Elizabeth Warren is among the top three choices for Joe Biden’s running mate, according to his selection committee.
Aides to Biden, the two-term vice president and now the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, are seriously considering the Massachusetts senator and former White House hopeful, the Associated Press reported Friday.
Warren’s name has floated to the top of the short list, along with California Sen. Kamala Harris and Obama-era national security adviser Susan Rice, as his vetting team enters the process’s second stage.
Pundits believe Warren could energize more liberal Democrats compared to Biden, but she’s a septuagenarian like him and wouldn’t add diversity to the ticket. She and Harris are battled-tested thanks to the primary. Harris has the added advantage of being well-versed in criminal justice issues, which are currently roiling the country. Rice, an ex-United Nations ambassador, is a foreign affairs expert. However, she may be politically damaged by her leadership during the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission and CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya.
Other contenders include Florida Rep. Val Demings, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, according to the Associated Press. The trio are minority women who could satisfy calls for a person of color on the ballot. Biden has already promised to pick a woman as his No. 2.
Proceedings remain fluid, but the chances of Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, 2018 Democratic Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, among others, being chosen as Biden’s understudy appear to be dwindling.
Klobuchar’s candidacy was rocked by the death of George Floyd. Floyd, a black man from the ex-prosecutor’s home state, died under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis. Abrams this week told The Late Show with Stephen Colbert she hadn’t “received any calls” from Biden’s camp. And Whitmer has been the target of Republican criticism over her handling of the COVID-19 outbreak. Her husband also attempted to use her name to get his boat placed in northern Michigan waters before Memorial Day.
The women have all been interviewed. Next steps include selection committee members combing through their financial records, past writings, and other public and private records. Biden has spoken with many of the women, but formal one-on-one conversations aren’t expected for another couple of weeks.
Biden told donors last month he anticipates announcing his decision at the start of August.
