The 12 most logical picks for Joe Biden’s vice president, ranked
So who will it be?
Below are our latest rankings of the 12 women — and Biden has said he will select a woman — who make the most sense and appear to be in the running. (Here are our rankings from June.)
12. Stacey Abrams: The former Georgia gubernatorial candidate has publicly pushed for the job, but there are few indications she’s under the most serious consideration. About the best argument remaining for her is if Biden truly wants to try to win her state. But even by that argument, there are likely candidates with more to offer when it comes to winning an even-more-crucial state — like Florida, Michigan or Wisconsin. You could even make the case that winning Georgia would be furthered by another candidate higher on this list: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Either way, winning Georgia would more likely be the icing on the Democrats’ cake than decisive for the election. (Previous ranking: 9)
11. Gina Raimondo: A newcomer to this list, the Rhode Island governor hasn’t been talked about much. Like a few others on the list, she wouldn’t add diversity beyond being a woman. And there was a time relatively recently when even her own blue state wasn’t particularly fond of her. But that has changed with the state’s coronavirus response, and she’s one of few potential contenders with gubernatorial experience. Conservative columnist George Will made the case for her a couple of months back. Consider her a sleeper. (Previous ranking: N/A)
10. Tammy Baldwin: Another conservative Post columnist, Henry Olsen, recently made the case for Baldwin (D-Wis.), who would be the first LGBT pick on a major presidential ticket. He notes that although the senator is liberal, “she nonetheless combines this with a 60 percent rating from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2018 (although her lifetime score is significantly lower), suggesting she isn’t as unacceptable to business as others, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). That balance — progressive but reasonable — probably comes pretty close to how Biden views himself.” (Previous ranking: 8)
9. Gretchen Whitmer: The Michigan governor, like some others on this list, has fallen by the wayside when it comes to speculation about the pick. Biden, though, said this week that she’s still in the running. “Incredibly, and yes,” Biden said. Whitmer this week also wrote a New York Times op-ed calling for President Trump to issue a nationwide mask mandate. Her approval ratings on the coronavirus have slipped in her home state, but if Biden wants someone who gets Trump’s goat in arguably the most important 2020 swing state, she might be it. (Previous ranking: 6)
8. Michelle Lujan Grisham: The New Mexico governor, the only Latina on this list, spoke with The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart recently, and she called the U.S. coronavirus response the “most outrageous environment I’ve ever worked in.” Lujan Grisham is still an outside shot but is definitely worth keeping an eye on. (Previous ranking: 7)
7. Keisha Lance Bottoms: The Atlanta mayor was the high-riser a few weeks ago, and she’s the only person on the list who has come down with the coronavirus, which is an interesting dynamic to watch as things progress. But indications are she’s not particularly high on the list. I keep coming back to the fact that being a mayor provides all sorts of unintended consequences for a presidential ticket. You’ve got all the scrutiny of being an executive, but less public vetting than a governor. (Previous ranking: 4)
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6. Karen Bass: The California congresswoman and head of the Congressional Black Caucus might be the most outspoken Trump critic on this list in recent weeks — perhaps suggesting she’s angling for the job. Bass has said Trump has done what “George Wallace would have done” as president. Will made the case for Bass more recently than Raimondo. One way in which some progressives might be fond of her, beyond having a record very much in line with their priorities: At 67, she might open up future Democratic presidential contests to the field. At the same time, if Biden is looking for a much younger running mate, that could be a strike against her. (Previous ranking: 11)
5. Val Demings: The Florida congresswoman ranks the highest on this list among non-statewide officeholders or former White House officials. As with Bottoms, I continue to question whether a record spent mostly as a local official making tough calls — in Demings’s case, running the Orlando Police Department — followed by one term in Congress is the safest pick. CNN had a must-read piece on this last month. (Previous ranking: 5)
4. Susan E. Rice: The former Obama White House national security adviser has steadily crept up this list. This week, she authored a New York Times op-ed arguing that the George Floyd protests are a momentous opportunity, but “this incipient movement also risks being reduced to a fleeting instant of heightened consciousness, one that dissipates in the fog of pandemic, economic recession and a bitter presidential campaign.” She added that while polls show increasing sympathy for the cause, much of the progress has “has been symbolic or superficial.” It was a high-minded plea, to be sure, but a noteworthy one from someone with one of the most impressive resumes on this list. (Previous ranking: 4)
3. Tammy Duckworth: Nobody on this list has earned the ire of Trump’s campaign and his allies in recent weeks like the senator from Illinois, who found her patriotism questioned by Fox News host Tucker Carlson — despite her having literally lost limbs fighting for this country overseas. Carlson suggested Duckworth and other Democratic leaders “actually hate America.” (The senator responded by asking whether Carlson wanted to “walk a mile in my legs,” which are both prosthetic.) Duckworth was even attacked by a fellow veteran, GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw (Tex.), who suggested during an online event for the Trump campaign that people like Duckworth agreed with “the destruction of America.” The apparently concerted effort to go after Duckworth could owe to what she said about having a dialogue about potentially removing statues of George Washington, but the visceral nature of it is sure notable. (Previous ranking: 10)
2. Elizabeth Warren: The senator from Massachusetts has emerged as a key Biden campaign adviser despite some acrimony in the primaries, when she attacked his ideas about the prospect of working with Republicans as “naive.” Biden’s proposals have trended in Warren’s direction, and she remains the most obvious pick if the concern is about bringing in the Bernie Sanders wing of the party. But given Biden’s growing lead over Trump and polls suggesting that the Sanders flank is already very much united behind Biden, that might be less of a consideration. (Previous ranking: 2)
1. Kamala D. Harris: Another list, another list with Harris at No. 1. While others have been jockeying to climb up, nobody makes more sense than the senator from California right now, which has been the case for a while. About the best argument against her is that her 2020 presidential campaign wasn’t exactly a resounding success. But for a campaign showing a wide lead, she’s clearly the safest pick. And safe might be what the doctor orders. (Previous ranking: 1)
