Biden is looking for the super vice

As of: 28.07.2020 08:58 a.m.
Later this week, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden plans to announce which woman should stand by his side for the post of US Vice President. The decision should also be programmatically important.

By Sebastian Hesse, ARD Studio Washington

Around a hundred days before the US presidential election, the chances for Trump challenger Joe Biden are good. In the critical states of Arizona, Florida and Michigan, for example, the democrat is ahead in current polls. But Biden's strength is currently Trump's weakness. The Democrats' program has not yet taken shape. That will likely change when Biden names his candidate for vice president this week. Several potential companions are still in the race:

Biden's supporters are also excited to see who the Democratic presidential candidate will nominate as his potential vice president.

Kamala Harris addresses conservative voters
If a computer algorithm had to make a choice, then this name would surely be at the end of the computing process: Kamala Harris, 55, Senator from California. As a former public prosecutor and minister of justice in her home country, she addresses conservative voters. With her family background in Jamaica and India, her experience with systemic racism in the United States has not been spared. And Harris has been drumming for Biden for weeks: "We need a president who has the courage and the strength to raise people up again," she enthuses, "and that's Joe Biden!"

These words sound ravishing, but Harris can do it differently. When she was still a candidate for the top job, she caused a crackling tension in the Democratic presidential candidate's first television debate because she surprisingly tackled Biden head-on and aggressively. Biden confidants say that he never forgave her for this - especially since the former vice president may expect the same loyalty that Barack Obama could rely on him.

Susan Rice has no campaign experience
When it comes to familiarity, Susan Rice Biden should be the first choice. The 55-year-old diplomat was a security advisor during Obama's second term. Although she would be ready, Rice has neither campaign experience nor is she well versed in issues beyond foreign policy.

Here Elizabeth Warren would be the perfect alternative, the 71-year-old lawyer, university lecturer and senator from Massachusetts. For Biden, however, choosing Warren would mean moving the party to the left.

Police officer and helicopter pilot also in the race
The shortlist also includes two less prominent candidates who can boast exceptional biographies: Tammy Duckworth, 52, Illinois senator, and Val Demings, 63, Florida MP. Before Demings switched to politics, she was a police officer for 27 years and most recently the Orlando police chief.

She is extremely proud of the demonstrators who are currently taking to the streets in the United States against racism and police violence, says the African-American Demings. And finally Duckworth looks back on a life from a novel: Born in Bangkok, grew up in Hawaii, a doctor of political science, a helicopter pilot in the Air Force, then a congressman and a senator. Duckworth lost both legs in a combat operation in Iraq.

There is therefore no shortage of suitable candidates for the office of Vice President in the Democratic Party. Now Biden only has to make his choice.