States of America.”
“There has to be some correlation between their views and mine,” he added at that stop. He said that someone who “insisted that we do ‘Medicare for All’” would present “a real problem.”
Ms Warren championed Medicare for All last summer and fall, but then pivoted and proposed waiting as long as three years to seek passage of the legislation.
The coronavirus could become a new factor — here’s how.
At his best, his allies say, Mr Biden is a steady, seasoned hand ready to lead in a tumultuous time. It is a message he and his supporters have increasingly stressed as the country grapples with the coronavirus outbreak — and Mr Biden appears unlikely to undermine that point with a vice-presidential choice that could be perceived as risky or gimmicky.
His running-mate pick would be seen through the lens of a public health crisis, arguing against selecting someone who is untested in the face of potential catastrophe. Given Mr Biden’s emphasis on electing a president who does not require on-the-job training, he seems inclined to apply that standard to a running-mate as well.
By Katie Glueck © 2020 The New York Times
