These 2 Names Are on the Rise as VP Candidates

Sen. Tammy Duckworth and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 6, 2020 3:32 AM CDT
2 Names on the Rise as VP Candidates
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., listens during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, May 7, 2020.   (Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP)

Two new names are increasingly getting buzz as possibilities for Joe Biden's running mate: Sen. Tammy Duckworth and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice. As Politico reports, Duckworth, who is of Thai and Chinese descent, ramped up the speculation on Sunday when she declined to say that Biden should choose a black woman for the VP spot. "The Biden campaign have their own process that they’re going through, and I’m sure Vice President Biden will pick the right person to be next to him as he digs this country out of the mess that Donald Trump has put us in," she told CNN's State of the Union. Upon being pressed further, she still declined: He "needs to make his own mind and will make his own mind," she said. "I don’t think it’s on any of us to dictate to him."

Three sources tell the Washington Post that the Iraq war veteran is, as the paper puts it, a "serious contender" to share the ticket with Biden, and is one of several people of color being considered. According to sources who spoke to the Hill, another is Rice, who also served as President Obama's national security adviser; she worked closely with Biden. "I know they have a good relationship—perhaps the best relationship of anyone on the list," a source close to the Biden campaign says. Adds another source, "They worked shoulder to shoulder together on a whole range of things—eight years of working together solving problems." Rice herself said Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves" when asked about the speculation, Newsweek notes. Sen. Kamala Harris is still seen as the favorite, and others considered to be contenders include Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Val Demings, Rep. Karen Bass, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. (More Election 2020 stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X