The Washington Post
Joe Biden is looking for a running mate. Many Democrats have strong ideas — and few agree.
Joe Biden is under escalating pressure from competing branches of his party as he ponders the most consequential decision of his presidential candidacy: a running mate.
Black Democrats have joined in a concerted effort to urge him to pick a black woman as his vice-presidential nominee. Now some liberal groups and activists, who have long had an antagonistic relationship with the presumptive nominee, are pressing Biden to select a liberal woman.
Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has been extraordinarily blunt in saying she would accept the job. Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) has taken the opposite tack, remaining low-key while others advocate for her.
Some liberals are backing Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who ranks far above others on the left as a potential running mate. But rancor from the primaries has led to schisms on the left: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the final competitor to cede to Biden and the liberal figure best positioned to push for concessions, has declined to support Warren despite their ideological alliance, according to three people familiar with his conversations with Biden, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to recount the private discussions…
Biden’s decision could foretell which direction he believes is most important for the party he now leads and which parts of the party he thinks must be mobilized to win the White House.
Democrats have been split since 2016 over whether energizing black voters or winning over some white working-class voters in the industrial Midwest represents the best shot for the party in November. Hillary Clinton’s defeat four years ago was narrow enough that either option could explain it, giving Democrats little certainty as they try to wrestle the presidency from Trump.
Biden is believed to be considering as many as a dozen candidates, but much of the focus has centered on a handful of his former primary rivals, each of whom would fulfill different aims for the party: Warren, a liberal icon; Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), a Midwestern moderate; and Harris, who would be the first black female nominee.
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