Biden-Klobuchar? MN's senior senator in the running for running mate
With former Vice President Joe Biden having committed to picking a woman as his 2020 running mate, political oddsmakers are already discussing eligible candidates — and Minnesota's senior senator is high up on the list.
In a Washington Post op-ed this past week, analyst David Byler called Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who dropped out of the presidential race last month, an "obvious choice" for the job of running mate.
Byler says she's "ideologically simpatico" with Biden, sharing his pragmatic politics, and offers "insight into the states he needs to win" — i.e. Midwestern states.
Meanwhile, National Review calls Klobuchar the frontrunner for the job, pointing to her years of experience in the U.S. Senate and noting that she "survived the scrutiny of a national campaign."
"Biden has four months to make a final decision, but at the moment Klobuchar remains his most logical pick," the magazine said.
She has some stiff competition, though. There's a lot of talk surrounding Biden's other former primary opponents, senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris.
Warren, representing the progressive wing of the Democratic party, made it clear she would accept the VP job if Biden offered it last week. For her part, Harris said on Friday she “would be honored to serve” as Biden's running mate. Unlike her fellow senators and former presidential candidates, however, Klobuchar would make no such commitment when given the chance.
In a Saturday interview on CNN, host Michael Smerconish asked Klobuchar whether she would be open to the role. Her response? "I'm just not going to engage in hypotheticals."
She said she's focused on her state, the country, and "leading the effort so we can vote in November."
Smerconish quipped that he would put the answer down as a "maybe."
Whatever decision Biden makes, the matter will be officially settled this August when Democrats formally nominate their presidential and vice-presidential candidates at their 2020 convention.
