There are growing signs in political circles that Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) may hold the winning hand to become Joe Biden’s running mate against Donald Trump.
The question comes up in nearly every dinner-table discussion, every pundit’s evaluation, of Biden’s nascent campaign: who will he choose?
The only thing that seems assured is that she’ll be a woman; Biden has promised that.
While nothing else can be certain at this early stage, on Monday Politico said this:
“Harris is not only in top contention, but Biden aides, surrogates and major donors see her as the best fit at the onset of the process — at least on paper — to join him atop the Democratic ticket.
“Biden’s campaign has formally started vetting a group of prospects that includes roughly a dozen women. But in interviews, more than two dozen Democrats, including advisers, allies and donors aligned with Biden, returned to Harris as an early frontrunner.”
Not so long ago, when the race for the Democratic nomination was still active, many observers wrote Harris off, because of “a cutting debate performance where she seemed to suggest he was racially insensitive,” Politico says.
“But Biden and others close to him have come to view Harris’ debate knockdown as part of the rough and tumble of presidential campaigning,” the political website says, adding that even before Harris ended her own campaign, “aides said she and Biden were already stealing warm moments together.”
Like the other candidates who sought the nomination — as well as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton — Harris has endorsed Biden. But she’s gone further than some, including appearing at fundraisers and a town hall for Biden and raising money for down-ticket Democrats in contested elections.
“Influential donors are joining in the push” for Harris, says Politico, “seeing the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica as the most logical choice to balance a ticket led by a white man in his late 70s.” Harris is 55.
Still, nothing is settled.
The latest ranking of potential Biden running mates from CNN editor-at-large Chris Cillizza, puts Harris in the lead, followed, in order, by:
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (MN) the former presidential candidate; Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), who holds retired Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s former seat; Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA), the favorite of the party’s progressive wing;
Susan Rice, former UN ambassador and national security adviser to Obama; Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms; Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; Rep. Val Demings (FL); Georgia state representative Stacey Abrams, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (IL).
