Joe Biden's camp officially vets Amy Klobuchar to be his vice president after he beat her in the primaries
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar might eventually lead the other women that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has thought about to make his running mate this election season. The 59-year-old senator has officially been asked by Biden’s campaign to submit materials that will be examined for the role of the former vice president’s running mate. Biden, 77, has been stressing all along that he would pick a woman to be his deputy if he gets elected as the president in the presidential election in November.
According to CBS News, the request for information from potential vice presidential candidates like Klobuchar is ‘underway’, a senior aide of Biden’s campaign told the channel. If a potential candidate gives her consent, she would undergo a rigorous review lasting many weeks whereby her public and private life and work will be assessed by a hand-picked group of Biden’s aides. Factors like tax returns, public speeches, past personal relations, etc will be looked into.
Klobuchar dropped out to help Biden in presidential race
The women candidates that Biden has eyed to pick as his running mate includes a number of his former opponents in the Democratic presidential fray. Klobuchar was also one of the contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination till she dropped out to endorse Biden just ahead of the first Super Tuesday in March. A number of moderate candidates did the same and it was viewed as a strategy to unify the party behind Biden to defeat the socialist Bernie Sanders. Sanders withdrew from the race in early April to leave Biden as the only candidate in the fray and he is likely to be endorsed as the Democratic candidate officially. Among other former presidential candidates who Biden spoke favorably about as his potential running mate are California Senator Kamala Harris and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. Biden even expressed his desire to pick former first lady Michelle Obama, one of the most admired women in contemporary America, though the latter has said repeatedly that she is not interested in joining politics.
If Biden eventually picks Klobuchar as his running mate, it would be an ideological alignment and the Democrats could mobilize the voters in the Midwest. However, the unity of two moderate candidates could discourage the progressive supporters of Sanders and Warren ahead of the election.
Biden has publicly praised Klobuchar for her strong debate performances and credited her for his win in Minnesota which came after she and other presidential candidates left the fray. However, Klobuchar has some baggage as well and it is about her treatment of her staff members. A number of reports have surfaced that claim Klobuchar did not treat her staff members well and even asked one of them to clean a comb that she used to eat salad that he brought to her.
Biden has set up a four-person team to lead the selection process. The four individuals are: former Connecticut senator Chris Dodd, Delaware Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Biden’s former White House and Senate counsel Cynthia Hogan. Besides, former White House counsel Bob Bauer, campaign general Dana Remus and former homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco will also be contributing to the process with their inputs on the candidates' background. Biden has said that he expects the vetting to get completed by July and reportedly is taking advice from former president Barack Obama, the CBS report added.
Biden though has shown a leaning towards picking a woman as the vice president, something that the US has never seen, he is also facing a rape accusation from one of his former Senate aides Tara Reade.