“There’s no question that the notion of a female V.P. is used as a strategy and I think that’s a little bit sexist,” Jennifer Lawless, the Commonwealth professor of politics at the University of Virginia, told The New York Times. “It’s sort of like an ‘insert woman here’ kind of conversation.”
The women whose names The Times cites as being floated by people in former Vice President Joe Biden’s inner circle include Sens. Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Catherine Cortez Masto, Maggie Hassan, or Jeanne Shaheen; Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; former Georgia legislative leader and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams; and former deputy attorney general Sally Yates. (Given that laundry list of candidates, why not Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who would make history as an openly LGBTQ pick and is from the critical battleground of Wisconsin, or Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who is both Asian-American and a veteran?)
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ list of potential candidates is reportedly shorter because of his litmus test, support for Medicare for All. Several of the most prominent women backing him are either too young to be eligible (Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) or not eligible because they were not born in the United States (Reps. Ilhan Omar and Pramila Jayapal). As a result, “Ms. Warren is one of a few elected officials who fit the criteria, according to some close to the Sanders campaign,” The Times reports.
A woman being nominated for vice president for a third time ever would be … the bare minimum the moment requires. A woman actually becoming vice president would be nice. But both Biden and Sanders should also be thinking beyond that, to how they can elevate women in their administrations and into the future, should either of them become president. The vice presidential nomination can’t be the new tokenism.
Source: http://feeds.dailykosmedia.com/~r/dailykosofficial/~3/ipAg9cCJxVI/-Biden-and-Sanders-both-likely-to-choose-a-woman-for-vice-president-Yay