Biden's running mate

[Schiff for Senate]

If you were Biden in 2020...
   a.) Would you make a pledge to choose a woman as your running mate?
   b.) Would you make a pledge to choose a person of colour as your running mate?
   c.) Who would you pick as your running mate?

[Schiff for Senate]

I initially felt Roy Cooper was a good choice for Biden's running mate, since he'd deliver North Carolina to the ticket (he won reelection in 2020 by 4.5%, overperforming Biden in NC by nearly 6%). When I think about it now, though, I feel like he might cost Biden Georgia. It would also hurt turnout if the Democratic Party nominated two white men (something it hasn't done since 2004).

   If I were Biden I wouldn't make any pledges about who to support, though I would likely pick a woman and/or someone of color as my running mate. First of all, it limits your options, and secondly, it gives the base high expectations and no "wiggle room" in case you change your mind. If, on the other hand, you don't make any such promise, you can choose anyone you want, and if you do end up picking a woman / a person of colour, you boost support with the base, whereas if you pledge to do so anyway, they expect you to do so and you don't have any choice anymore.

  I still think Kamala Harris was a weak pick, though - Biden could have chosen a far stronger candidate from a swing state (even Stacey Abrams would be a better pick since she'd ensure that Georgia votes blue). Harris alienated some voters because she is a former prosecutor, and aliented voters in her homestate of California with her positions on foreign policy: despite (or perhaps because of) Kamala being on the ballot, and the Democratic swing nationally, California actually shifted marginally more Republican.

 When all is said and done, I think I would choose someone like Rep. Fredrica Wilson: a woman from a swing state (Florida) who is also a person of color, and who may also offset the gains Trump made in Miami in 2020. I feel like she would patch up a lot of holes and possibly even flip Florida Democratic - she comes from a Miami-based district and would likely stop Democratic bleeding in Florida by limiting the number of Clinton-Trump voters in Miami.