Biden squeezed on his most critical decision: His VP pick

Joe Biden’s confirmation of the biggest open secret in politics — that he would pick a woman as his running mate — was just the start of a thorny selection process that touches not only on gender but race, geography, experience and personal chemistry.

The array of choices in play, according to Biden advisers and allies, reflects the competing forces bearing down on Biden as he looks to the general election. Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren are top names. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto are also in the mix.

There’s a powerful current of thought in Democratic circles that Biden needs to choose a black woman after African American electorate indisputably revived his campaign in South Carolina and the South. But it's by no means a certainty.

“I think it’s necessary for it to be a woman and I prefer an African-American woman. That’s my preference,” Majority Whip Jim Clyburn told POLITICO in an interview. Clyburn’s endorsement of Biden before South Carolina’s Feb. 29 primary was a transformative moment for the Biden campaign.

Clyburn said Biden’s pick for a running mate is one of the most important decisions he’ll make. Biden’s age — he'll be 78 on InaugurationDay 2021, the oldest person to take the oath of office of the presidency if he wins — only heightens the importance. While Clyburn has publicly discussed possible running mates, he said he hasn’t made recommendations personally to Biden.

“Here’s the thing, when you choose a running mate, you have to choose based upon compatibility. You have to choose based upon what I would like to call competency. A lot of vetting is going to take place. A lot of polling is going to take place,” Clyburn said. “And I’m certain he will choose what he thinks is best to complement his candidacy for the presidency and capable of becoming president, if the situation called for it.”

Biden has been dogged by questions about his age and his failure to attract younger voters, putting pressure on his campaign to balance his ticket with a fresh face. Geography, too, is a consideration. The imperative to win back the Rust Belt, said Biden advisers, will be one major factor in the decision.

That could give an edge to Klobuchar, who demonstrated she can win in the purple state of Minnesota and stumped aggressively for Biden in Michigan as well as in her home state. Klobuchar’s swift exit from the race and endorsement of Biden ahead of Super Tuesday helped him consolidate moderate support at a pivotal point in the primary. Klobuchar, like Harris, is also a strong debater, Clyburn pointed out.

Whitmer likewise checks the Midwestern box. The Michigan governor stepped up to provide a critical endorsement just before the Michigan primary. Biden went on to win every county in the state in a victory that devastated Sanders’ campaign. Michigan, too, is considered ground zero in the fall fight against Trump.

Several Biden advisers noted the golden rule of choosing a vice presidential candidate: “First, do no harm.” To that end, ensuring that their choice has no skeletons is critical. “Our campaign will run a rigorous vetting process,” one of the advisers said.

Aides insist Biden’s decision to announce his intentions to name a woman on the debate stage was his own and not part of a larger strategy.

“It’s something he thought about a lot recently, and he decided he wanted to make a big commitment on a big stage,” said Biden adviser Symone Sanders. “Vice President Biden also doubled down on nominating a black woman for the Supreme Court. So both of these are enormous commitments to diversity and, frankly, to progress.”

A road map for the campaign’s thoughts can be found in a 16-page report, Selecting a Vice President: Advice for Presidential Candidates, which was issued in 2016 by the Bipartisan Policy Center. One of Biden’s top advisors, Anita Dunn, was part of the center’s working group that produced the study.

Among its recommendations: Campaigns should begin the core vetting and selecting process at least eight weeks before the convention. And “presidential candidates should spend meaningful time personally getting to know each potential running mate.”

Warren, the policy wonk of the group, had a frosty relationship with Biden over economics in the past. But Biden has taken steps to make amends. The two spoke over the phone twice since she dropped out, according to a source familiar with the conversations. And in a major policy shift, Biden announced he would back Warren’s bankruptcy reform plan.

Plus, Warren's progressive and feminist bona fides are hard to ignore, said a Biden adviser.

“There’s a lot of pressure to pick Elizabeth,” the adviser said.

Of the three senators who ran against Biden, Harris’ name has consistently risen to the top of the speculative VP short list because of their affinity for one another and because she is the only black woman to run in the crowded primary.

Harris supporters and African American political groups say Biden owes a political debt to black voters that could be repaid by picking her.

“The sentiment from black women throughout the South is really clear: We put in all this work and you should put a black woman on the ticket. And many of them are saying Harris’ name,” said Bakari Sellers, a former chairman of Harris’ campaign and an influential South Carolina Democrat and political commentator.

“They have a lot of respect for each other and they’ve been talking,” Sellers said. “But ultimately, it’s his choice.”

Weighing against Harris is some potentially ill will from the first debate in June, when she ambushed Biden over his record on working with segregationists and school busing.

“If Kamala helps us win, everyone will welcome her,” said a Biden staffer. “But the question is whether she’ll help us win.”

Before Biden even announced, there was buzz about former Georgia state legislator and 2018 gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams joining his ticket. But Abrams bristled at the notion at the time, which Biden advisers thought was poor form.

Still, Democrats believe Abrams could help put her home state in play and juice African-American turnout in swing states. That includes neighboring Florida, where recent polling indicates Trump is making unexpected inroads with black voters.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, was an early endorser of Biden’s and has frequently vouched for him in the South, especially among African American women.

As for Florida, one of Biden’s most recent endorsers, Rep. Val Demings, is often mentioned in the same breath as Abrams and Bottoms. A former police chief, Demings is a relative unknown but hails from Orlando, the heart of the crucial I-4 corridor, the fulcrum on which the largest swing state swings.

When asked last week about her interest in running with Biden, Demings did nothing to tamp down the speculation.

“I love being a member of Congress,” Demings told a local station, WFTV-9. “But if asked, I would consider it an honor.”