Former Vice President Joe Biden has formed a committee to consider 12 Vice Presidential potential choices, apparently all women, based on his pledge to select a female running mate.
While the list has not been made public, it would seem clear, subject to a surprise of course, that there would be five women at the top of the list.
They would include
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
Senator Kamala Harris of California
Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan
Former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams of Georgia
Harris and Abrams are of minority background, with Harris having both Jamaican and Indian ancestry, so therefore multiracial from African and Asian heritage, while Abrams is African American.
So the question arises as to who would be the best choice to be Vice President, and potentially become the 47th President if Joe Biden is unable to finish his term as the 46th President.
The view of this blogger is that two choices should be eliminated immediately, not because they are not good people, but for other reasons.
The first is Elizabeth Warren, due to her age, only six and a half years younger than Joe Biden, making for the oldest Presidential ticket in American history, not a good idea. Also, the likelihood is that the Democrats could, at least temporarily, lose a Senate seat, with a Republican governor in Massachusetts, able to make an appointment, as occurred in 2009 when Scott Brown was appointed to replace Ted Kennedy, upon his death. The Democrats cannot afford to lose a seat in a state with a Republican Governor.
The second is Stacey Abrams, who simply does not have the experience to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. It is true that the Georgia gubernatorial race of 2018 was corrupt, and that Abrams might have been the person who should have been inaugurated.
But that is theory, not reality, and then there is the issue that if Abrams had now been Governor of Georgia, with the CoronaVirus Pandemic raging, should a governor in the midst of the crisis be running for Vice President, and the answer is no!
This also brings Gretchen Whitmer under question, as she is Governor of a state, Michigan, which has had much more severe problems with the CoronaVirus Pandemic than even Georgia. Should she be taking on the campaign for Vice President when Michigan is in crisis?
She is already highly controversial, with the strong reaction in her state by some against her restrictions and quarantine she has imposed, rightfully, but still highly divisive. She served as Minority Leader of the State Senate, after first serving in the Michigan House, so has a similar background as Abrams, with a major difference being that she was successfully elected Governor in 2018.
Both Abrams and Whitmer lack long range national experience, and one wonders if a Governor is the best fit.
And for the Democrats, the Vice Presidential choice for a Presidential campaign has always been a member of the US Senate, except in 1972 and 1984, and both years, the Democrats lost 49 states!
So we come down to two choices—Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar.
Harris is 56 and Klobuchar is 60, and Harris’s seat in California is safely Democratic, as is Klobuchar’s seat in Minnesota, with both states having Democratic Governors who would appoint a Democrat to the seat, not true in Massachusetts.
The one advantage of Klobuchar is that she is from the Midwest, a battleground area, while California is insured to be Democratic.
Either one would be a fine choice to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, and possibly become the 47th President of the United States!
Some other names I’ve heard are Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice and former interim U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates.
Former Republican, you have seen those names you listed, but I highly doubt any of them will get to first base!
And if they do, it could actually help defeat Biden, as they are not credible for various reasons, as I see it!
I don’t know if people are really adamant in being convinced Joe Biden’s 2020 vice-presidential running mate will be someone who is female.
What I am thinking about is someone from a state currently aligned to the Democrats at the presidential level. A state which has a governor affiliated with the Democratic Party. (Good for support in case the selection is a U.S. senator.) And, if any of these two would not be applicable with his eventual selection, it is someone from a state which would become a 2020 Democratic pickup with Joe Biden winning a 2020 Democratic pickup of the presidency of the United States.
Last time this happened, and both the presidential and vice-presidential nominees hailed from such states, was the 1992 Democratic ticket of Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Clinton’s home state Arkansas was on an unbroken streak of having voted for all presidential winners from 1972 to 2004. Gore’s home state Tennessee was a bellwether from 1912 to 2004 (except with misses in 1924 and 1960).
This also has to do with not affecting a state with regard for the Democrats having their hold. (This is a flaw with Massachusetts U.S. senator Elizabeth Warren, given its governor is Republican Charlie Baker. Maybe, maybe not, Baker would replace a vice-presidential-elected Warren with a likewise Democrat.)
I have also considered the 2020 Democratic nominee for U.S. vice president could be someone hailing from a state with allocated double-digit electoral votes. Just over 50 percent of the nation’s residents are from a Top 10 populous state. Looking at the rest of the states also with double-digit electoral votes, together they comprise approximately 70 percent of the nation.
Joe Biden is from Delaware. Small state. Ranks in population as No. 46.
So, just to name one person, who I am thinking of as a possibility?
I am thinking of New York governor Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo was first elected in 2010. He was re-elected in 2014. He won re-election to a third term in 2018.
There have been many people who think Cuomo has been really good leading New York in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Cuomo governs the No. 4 populous state in the nation.
He was born December 6, 1957.
The Republican incumbent ticket of Donald Trump, 74 this year, and Mike Pence, 61 vs. the Democratic challengers ticket of Joe Biden, 78 this year, and Andrew Cuomo, 63 this year, may feel—age wise—on par each other. The age difference between Trump and Pence is 13 years. The age difference between Biden and Cuomo is 15 years.
Women who are wanting a female vice-presidential nominee may be initially disappointed in not receiving one. But, when it comes to another male vice-presidential running mate, when there is a desire for a person who is female, I am thinking many women would not mind it being specifically Andrew Cuomo.
(I want people here to keep in mind that I am not writing about my position here. This is not about what I want. I am, like anybody else can, offering up a name that may be considered not only possible but feasible.)
Hmmm, D, an interesting idea, about Andrew Cuomo, although one must remember he is far from admired in New York, although he was reelected. But his style and personality grate many, so not sure that the allure around him would survive a campaign for VP.
Also, one could argue that a governor faced with the CoronaVirus Pandemic should NOT be running, which applies to Gretchen Whitmer, as how could that person handle the ongoing crisis and be a candidate for VP?
Just food for thought, but again, interesting idea!
D – Biden specifically made a commitment during the debates to having a women on the ticket.