By: Jacob Mitovich
At the March 15th, 2020, Democratic primary debate between former vice president Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders, Biden made headlines when he committed to choosing a woman to be his vice president if elected president (Sullivan). In the history of our country, no woman has ever been vice president, and only two women have been vice-presidential nominees of a major political party (representative Geraldine Ferraro and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin). A woman vice president would be historic and would hopefully ensure that women’s issues are advocated for during a Biden presidency. In addition, in terms of an electoral strategy, Biden’s decision helps offset the criticism he has received by many with regard to accusations of sexual harassment.
Biden has yet to announce his running mate, but there are several contenders who many believe are being considered, including Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, former Georgia state representative Stacey Abrams, and representative Val Demings of Florida.
Whitmer has been the governor of Michigan since 2019 and was a state legislator before that. A progressive, she has tried to enact a progressive agenda but has faced resistance from the Republican-controlled legislature (Alberta). More recently, she has garnered attention for her response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, where she shut down the state early on. She has been targeted by President Trump, who has criticized her efforts and called her “that woman from Michigan”, but boasts high approval numbers from her constituents. In addition, Whitmer gave the official Democratic response to Trump’s 2020 State of the Union in February.
Whitmer has discussed the matter of being selected for VP with Biden’s campaign (Phillips), and in April, Biden spoke very favorably of her in his podcast. In the 2018 gubernatorial election, she won by 10 points, improving from 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton in Detroit’s highly educated suburbs as well as in blue-collar and rural counties that Trump did well in. Some believe that a Whitmer running mate could help Biden carry the midwest, but I would argue that Biden does not need much help in this category, as he connects pretty well with midwestern voters. I do, however, think that Whitmer would appeal to suburban women voters who disapprove of Trump’s misogyny and conduct. Many argue that Biden’s VP pick must connect with voters of color and/or younger voters to ensure a Biden victory. It is unclear as to whether Whitmer would motivate these groups.
Elizabeth Warren is another contender for the VP slot. A senator from Massachusetts since 2013, she has fought for a progressive economic agenda. Before she was a senator, she helped set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in order to help protect consumers from the practices of banking institutions (Dovere). She ran for president in 2020 and became known for her detailed plans to fix America’s problems. However, she dropped out after Super Tuesday, unable to win progressives devoted to Bernie Sanders and moderates wary of her progressive reputation. Many believe that she would help Biden win over younger voters. Even though some Sanders supporters think Warren’s candidacy prevented Sanders from winning the nomination and therefore dislike her, 62% of Our Revolution members surveyed want her to be Biden’s running mate (Dovere). If the Biden campaign believes his victory rests on winning younger, progressive voters ambivalent about his moderation, then Warren would be a good pick. But if they believe wooing moderates turned off by Trump would help them win, then she wouldn’t.
Perhaps the most likely choice for VP is Kamala Harris. Harris has been a senator from California since 2017, and before that she was California’s Attorney General. She ran for president in 2020 but did not gain enough traction among voters. She performed poorly in polls with African American voters. Even after attacking Biden for opposing busing at the first Democratic primary debate last June, African Americans remained loyal to Biden. Many African Americans have also been critical of Harris’ record as a tough-on-crime prosecutor (King). Biden’s allies were critical of her attacks on Biden throughout the campaign, but many have come around and forgiven her. As of now, she seems to have the biggest support among Democratic party insiders. However, she is still a polarizing figure, and it is unclear what she will add to the ticket beyond her ability to respond to Trump’s attacks and actions.
Many would like Biden to choose a black woman to be his running mate. Not only is Harris in consideration, but Stacey Abrams is, too. Formerly Georgia’s state house minority leader, she ran for governor in 2018 but lost to Secretary of State Brian Kemp. Still, she improved upon Clinton’s 2016 performance by motivating African Americans and Latinos to vote as well as doing well in Atlanta’s college-educated and diversifying suburbs. She received media attention when she initially refused to concede to Kemp, alleging voter suppression throughout the election (Shah). Indeed, in the months and years preceding the election, Kemp purged hundreds of thousands of voters from the voter rolls who had not voted in recent elections, which were disproportionately young and African American. And right before the election, Kemp was sued for his use of the “exact match” policy, in which he did not approve voter registrations applications whose information did not exactly match information from other databases (Shah).
Abrams has also attracted attention in recent weeks for openly stating her desire to be Biden’s running mate; traditionally, prospective vice presidents never openly campaign for the role (Leibovich). In an April Meet the Press appearance, she stated that she was willing to serve (Wagtendonk). Her reasoning is that as a black woman, one must raise their hand in order to be seen. I think Abrams has a respectable resume, but I cannot get over the fact that she has never served in any branch of the federal government. I believe a vice president must have experience either in Congress or working with Congress in order to effectively do the job. Still, I admit that she could be a good addition to the ticket, as her 2018 performance shows she can expand and motivate the Democrats’ coalition.
Often, prospective vice-presidential candidates are well-known senators or governors, but sometimes they are less well-known. Congresswoman Val Demings of Florida, first elected in 2016, is reportedly on Biden’s VP shortlist (Caputo). Demings is most well-known for her role as a House impeachment manager during the impeachment hearings earlier this year. Before Congress, she served as Orlando’s police chief, where she presided over a drop in violent crime yet incidences of police brutality (Caputo). An African American, she could energize the African-American base, but like Harris, she could be dogged by her past record with the African American community. She is, for sure, a dark horse candidate. It’s unlikely Biden will choose her to be his running mate, but she is clearly in consideration.
Whitmer, Warren, Harris, Abrams, and Demings would all add to the Democratic ticket if selected to be Biden’s running mate; however, their records can be scrutinized to create a bad picture. To me, Harris seems to be the most likely pick, followed by Whitmer and Warren.
Sources:
Alberta, Tim. “’The Woman in Michigan’ Goes National.” POLITICO, 9 Apr. 2020, http://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/04/09/gretchen-whitmer-governor-michigan-profile-2020-coronavirus-biden-vp-177791.
Cadelago, Christopher, and Natasha Korecki. “Kamala Emerges as Early Biden VP Favorite as Sting of Debate Attack Fades.” POLITICO, 10 May 2020, http://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/10/kamala-harris-early-biden-vice-president-favorite-248615.
Caputo, Marc. “Val Demings’ Stock Rises on VP Shortlist.” POLITICO, 17 May 2020, http://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/17/val-demings-joe-biden-vice-president-shortlist-262066.
Dovere, Edward-Isaac. “It Really Could Be Warren.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 15 May 2020, http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/05/elizabeth-warren-biden-vice-president/611497/.
King, Maya. “Why Black Voters Never Flocked to Kamala Harris.” POLITICO, 4 Dec. 2019, http://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/04/kamala-harris-black-voters-2020-075651.
Leibovich, Mark. “The End of ‘Who Me? For V.P.?’ Politics.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 May 2020, http://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/19/us/politics/biden-vice-president-trump.html.
“Michigan Governor Election Results.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2018, http://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/michigan-governor.
Phillips, Morgan. “Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Says She’s Had ‘Opening Conversation’ with Biden Campaign on VP Search.” Fox News, FOX News Network, 19 May 2020, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer-says-shes-had-opening-conversation-with-biden-campaign-on-vp-search.
Shah, Khushbu. “’Textbook Voter Suppression’: Georgia’s Bitter Election a Battle Years in the Making.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 10 Nov. 2018, http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/10/georgia-election-recount-stacey-abrams-brian-kemp.
Sullivan, Kate. “Biden Says He Will Pick Woman to Be His Vice President.” CNN, Cable News Network, 16 Mar. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/03/15/politics/joe-biden-woman-vice-president/index.html.
Wagtendonk, Anya van. “Stacey Abrams Makes the Case for Herself as Biden’s VP Pick.” Vox, Vox, 26 Apr. 2020, http://www.vox.com/2020/4/26/21237468/stacey-abrams-why-should-be-biden-vp-pick.
Wikipedia Editors. “List of Female United States Presidential and Vice-Presidential Candidates.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 June 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_United_States_presidential_and_vice-presidential_candidates#Vice-presidential_candidates.
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