‘I think she represents a sort of bridge between the moderate land and progressive lane…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) A few of Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden’s allies are urging him to pick Sen. Elizabeth Warren as his running mate.
Warren, who is considered primary rival Bernie Sanders’s ideological ally, could give Biden’s campaign the progressive boost it needs, said one longtime Biden ally.
“I think she represents a sort of bridge between the moderate land and progressive lane,” the ally, who is in touch with Biden’s campaign, told The Hill.
Some have noted that the strategy risks backfiring. The choice of a radical progressive to succeed the cognitively-declining, 77-year-old Biden might, instead, help to unite President Donald Trump’s base, which has hovered steady around 40 percent, with a coalition of moderates who fear a Warren presidency would be tantamount to electing the socialist Sanders.
At any rate, Biden has done little to dispel the speculation. During Sunday’s debate, he reaffirmed his promise to choose a female running mate if he wins the Democratic nomination, and another Biden supporter said Warren “makes the most sense.”
“There are a lot of qualified women, but she would be the best choice without a doubt,” the supporter said.
Democratic strategist Eddie Vale explained how Warren’s progressive appeal could unite the Democratic Party against Trump in November: “She would definitely help shore up some of his support on the left flank and with women, and especially in the coronavirus crisis, [it] definitely helps show a ticket that is qualified, has plans to deal with it.”
Biden has already endorsed one of Warren’s plans. This weekend he would be adopting Warren’s bankruptcy proposal, claiming that “few people in the country understand how bankruptcy hurts working families more than Elizabeth Warren.”
The former Obama administration vice president also reportedly wanted Warren to run on his presidential ticket back in 2016 when he was considering launching a bid for the White House.
Biden told Warren he wanted her to be his vice president, but didn’t explicitly “ask her to commit to the slot or endorse his candidacy,” according to Politico. Warren was “noncommittal,” but “not displeased.”
Some of the other women Biden is reportedly considering are: failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.