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Biden’s running mate won’t be a magic bullet
It’s delusional to think that the right vice president will be a panacea for all the ills of a problematic candidate
For all intents and purposes, the Democratic presidential primary is over, which is surely a drag for political pundits. The coronavirus has them trapped in their homes, and without tea leaves to read or campaign moments to pontificate about, they’re probably bored out of their minds. Addicted to the horse race, they’re getting their fix by obsessing over who Joe Biden will pick to be his running mate.
Biden’s options have been listed, ranked and analyzed in dozens of articles published in the past couple of weeks. This is a far cry from how the “veepstakes” was covered back in 2016, when the media was largely indifferent about who Hillary Clinton chose.
One reason is that Biden is pushing 80 and it’s likely that his №2 might have to step into the role during his first term. So to many, this is equivalent to a conversation about who will be the president. But that doesn’t entirely account for this fixation on Biden’s running mate.
It has as much to do with anxieties about his deficiencies as a candidate. Few are genuinely excited about Biden. He lacks voter enthusiasm as well as the confidence of…
