The Biden VP Calculus
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE — As Joe Biden zeroes in on his VP options, there are some myths about the choice that are worth exploring. — The pick does in fact matter, or at least it has historically, and whoever is chosen won’t be picked for just one reason, but rather for several. — Biden himself probably doesn’t even know who his pick will be, so we can’t make truly reliable and informed predictions about who the pick will be as of yet. Biden’s VP calculus When former Vice President Joe Biden effectively secured the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in March, political conversation turned to who should and would be his running mate. Biden’s mid-March announcement that he will select a woman was doubly historic. It represented the first time a presidential candidate had publicly narrowed the pool so early and presented the first time when a woman vice presidential nominee will have a significant chance of election since the prior two women running mates, Rep. Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Gov. Sarah Palin in 2008, were largely “Hail Mary” additions to tickets far behind in the polls. Biden’s running mate will stand a good chance of being the