75% White Americans want Joe Biden to pick woman of color as VP, Kamala Harris the most backed candidate: Poll
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has made it a point that he would pick a woman vice president if he goes on to win the November 3 election against incumbent President Donald Trump. However, the factor of race has also become an important part of the strategy in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests across the US following the brutal death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis in May. Three of the top four contenders in the race to become Biden’s running mate are reportedly women of color and now, a new poll has suggested that more white Americans are in favor of seeing a VP pick to be a woman of color.
As per the poll conducted by USA Today/Suffolk University, 75 percent of White Americans said it is very or somewhat significant for them that Biden picks a woman of color. In the case of Black Americans, it is 60 percent while 81 percent of Hispanics feel the same. Partywise, the Democrats are overwhelmingly in favor of seeing a woman of color running for the No 2 post. More than 70 percent of the Dems are in support of the idea, the poll added. While 35 percent of the Dems said it was "very important" to them that Biden's running mate is a woman of color, 37 percent said it was "somewhat important." Only 27 percent said it was "not very" or "not at all" important.
Harris backed by 41% White Americans, 31% of Black Americans
Candidate-wise, California Senator Kamala Harris, who was also in the race for the presidency till late last year, was the most-backed candidate, as per the survey. Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, also a former presidential candidate, followed next. While 41 percent of white Americans and 32 percent of their Black counterparts said they would be “excited” if Harris was picked, 20 percent of Whites and 27 percent of Black people were in support of Abrams. Both Harris and Abrams are women of color. Other potential candidates for the VP nomination race are Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Thai-American, and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, also a woman of color. Florida Congresswoman and former chief of Orlando Police Department Val Demings is another woman of color who is in the fray for the VP nomination.
Minnesota Senator and former presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar dropped out of the race for Biden’s running mate last month saying the time is favorable for him to pick a woman of color. The 60-year-old lawmaker was among the frontrunners to clinch the nomination but the anti-racist protests made her change her plans. The survey also found that current Vice President Mike Pence has little support for, even in the Republican Party. Nearly half of the GOP members said it would be wise for President Trump to drop his deputy, the former governor of Indiana, and replace him with former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley. Only six percent of the Republicans spoke in favor of Pence.
Only two women have got vice-presidential tickets for either of the two major political parties in the past. While Geraldine Ferraro fought with Walter Mondale for the Dems in 1984, Sarah Palin doubled up with John McCain for the GOP in 2008. Both of them lost the respective elections. Biden is expected to announce his vice presidential nominee on August 1. Since the 77-year-old former veep has already made it clear that he would be a one-time president if he wins, the significance of his running mate has become all the more bigger.