Women VPs a must for woke candidates

During Sunday’s Democratic presidential debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, both candidates vowed that when it came to choosing a running mate, it would be “a woman.” Bernie upped the ante by clarifying that his choice would likely be “a progressive woman.”

No mention of any particular skills either was looking for in the No. 2 position — whether the VP candidate would be experienced in consensus-building, wellversed in foreign policy or health care issues, a seasoned lawmaker with an impressive record of legislation on behalf of poor and middle class working Americans — none of that. Just “a woman.”

There are many women politicians with formidable smarts and well-honed skills — elected by voters who chose them because of what they bring to the table. There may be those cast their ballot simply on the basis of gender, but as Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign drubbing showed, it’s not enough. Especially if your ideas would bankrupt the country.

Can a women be president? Of course. Vice president? Definitely. But when a candidate plays the “it’s time for a woman to be elected” card, they overshadow skillset with tokenism and virtue signaling.

Biden and Sanders are heading for the primary home stretch, desperate to knock the other off the saddle. Neither has busted out a barn jacket or posed in a tank (yet), but the blanket declaration that their running mates would be women — as if that’s all the qualifications they’re looking for — says a lot about the disingenuousness of both candidates.