Former Vice President Joe Biden is considering picking a running mate early in his presidential campaign, should he decide to jump into the Democratic primary fray.
Biden, who is expected to declare his candidacy soon, has discussed the idea of choosing a running mate early on in the 2020 Democratic primary race, CNN reported Monday. The potential move is apparently an attempt to highlight to Democrats that the biggest priority in 2020 is beating President Trump in the general election.
The former vice president is also reportedly courting a sweep of high-level endorsements in a bid to seize control of the Democratic primary, which now has more than a dozen announced candidates.
Biden, 76, called a meeting with Democratic rising star Stacey Abrams, 45, last week in Washington. Abrams lost a close Georgia gubernatorial race to Republican Brian Kemp in 2018. If elected, she would have been the nation’s first black female governor. The meeting led to speculation over Abrams being a tapped as an early vice presidential pick, despite sources saying that role was not formally discussed at that meeting.
Although Biden has not yet announced a run, he is leading in the polls and seemed to tease his candidacy over the weekend.
“It can’t go on like this, folks. I know I get criticized and told I get criticized by the new left,” Biden said, before appearing to trip over his words saying, “I have the most progressive record of anybody running for the United … anybody who would run.”
[Also read: Washington Post columnist, 78, says Sanders, 77, and Biden, 76, too old to be president]
