Kamala Harris's running mate can neither be a woman nor a person of color. In short, it must be a white man so as not to scare off the moderate American electorate. The selection process for the US vice-presidential candidate who will be invited to campaign alongside Harris, a Californian woman with a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, was in its final phase on Sunday, August 4. The candidate's name could be announced as early as Monday, just before a major electoral tour starting Tuesday evening in Pennsylvania and then Wednesday in Wisconsin, two decisive swing states that Donald Trump won in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.
On Sunday, Harris met with at least three of the contenders – Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, 51; Arizona senator Mark Kelly, 60; and Minnesota governor Tim Walz, 60, who are considered favorites – at her residence at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, according to American media. She also met with Federal Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, 42, for an hour and a half on Friday, according to Reuters. It is not known whether Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, 46, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, 59, have spoken directly with the Democratic candidate for the US presidential election in November.
The aim of these meetings is to assess the "chemistry," the personal bond between the possible president and her future vice president. According to her advisers, quoted by the New York Times, Harris places decisive importance on personal relationships. To meet her, the main contenders all canceled the events they were supposed to attend, in particular Shapiro, who was due to raise funds in the Hamptons, the chic residence of wealthy New Yorkers on Long Island.
For the past 10 days, the selection of potential candidates has been anything but about chemistry. They have undergone a ruthless selection and vetting process, mostly by videoconference, usually stretching over weeks or even months. The review was overseen by former Attorney General Eric Holder and his team of attorneys at Covington & Burling. The choice of Holder confirmed former president Barack Obama's renewed hold on the Democratic camp. This African-American Bronx native served as US Attorney General under the former president from 2009 to 2015. The aim of the exercise was to identify any flaws in the future vice-presidential candidate that could torpedo the Democratic ticket.
The process was very thorough. Hundreds of questions were asked, every romantic affair was scrutinized, the entourage was questioned, all financial investments were reviewed and even passwords to social media accounts. "It's not very pleasant. The truth is, none of us is a saint," Larry Sabato, professor of political science at the University of Virginia, told USA Today. "We forget, they're human beings. And in fact, they're very, very human." "It's very intense," confirmed Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, who had been chosen by Hillary Clinton to be her running mate in 2016.
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