Why Joe Biden keeps missing his own VP deadlines
Joe Biden’s campaign staff is making plans to introduce his eventual vice presidential choice to key party constituencies. Donors are readying finance events featuring the still-unnamed running mate — “date and time to be announced.” An in-person reveal is being discussed.
But as the political world awaits his announcement, Mr. Biden himself has not appeared to be in a big rush — no surprise to those who know him well.
His first self-imposed date for naming a running mate, around Aug. 1, came and went. The first week of August, another timeline he publicly floated, is over, and an aide confirmed that an announcement would not happen last week. Mr. Biden has reached the final stage of his deliberations and is expected to name his choice shortly before the Democratic National Convention, which begins Aug. 17. And while that is in keeping with the timeline of the two previous Democratic nominees, it is at odds with Mr. Biden’s own words.
“The deadline for a VP nomination is the convention,” said Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., a co-chair of Mr. Biden’s campaign. “He’s very deliberative with his decision-making. It works.”
This kind of approach — being openly meditative about the issue at hand, with a penchant for missing his own deadlines as he mulls his options — is in line with how Mr. Biden has made other big political choices throughout his career. Those who have worked with him over the years describe nonlinear decision-making processes with input from allies and family members, a barrage of questions from Mr. Biden, and a habit of extending deadlines in a way that leaves some Democrats anxious and annoyed, while others say it brings him to a well-considered decision, eventually.
“He knows when what he’s decided really matters,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. “He takes time to make those decisions well. He doesn’t struggle to make those decisions; he makes them in a series. He listens to the relevant experts. He consults the relevant data.”
As the process has stretched out, each day has also brought intensive lobbying, uncertainty for the contenders and, increasingly, visible factions.
State Sen. Annette Taddeo, of Florida, said she and other lawmakers and donors had expressed concerns to the campaign about the possible selection of Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., whose record of travel to Cuba as a young activist and respectful remarks about Fidel Castro when he died could alienate voters in Miami.
“It’s our job not just to speak up on his behalf but to speak up when we believe we can avoid an error in the campaign, and that’s what I’ve been doing,” said Ms. Taddeo, a member of Mr. Biden’s Latino leadership committee who spoke highly of fellow Floridian Rep. Val Demings and voiced a view privately shared by other prominent Democrats in South Florida. She continued, “We need to hurry up and pick and move on.”
Ms. Bass, who is well-liked across the ideological spectrum of the Democratic caucus, has said that her views on Cuba had evolved and that she would not repeat those comments about Castro. A spokesman pointed to a supportive statement made by the Cuban-American mayor of Coral Gables, Fla., Raul ValdesFauli, who praised Ms. Bass’ “commitment to democracy” and governing experience and said that “the Biden-Bass ticket will win Florida.”
Republicans, in the meantime, are previewing their attacks on several of the potential contenders, including Susan Rice, the former national security adviser. Democratic opposition research is also flying, aimed at cutting down some contenders in the mix.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., has faced sharp questioning from some Biden supporters about whether she would be loyal to his political agenda — an issue that has played out publicly and created fierce backlash.
“People close to the campaign, to actually start undermining these candidates, was just wrong and so terribly stereotypical and a throwback to the 1950s,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “Joe Biden is being more transparent than I think virtually any other presidential nominee I’ve seen before, but with that unfortunately comes the politics that these incredibly accomplished women are now facing.”
Names frequently discussed in Biden circles over the past week, according to interviews with top Biden allies, include Ms. Harris, Ms. Rice and Ms. Bass, along with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, of Michigan. Some supporters also remain enthusiastic about Ms. Demings and Sens. Elizabeth Warren, DMass., and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., among others, but acknowledge that there is a fluid process that only Mr. Biden, his wife, his sister and a few close longtime aides probably can see fully.
In the meantime, signs of a public rollout have surfaced. Mr. Biden’s campaign is increasingly considering how the eventual candidate should engage important political constituencies and has sought input regarding the community leaders and organizations the running mate should contact and what kinds of events she could do, according to multiple people familiar with the proceedings.
In a fundraising appeal sent Thursday, Mr. Biden wrote, “I’d like to personally invite you to join me and my running mate for our first grassroots fundraiser together as the official Democratic ticket.” Details, the message said, will be sent “once they’re finalized.” Another fundraising invitation, hosted by Women for Biden — without specifics on date or time — was headlined, “Introducing our running mate.”
Mr. Biden, for his part, has rejected the idea that his search process has been slower or messier than those of previous nominees.
“It’s been very orderly,” he said during an interview that aired Thursday with members of the National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists. “Every one of the women we’ve interviewed is qualified. And I’ve narrowed it down.”
Added Ms. Weingarten, “This is one of those moments where you have to let Joe be Joe, and you have to trust that he knows what he’s looking for and what he needs.”