Joe Biden might announce Stacey Abrams as his running mate when he launches his 2020 campaign
Former Vice President Joe Biden hasn't even announced a 2020 presidential campaign yet, but he might already have a running mate in mind.
Biden's advisers are considering the idea of pledging to pick former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, who lost the close 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election to Brian Kemp, as his running mate upon launching his campaign, Axios reports.
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The thinking behind this pick would be to show that Biden "isn't just another old white guy," a source told Axios. Abrams was the first black woman to be a major party's nominee for governor. She's also more than three decades younger than Biden.
Still, some advisers are reportedly opposed to the idea, recognizing that it would be seen as a gimmick, Axios reports. It's unclear how Biden himself feels about the plan. Meanwhile, The New York Times is also reporting that Abrams is being considered as an early choice for running mate, with Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and former congressman Beto O'Rourke being other possibilities "if their campaigns appear to flag in the coming months."
It's unusual for a presidential candidate to announce their pick for vice president before they've even locked up the nomination, though it did famously happen in 2016. In April 2016, three months before the Republican National Convention, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announced former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina as his running mate pick in what was seen as a last-ditch effort to give his campaign a boost. Cruz dropped out of the race a week later.
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