Considering Joe Biden’s age — and endless fumbling — the selection of a vice president has never been more important. Heck, even many Democrats aren’t so sure Biden is going to finish his first term. So the question now is: Do you want a President Harris?
On Tuesday, Biden tapped Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) as his running mate. He’d locked himself in when he vowed, during the primaries, to put a woman on the ticket, and with the left focused heavily on race — and after Biden’s own slurs of African Americans — he likely felt obliged to choose a black woman.
Harris, the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father, identifies as black; she’s now the first black woman on a major party’s presidential ticket.
Voters have been waiting eagerly to hear Biden’s announcement, given that many think she’d wind up as president even before Biden finished a first term.
A Rasmussen Reports poll this week found that 59 percent of likely voters see it as “likely” that his veep will take over before his first term ends — and 39 percent say “very likely.”
Even among Democrats, nearly half — 49 percent — think it likely Biden won’t last a full four years. (And he’s already indicated that he won’t run for a second term even if he does make it.)
Bottom line: When Americans pull the lever in November, their choice will be, in effect, between President Trump and Kamala Harris.
The nation will learn more about Harris in the coming days, weeks and months — though her performance as a presidential candidate during this year’s primaries already makes it fairly clear that she stands far to the left.
Americans need to know as much about what she believes as what Joe Biden does. If voters want someone less extreme for president, they’ll need to keep Harris’ positions in mind when they make their choice.