DETROIT
(AP) —
After a devastating start to the Democratic primary, Joe Biden’s
campaign was revived when black voters in South Carolina and throughout
the South overwhelmingly sided with him. Now that he’s the presumptive
Democratic nominee, black voters and leaders are pressing for him to
pick a black woman as his running mate.
Biden launched a committee
last week to begin vetting possible candidates for the vice presidency,
a process he has said will likely last through July. He has already committed to picking a woman.
But
black voters and leaders say he needs to go further and pick a black
woman. They argue that Biden’s success — and that of the Democratic
Party as a whole — depends on black people turning out to vote in
November. They want a tangible return for their loyalty, not just a
thank you for showing up on Election Day.
“Black
people want an acknowledgement of the many years of support they have
given the Democratic Party,” said Niambi Carter, a Howard University
political science professor.
House Minority Whip Jim Clyburn, whose endorsement in South Carolina was widely credited
with helping widen Biden’s winning margin and start his avalanche of
March primary victories, said “clearly” he would prefer a black woman.
But he insisted he’s not pushing Biden in that direction.
“I’m
the father of three grown African American women. So naturally I prefer
an African American woman, but it doesn’t have to be,” Clyburn said.
“I’ve made that very clear.”
Biden
has been unusually vocal about the people he would consider as running
mates. He’s referenced two black women, Sen. Kamala Harris of California
and Stacey Abrams, the former Democratic nominee for governor in
Georgia. Other black women, including Rep. Val Demings of Florida and
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, have also been mentioned.
But
Biden is also thought to be considering several white women, including
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
President
Donald Trump said his November opponent owes the spot to Warren,
theorizing that Sen. Bernie Sanders “would have won every single state
on Super Tuesday” if Warren had dropped out of the primary race earlier.
In
an interview Monday with the New York Post, Trump dismissed Abrams
while claiming responsibility for her defeat in the 2018 Georgia
governor’s race.
Zerlina
Maxwell, a political analyst and former director of progressive media
for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, said this is an opportunity for
Biden to recognize the political force of black women.
“The
Democratic nominee needs to make it completely clear that they
understand the moment and that they understand that black women are the
foundation of a successful Democratic Party at every level,” Maxwell
said.
Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of Black PAC, said black voters are looking for “authenticity.”
“When
folks have talked to us about what they want in a candidate, it is
someone who can relate to them,” Shropshire said, noting the
coronavirus’s disparate impact on black Americans.
But she said that doesn’t mean that a vice presidential nominee has to be a black woman.
“Having
a black running mate checks that box for a lot of people, but I would
also say in the same way that black voters weren’t simply during the
primary contest saying, ‘Who’s the black candidate?’ I don’t think black
voters are doing that for the vice presidential choice either,” she
said, later adding the bottom line: “Ultimately, people want to win.”
Tharon
Johnson, a prominent black strategist who worked for Barack Obama’s two
presidential campaigns, said Biden’s focus should be on “energy,” not
necessarily on race.
“I
am totally, 100% behind the narrative that it’s time for a black woman
on the ticket,” Johnson said. “But he has to consider a lot of metrics.
Who can he bring on that will increase enthusiasm and drive turnout in
those states that matter most in November? And what characteristics are
there that will bring that excitement?”
Biden
campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond, a Louisiana congressman and a former
Congressional Black Caucus chairman, is a forceful advocate for African
Americans within Democratic politics. But he’s also absolute in his
assertion that Biden cannot be forced to check a demographic box.
“I’m not sure that the VP is going to throw names out there just to appease people,” Richmond said.
Symone
Sanders is the highest-ranking black woman on Biden’s staff and played a
key role in shoring up Biden’s campaign in South Carolina. But he also
has an older cadre of advisers reminding him of the complicated
calculations in putting together a winning coalition.
Kenneth
Walden, a 26-year-old black man who lives in the battleground state of
North Carolina, said the pick must be a black woman.
“And
if not, I believe that it would be a repeat of 2016, where we had an
all-white ticket and everybody was not energized,” said Walden, who
works in telecommunications and on a YouTube show. “Black people are
going to feel betrayed. We’re not just voting based off just party lines
anymore.”
Cierra
Conerly, a 32-year-old entrepreneur and small-business owner, said
she’s torn about whom she wants to see on the ticket, but she said it
needs to be someone who can identify strongly with diverse groups.
“I’m
African American, I’m a woman, I’m a business owner and I’m also LGBTQ”
said Conerly, who lives in Arizona, another state Democrats hope to
flip. “All of those aspects are really important and I want someone who
is going to be able to speak to those.”
Taylor
Harrell, the political director for Mothering Justice, a nonprofit that
advocates for mothers, said Biden’s choice shouldn’t be all that
complicated: Choose a black woman.
“It’s
become a cute catchphrase to say ‘trust black women’ or that black
women are the backbone of the Democratic Party, so if we’re truly the
backbone, being the backbone should essentially mean being the vice
president,” Harrell, a Detroit resident, said. “White people have had a
voice for so long and having a black woman will allow us to feel like
our voices are going to continue to be heard after they’ve been put on
pause for these past four years.”
___
Barrow reported from Atlanta.
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