Why is the Vice President candidacy important for Harris to defeat Trump
Biden's sudden exit from the US presidential race and the effective shift of the nomination to his vice president, Kamala Harris, has given the campaign a new life that exceeds expectations in many ways and creates new challenges.
One of them is that even the liberal Democratic Party is not certain about whether voters are ready to elect a woman as President of the United States for the first time. Moreover, a woman of colour and a woman who within 3.5 years as the Vice President has not yet shown herself as a charismatic politician.
The most concerning group is white moderate voters, especially men, whose views lean towards centre.
Kamala Harris needs to address these issues with the help of a vice president who balances her perception among this group of voters, according to Oleh Pavliuk, a European Pravda journalist. Read more in his article – Kamala Harris is looking for a white man: How the US Democratic party prepares a team for the presidential race.
The US voters elect the president along with their "vice": both names are on the ballot. Although the position of the state leader is still leading, sometimes the vice-presidential nominee plays no less a role.
Both nominees run a joint campaign.
The main advantage is that this "campaign mate" may have higher popularity in a district, state or demographic group than the "main candidate," achieving success in campaigning where the presidential candidate may fail or get worse results.
Therefore, the right choice of the vice president can literally change the course of the election.
Harris's running mate should definitely be a white man, and all shortlisted participants for the Democratic vice president fit this description. And it will almost certainly be a candidate from one of the "key states," where the election results often determine the race's fate.
Harris has almost no time left to choose a partner. Democrats, avoiding potential lawsuits, must register their nomination no later than 7 August.
As of Tuesday morning, among the most frequently mentioned candidates for the Democratic vice president (confirmed by Bloomberg insiders over the weekend) are Minnesota governor Tim Walz, Arizona senator Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro.
Mark Kelly is a 60-year-old senator from Arizona, a former NASA astronaut and a combat pilot.
For Harris's campaign, Kelly could not only bring votes in the "swing" but still more Republican Arizona but also become a magnet for voters from the moderate wing of the Democratic Party.
51-year-old Josh Shapiro, before being elected governeur of Pennsylvania in 2023, was a member of the state legislature and its attorney general.
Shapiro, like Kelly, is a moderate Democrat, which would help Harris unite the party. In addition, he has a very good rating in his native Pennsylvania – one of the key states that gives as many as 19 electoral votes, more than any other.
60-year-old governor Tim Walz stands out from the trio because his state, Minnesota, is not included in the list of "key" states.
Walz, however, can boast achievements in his home state: from protecting women's abortion rights to free school meals for children. His candidacy could be a nod to the "white-collar" workers from the Midwest states, targeted by Republican J.D. Vance.
Of course, even the existence of such a shortlist of candidates does not mean that the future Democratic Party presidential candidate will necessarily be one of those listed above.
But most likely, the number two in the Democratic Party's presidential campaign will be a white man with moderate views.