Biden and his running mate: Keeping the suspense going

The soon to be formal Democratic nominee for the November 3, 2020 showdown, Joseph Biden, should have kept up with his date of announcement of his Vice Presidential pick.

Instead, his campaign has passed the word that it could be delayed by a few more days, if not by a week. This would only be pushing it closer to the Democratic National Convention scheduled at Milwaukee, Wisconsin between August 17 and 20, an event that is going to be devoid of all the noise and rancor thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that is ravaging America.

If the stipulations and conditions for attending what little is left of the Convention laid out by the organisers is anything to go by, it is better to sit at home and watch the virtual event. The former Vice President is not going to have the luxury of watching or addressing this event from the basement of his house in Delaware.

He will address the gathering on August 20, however, no one knows if there will be any audience present physically or if it will be another virtual speech that has now become the order of the day for Biden.

Conventions are major events for both Democrats and Republicans since candidates and their running mates get ready for the final stretch only after they have given their acceptance speeches. All of this is usually given the go by this time around. For Democrats, the only excitement left is who Biden would pick as his running mate. What once emerged as a large field of potential picks, narrowed when the former Senator announced that he will be placing a woman on the ticket.

The pack soon shrunk further in the aftermath of the brutal killing of an African American person named George Floyd in the streets of Minneapolis by a white police officer and the break out of anti-racism protests all over America. The clamor for Biden to choose a woman of “color” soon emerged, not that there were not enough women of color even before political events overtook the country.

The problem for Biden is not one of finding a running mate with impressive credentials; every one of the names that have been bandied about have been women who have excelled, in one field of politics or another, and not a single one of them carry an entitlement sign over their heads—they have earned their spot for consideration, and every one of them knows full well the enormous responsibility that comes with the job.

The role of the Vice President has considerably changed over the decades even as their styles of functioning have come under close scrutiny by historians and media pundits. Even a person like John F Kennedy knew full well about Lyndon Johnson when he picked him as his running mate. As much as Johnson was known for his crude and crass behavior, Kennedy could count on him to deliver the policy goods on Capitol Hill.

For Biden and his choice of women—and he has not said that he will be confining to one of “color”—the field had always been an impressive one: Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Tammy Duckworth, and Amy Klobuchar; Congressional and State Representatives like Val Demmings, Karen Bass, and Stacy Abrams; and Governors of critical states like Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. There have also been women of prominence like former American Ambassador to the United Nations and former National Security Advisor Susan Rice.

Biden has done the smart thing by not talking much about his running mate for he knows full well that the person he is going to choose must be ready to assume the number one spot in a nano-second. The Vice President, as the saying goes, is a heartbeat away from the Presidency! There have been ample lessons in American history to bear testimony to this.

Around three weeks ago, Senator Kamala Harris was seen among the top picks with others like Senators Tammy Duckworth and Elizabeth Warren, with Representative Val Demings and Susan Rice also being strong contenders for the Number Two position. However, in the last few days, Senator Harris is seen to be slipping in favor of Karen Bass, an accomplished Representative from California, and Susan Rice moving up the ladder. Some have made the point that the number one pre-requisite for a running mate is loyalty, and that Senator Harris might not quite fit the bill as she could be aspiring for the Presidency in 2024 after Day One Biden assumes the Presidency in 2021, should he win this November.

Furthermore, a few others have said that Senator Harris—who still holds the Number One ranking in surveys—has not shown any remorse for her stinging attack on Biden in a Democratic debate charging the former Vice President of not being tough enough on segregationist politicians when he had the opportunity to do so on Capitol Hill. When the search committee brought this up during the vetting process, Senator Harris had reportedly shrugged it off with a laugh saying “That is politics.” It is unlikely that Biden would peg his choice of a running mate on one remark during campaigning, rather, it would be on what his running mate brings to the table by way of competency, experience and demeanor.

Taken in this spirit, every one of the potential candidates bring something to the table, by way of domestic or foreign policies. The bottom line for Biden is showcasing not just a person who is competent but one who understands and believes what America is all about.

(The writer was a former senior journalist in Washington D.C. covering North America and the United Nations.)

(The Federal seeks to present views and opinions from all sides of the spectrum. The information, ideas or opinions in the articles are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Federal.)