Biden Floats a Possible Running Mate

He's open to the idea of Kamala Harris
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 5, 2019 7:35 AM CST
There Might Be Something Behind Biden's Praise for Harris
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden greets audience members during a bus tour stop Tuesday in Mason City, Iowa.   (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Joe Biden was asked on Wednesday whether he'd consider picking Kamala Harris as his running mate. "Of course I would," he told reporters. Politico suggests it might be more than a press-friendly reply. It reports he publicly praised Harris on Tuesday and Wednesday, and his words on the latter day to reporters were fairly glowing: "Senator Harris has the capacity to be anything she wants to be. I talked to her yesterday. She's solid. She can be the president one day herself. She can be the vice president. She can go on to be a Supreme Court justice." In Politico's view, he's not just being complimentary out of kindness's sake. Biden's advisers have already had him thinking along the lines of selecting a woman of color to balance out his ticket, and names like Stacey Abrams and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms have surfaced.

And as far as Harris goes, Biden seems to have his praise down pat. Here's what he said to the Ames, Iowa, crowd on Wednesday: "We lost a really good one, the senator from California. She is capable of being president or vice president or on the Supreme Court or attorney general. Her capacity is unlimited." And here's what he said Tuesday upon learning she was out, per CNN: "My reaction is she's of first-rate intellect, a first-rate candidate and a real competitor. I have mixed emotions about [her exit] because she is really a solid, solid person, and loaded with talent." Reuters notes Harris had a close relationship with Biden's late son Beau, who was himself an attorney general. (More Joe Biden 2020 stories.)

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