The only surprise about the endorsement of Joe Biden for president by Stacey Abrams is that it hasn’t happened already.
After all, Abrams, the 2018 Democratic Georgia gubernatorial nominee, has for weeks openly campaigned for the vice presidential slot on the ticket headed by Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic nominee and himself a former two-term vice president.
Still, on Tuesday, the Biden campaign announced it received the endorsement by Abrams, a former minority leader in Georgia’s House of Representatives.
“Vice President Biden is the leader America needs — a leader who will restore dignity, competence, and compassion to the Oval Office while restoring America’s moral leadership around the world,” she wrote in a statement. “His commitment to fighting climate change, leading an economic recovery for all, and protecting every eligible American’s right to vote are among the many reasons why he must be the next president of the United States.”
The endorsement is the latest maneuver by Abrams in her campaign to earn the spot as Biden’s running mate, who has gone on a media blitz pitching herself as his best choice.
In the past two months, Abrams has directly described herself as an “excellent” pick for Biden, going so far as saying she’d have “concerns” if he did not pick a woman of color as his vice president.
The strategy is a departure from previous election cycles, in which vice presidential hopefuls often campaign for themselves behind the scenes and try to demonstrate why they’re the best surrogate for the nominee.
“As a young black woman growing up in Mississippi, I learned that if you don’t raise your hand, people won’t see you, and they won’t give you attention,” Abrams told CNN’s Jake Tapper in April. “But it’s not about attention for being the running mate. It is about making sure that my qualifications aren’t in question because they’re not just speaking to me. They’re speaking to young black women, young women of color, young people of color, who wonder if they, too, can be seen.”
In an interview with Elle magazine last month, Abrams said her “25 years in independent study of foreign policy” gave her some of the requisite qualifications for the spot.
Other lawmakers being considered by Biden include Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
