Careful, Joe
Joe Biden is due to announce his running mate next week. It is his own deadline.
Mr. Biden has said he wants a veep like he was — helpful, loyal, dedicated, content in the president’s shadow.
And yet the experts and great mentioners say that Sen. Kamala Harris of California is the front-runner.
There is some kind of disconnect here. Ms. Harris will not be content in Mr. Biden’s shadow. She will be running for the 2024 presidential nomination from the day she is chosen to run for vice president.
As Julius Caesar says of Cassius, one of his mortal enemies in Shakespeare’s play, she has a “lean and hungry look.” Overwhelmingly so. Ms. Harris announced her candidacy for president three years after arriving in the U.S. Senate.
And what characterized that candidacy?
Two things: First an utterly incompetent and mismanaged campaign. And, second, the only really vicious attack on Joe Biden — essentially calling him a racist.
And it is said by people who say they have spoken to her about that attack that Ms. Harris is “without remorse.”
That may be true, generally. Ms. Harris is not 80% or 90% ambition. She is ambition.
In the play, Caesar says he prefers fat men who sleep well.
There are women in Congress and in state houses who would serve with some humility and be satisfied to take the constitutional back seat. Rep. Karen Bass, head of the U.S. House Black Caucus, is perhaps one. Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo is, seemingly, another.
The rule for a presidential candidate choosing a running mate is: First, do no harm. That applies not only to political fortunes, but the country.
Mr. Biden should never have put himself in the tokenism box by promising “a woman” for vice president. Bernie Sanders did not do that. Mr. Biden should have simply promised the best.
But he did what he did. Now, at the very least, Mr. Biden needs someone more focused on helping him help the country than on her own future. No one believes that is Ms. Harris. Beware the ides of August, Joe. Beware the lean and hungry look.