Biden and one of his leading contenders. Photo: Anthony Lanzilote/Bloomberg via Getty Images The background checks, interviews, and vetting are unfolding behind closed doors in Washington and Wilmington, and on secured Zoom calls. But Joe Biden’s invitation-only search for a running mate is starting to look like an open audition with an audience of 300 million.
Stacey Abrams’s push for the job is by far the most public, to a degree that’s amazed some traditionalist Biden allies.
Even with all that activity, it’s not clear whether the various influence campaigns will have much effect on Biden or his committee. Some of the party’s most powerful figures have, for now, refrained from pressuring Biden one way or another. “The names that we’re hearing, we are friends with all of those folks, and we are going to rely upon his judgment,” Lee Saunders, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees president, told me.
The selection is still a persistent concern for him. When friends ask what he’s looking for he repeats his public criteria: He wants to feel comfortable with the person, she must be prepared to step into the job immediately, the pair must be mostly ideologically aligned, and — as Obama has encouraged in their now-frequent calls — she should have strengths complementary to Biden’s.
The imperative of finding someone who can seamlessly step into an executive disaster-management role in January has also dimmed the prospects of potential contenders who haven’t yet been elected to statewide office — like Abrams and Demings — in the eyes of some Biden whisperers. It’s increasingly likely, they say, that the tradition-bound Biden will keep a trend going: The party’s last six vice-presidential nominees — and 14 of its last 16 — were senators.
gdebenedetti Still, I got no call.
gdebenedetti When Kamala announced her run for the office, I did the “Snap your fingers test”. If you could snap them, and she would instantly be in the office, would you be comfortable with that? With her, the answer is YES! She would get great people around her and would handle it all well
gdebenedetti he should just pick someone and start moving forward rather than tweeting from his basement.
gdebenedetti Good read 👍
gdebenedetti This is a modern take on the process. WhateverItTakes
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