Some Democrats are growing impatient with the Joe Biden veepstakes. That’s understandable considering that Biden has been the presumptive Democratic party nominee for 115 days now since Sanders dropped out in early April. For those of you keeping tabs at home, that’s more than the number of days left before the November elections.
While I understand their frustration with the process, I do not share it.
Historically, Biden is right on time. Since 1960, every presidential candidate except for John Kerry named his running mate within one week of his party’s convention or at the convention itself.
First female vice-president
This year is also historically significant given that Joe Biden is about to select the first female vice-president in America’s history and quite possibly the first female president in 2024. Whatever idea you may have of the normal vetting process multiply that by a factor of 10 and you will still fall short of the societal requirements for a woman to step into such a role.
That is even more true for a black woman, and this moment in our country requires a black woman. She will have to be the next best thing to Jesus and quite frankly that still wouldn’t be enough.
The Biden campaign needs to dot all their I’s and cross their t’s because whoever is chosen, every aspect of her life both public and private will be placed under an electron microscope, and carefully examined. Certain actions in her past that would have been overlooked if it was a man will be amplified as a way to try and discredit her or to prove that she’s somehow ‘unworthy’ of the honor of being one step away from the presidency.
For example, Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris have similar records on criminal justice issues. In fact, one might argue that Biden has a more punitive ‘tough on crime’ record than Sen. Harris. Yet, when Biden was chosen to be Barack Obama’s running mate in 2008 (August 23 btw) his record was seen as an advantage, and his experience was seen as a sign of his capability. For Sen. Harris, concerns about her record are blown out of proportion, leading some on social media to derisively refer to her as a “cop” and her experience is seen as threatening.
VP running the show
At 77-years-old Biden ain’t no spring chicken. He’s already facing attacks from the right and the far left about his mental health, and they are already speculating that his VP will be the one running the show. They will be coming for her—hard especially since none of their attacks on Biden have landed so far.
The Biden campaign cannot rush this process. This year is too important for women’s rights and for the history of our country for it to be taken lightly. No stone should be left unturned in the vetting process. It won’t stop the sexist attacks–which has already begun–but the campaign would have taken the time to prepare and develop an effective strategy to counter it.
We are on the brink of history here just like we were in ’08 when the nation’s first black president chose Biden on August 23 as his running mate, after a thorough vetting process, which Biden benefitted from this year when facing allegations of sexual assault. Plus the convention this year has been pushed back, so there’s no rush.
Let’s all relax, support whoever the nominee is, whenever Biden makes the announcement and make herstory this November.
