California Sen Kamala Harris is raising money for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden while speaking out about the disproportionate number of African Americans with COVID-19.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has been praising the former vice president on television and Twitter as she unveils a plan to fight the coronavirus in rural America.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer went on The Daily Show to plead for help addressing the pandemic while wearing a T-shirt with a jab at President Donald Trump.
As Biden begins the process of choosing a running mate, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic has become an unexpected part of the audition. The women believed to be top candidates are competing for the job by trying to show off their leadership on issues thrust into the spotlight by the virus.
That's easier for some than for others. The coronavirus has put politics on the back burner for many. Rallies and fundraisers where potential vice presidential candidates might essentially audition for the position are barely happening. Meanwhile, governors in the running might seem to have an advantage as their official day job becomes a public test of their ability to handle a crisis in the spotlight.
Everything has changed, and this time calls for a No. 2 who can project confidence to voters that they can manage a pandemic, said Adrienne Elrod, a Democratic strategist who was a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.
If you can show that you're doing that effectively, that makes you a more attractive choice, obviously. There is only so much a potential running mate can do to influence a decision that ultimately comes down to who the candidate believes is the right choice. Biden has said he'll pick a woman. He may consider whether a senator hails from a state with a Democratic governor to ensure her replacement in the Senate would be from the same party.
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But he also has stressed he's looking for someone who's ready to be president on a moment's notice. Besides Harris, Klobuchar and Whitmer, other women who've been part of the speculation are Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Georgia governor candidate Stacey Abrams, Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Almost all have said they are flattered or honored to be mentioned as likely short-listers but are focused on the pandemic.
Warren said on MSNBC she would accept the VP job if Biden offered it to her. Abrams, the former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, told Elle magazine she would be an excellent running mate, noting she has a record of executive management and, as an African American woman, could motivate typically ignored communities."