Despite the presidential primaries being postponed by a number of states amid the coronavirus pandemic, Democratic hopeful Joe Biden managed to outperform his party rival Bernie Sanders in Florida, Illinois, and Arizona on Tuesday. As a result, the former vice president has expanded his delegate lead over the Vermont senator with 1,181 votes to 885, respectively.
While centrist Democrats continue to endorse their party's frontrunner, the question arises as to who Biden will pick as his running mate.
“If I’m elected president, my cabinet, my administration will look like the country and I committed that I will pick a woman to be my vice president", Biden announced on 15 March.
According to The New York Times, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and Stacey Abrams are the most likely candidates for the role. For its part, NBC News claims that Abrams would be the ex-vice president's best choice citing findings by Data for Progress, a progressive think tank.
Stacey Abrams: An African American Popular With Dems
Dr Zalmay Gulzad, professor at Harold Washington College in Chicago, agrees there is "a very strong possibility" that Joe Biden's vice presidential candidate could be Stacey Abrams, former gubernatorial candidate from Georgia.
"[She is] an African American woman who is very popular in the Democratic Party and someone who ran a very formidable race in Georgia", the academic notes. "She has provided the Democratic response for the 2019 State of the Union and would complement his candidacy".
Shortly after Biden arrived and was seated on the altar not far from Stacey Abrams, the Rev. Al Sharpton acknowledged “our Vice President. I’m talking about Stacey, not you, Joe.” Big applause in the church.
— Ken Thomas (@KThomasDC) March 1, 2020
According to Gulzad, Biden has a good chance of winning the 2020 presidential race "if COVID-19 destroys the economy and Trump's response is not swift enough".
"Trump won because of the economy and and low unemployment in 2016", the professor says. "Most people, though not happy with his policies, were leaning towards him because of the economy".
'Cutting-Edge of Progressivism is Now Homosexuality'
E. Michael Jones, an American writer, media commentator, and editor of the magazine Culture Wars, holds a different stance: according to him, "whether Joe Biden chooses a woman as his running mate is completely irrelevant to the current presidential campaign".
"The main issue in the Democratic Party at the moment is Bernie Sanders", the writer suggests. "The oligarchs who run the Democratic Party fear the socialism which Sanders has been proposing and they have chosen Biden to be their nominee. His job is not to win the election but to purge the Democratic Party of the socialist faction under Sanders".
Jones remarks that "feminism is irrelevant", as the "cutting edge of sexual progressivism is now homosexuality, as manifested by Pete Buttigieg".
"You're Innocent When You Dream." And I dream that Pete Buttigieg will be the next vice president --- the inspired choice for Joe Biden's ticket. And Pete's age is just as important as all his other remarkable qualifications. @JoeBiden
— Anne Rice (@AnneRiceAuthor) March 3, 2020
Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders hasn't shown a willingness to drop out, despite the mainstream left-wing media calling upon him to do just that, insisting that he has no real chance of winning. Following his Tuesday defeat the Vermont senator has focused on addressing the coronavirus pandemic on his Twitter account: "The crisis we face from coronavirus is on the scale of a major war", he tweeted on 18 March.
