Biden to choose his running mate
Strong women are candidates
As Joe Biden nears the announcement of his vice presidential choice, the top contenders and their advocates are making final appeals.
The campaign hasn’t finalised a date for naming a running mate, but three people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans said a public announcement likely wouldn’t happen before the week of August 10. That’s one week before Democrats will hold their convention to officially nominate Biden as their presidential nominee.
Biden said in May that he hoped to name his pick around August 1 and told reporters this week that he would “have a choice in the first week of August”. He notably stopped short of saying when he would announce that choice.
Running mates are often announced on the eve of a convention. As he prepares to make his choice, a committee established to vet possible running mates has provided Biden with briefing materials.
Biden will likely soon begin one-onone conversations with those under consideration.
Leading contenders include California Senator Kamala Harris, California Representative Karen Bass and Obama national security adviser Susan Rice. The deliberations remain fluid, however, and the campaign has reviewed nearly a dozen possible running mates.
“For Joe Biden, this is crunch time. After all the vetting, all the investigations into the prospective nominees, it’s now up to Joe. It’s personal,” said former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who was vetted for vice president in 2008. Representatives for Biden declined to comment.
The selection amounts to the most significant choice Biden has confronted in his nearly five-decade political career. He has pledged to select a woman and is facing calls to choose the first black woman to
compete on a presidential ticket. Some are now urging Biden not to let the announcement linger too long.
“My sense is that the VP himself, having been through this process, is aware of and mindful of not letting people hang out there too long,” said Democratic strategist Karen Finney. Harris, while not directly addressing her vice presidential prospects, told a group of young black women on Friday that it’s common for black women to face resistance when they exercise their power. “There will be a resistance to your ambition. There will be people who say to you: ‘You are out of your lane’,” she said during the digital summit. “They are burdened by only having the capacity to see what has always been instead of what can be. I’ve had that experience my entire career.”
Biden has sought feedback from former President Barack Obama, who has provided advice but has insisted the choice is his to make. — AP