- Joe Biden has delayed naming his vice presidential pick by two weeks
- Allies worry process has become mess and pitted women against women
- Biden originally said he would name pick first week of August
- Timeline is moved back as no favorite has emerged
- Top contenders are Kamala Harris, Karen Bass, Susan Rice, Elizabeth Warren
Joe Biden has delayed naming his vice presidential pick by two weeks amid worries the process has become a mess that has pitted women against woman.
Biden said last week he would announce his running mate the first week of August but that appears unlikely to happen this week as he hasn't narrowed down his pick amid pressure to name a black woman.
But now that's been moved back by two weeks, The Washington Post reported, amid worries from Biden supporters that the process has become 'messier than it should be,' pitting women - and especially black women - against one another.
The delay indicates there is no clear favorite among Biden or his allies to be his running mate.
Joe Biden has delayed naming his vice presidential pick by two weeks after saying he would name the person the first week in August
Final contenders for the vice presidential spot on the Democratic ticket include Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Congresswoman Karen Bass
The former vice president is reportedly going to speak to five or six contenders instead of having the traditional short list of three names.
And allies of all the contenders are lobbying the former vice president and his campaign to pick the running mate of their choice.
The presumptive Democratic nominee joked last week he would have to escape the TV camera crews that are parked outside of his Wilmington, Delaware, home so he could meet his pick without being caught.
'I'm going to try to figure out how to trick you all so we can meet in person. I've got crews outside my house. I don't think it matters actually. What I said is I'm going to have a choice in the first week in August, and I promise I'll let you know when I do,' he said at a press conference on Tuesday.
At least nearly a dozen women have been named as potential partners for Biden after he vowed to put a woman on the ticket with him. But, in the wake of the demonstrations that sprung up after the death of George Floyd, pressure has increased for him to name a black woman.
And, with that pressure, came an increased scrutiny on the potential female candidates with reports California Senator Kamala Harris is too 'ambitious' to be picked and pressure on Congresswoman Karen Bass to explain her past praise for Scientology and Fidel Castro.
'It's been relentless. It's been unfortunate. But I must say it's been predictable,' Donna Brazile, a former interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, told The Post. 'It's extremely disappointing, because many of these attacks . . . are being made by Democratic men who should know better.'
'I would hope that in this selection process, we are mindful that Black women — and women of color — deserve respect,' she noted.
The finalists are thought to include Harris, former national security adviser Susan Rice, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Karen Bass. And, of course, the pick could end being someone else.
Harris and Warren have already gone through some level of national vetting thanks to their presidential campaigns. Warren, a favorite of the progressives, would appease the left flank of the party if she joined the ticket but she is white when the pressure is on Biden to pick a black woman.
Harris has strong qualifications for the job but a report in Politico last week saw several Biden allies question how loyal the California senator would be to Biden given her attack on Biden in the July 2019 primary debate when she questioned his opposition to a busing program in the 1970s that she used to attend a better school.
Those Biden allies - both on the record and without using their names - indicated their concern Harris would be more consumed with a future presidential bid of her own.
Harris pushed back at the talk of her 'ambition.'
'There will be a resistance to your ambition,' she told young black women on Friday during a Black Girls Lead 2020 conference. 'There will be people who say to you, 'You are out of your lane,' because they are burdened by only having the capacity to see what has always been instead of what can be. But don't you let that burden you.'
And she was defended by Biden's campaign manager, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, who tweeted: 'Ambitious women make history, change the world, and win.'
Biden is said to be comfortable with Rice, who worked with him in the Obama administration, and is said to envision with her the kind of partnership he had with Obama. While she is an expert on foreign policy, she has no previous political experience.
The former vice president is said to want a running mate who would have a similar relationship with him that he enjoyed with President Barack Obama.
Bass took the Sunday shows this weekend to push back on comments she made in 2016 praising Fidel Castro and calling his death a loss to the Cuban people.
She told 'Fox News Sunday' her perspective on the late Cuban dictator was 'developed over time' and that she now understood that the Castro government 'was a brutal regime.' She said she would not make similar comments again.
Bass also had to defend remarks she made in 2010 praising the Church of Scientology. She spoke at Scientology ceremony when she was in the California state assembly.
'Back in 2010, I attended the event knowing I was going to address a group of people with beliefs very different than my own, and spoke briefly about things I think most of us agree with, and on those things — respect for different views, equality, and fighting oppression — my views have not changed,' she wrote on Twitter. 'Since then, published first-hand accounts in books, interviews and documentaries have exposed this group.'
She also noted she worships at First New Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in South LA.
Bass, who serves as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, has a lot of support among Congressional Democrats, who have voiced that to Biden and his surrogates.
She has also privately reassured Biden allies she has no interest in the top spot and would be a loyal lieutenant, The New York Times reported.
Biden, if he wins in November, would be 78 years old on inauguration day, meaning his choice of a running mate could be of even greater consequence.
WHO'S ON BIDEN'S VP SHORTLIST
KAMALA HARRIS, 55. CALIFORNIA SENATOR
Following widespread protests over racial injustice and police brutality, pressure increased on Biden to choose a woman of color. Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian parents, fits the bill.
Harris is widely viewed as a favorite to run alongside Biden. She is a battle-tested former presidential candidate and ex-prosecutor who has shown an ability to go on the attack - a valued asset for a running mate. A first-term senator from California, she has already been heavily vetted by the media and rival campaigns.
Harris endorsed Biden after dropping out of the race. But her criticism of him during a Democratic primary debate about his opposition to school busing rankled some people close to Biden, who worry about her ambition and loyalty.
Family life: Married to Douglas Emhoff, with two adult stepchildren.
SUSAN RICE, 55. FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
Rice served as President Barack Obama's national security adviser during his second term, where she worked hand in hand on foreign policy matters with Biden, who was Obama's vice president.
Prior to that, Rice served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Obama and has advised several other Democratic presidential candidates on national security.
A Black woman, Rice could help drive the African-American vote, the Democratic Party´s most loyal constituency. But she has never run for public office, which means she would be untested on the campaign trail. Her involvement in the controversy over the 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, could revive that incident as a campaign issue.
Family life: Married to former ABC News executive Ian Cameron with son and a daughter; son John is a Trump supporter
VAL DEMINGS, 63. FLORIDA CONGRESSWOMAN
Biden has said Demings, an African-American congresswoman from the election battleground state of Florida, is on the shortlist for running mate.
The former Orlando police chief served as one of the managers of the House of Representatives' impeachment proceedings against Republican President Donald Trump but has a lower profile among voters nationally.
Demings' background in law enforcement and her relatively unvetted past as police chief could be viewed as risk factors to a Biden campaign that wants to appeal to progressive voters.
Family life: Married to Jerry Demings, current mayor of Orange County, Florida, with three adult children
KAREN BASS, 66. CALIFORNIA CONGRESSWOMAN
A late addition to Biden's shortlist, Bass, a congresswoman from Southern California and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, would add a progressive voice to the ticket.
Bass has an extensive background in police reform efforts and has spearheaded the legislative response in the House to the killing of George Floyd by police in May. But at 66, she may not offer the prospect of generational transition that Biden wants to show.
Family life: Lost her daughter and son-in-law in 2006 car crash; has four adult stepchildren from her former marriage
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, 52. ILLINOIS SENATOR
Duckworth has a compelling personal story and would help bolster the campaign's national security credentials.
The senator from Illinois is a combat veteran who lost her legs when her helicopter was shot down in Iraq in 2004. She went on to become the first woman with a disability and the first Thai-American elected to Congress. Duckworth, however, has not been on the forefront of civil justice issues like Harris, Bass and others on Biden's list.
Family life: Married to Bryan Bowlsbey, also a veteran, with two daughters, Abigail, five and Maile, two, the first child born to a sitting female senator
KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS, 50. ATLANTA MAYOR
Bottoms is the first-term mayor of a city that has been riven by protests over Floyd's death and the shooting of another Black man, Rayshard Brooks, by Atlanta police in June. Atlanta also has been a hot spot in the coronavirus pandemic, putting Bottoms on the front lines of the country's two largest challenges of the moment.
While Bottoms was an early supporter of Biden, her lack of experience on the federal level may doom her chances. Biden, who would be the oldest U.S. president, has insisted his No. 2 be ready to assume the presidency at any time.
Married to Home Depot executive Derek Bottoms, with four adopted children
ELIZABETH WARREN, 71. MASSACHUSETTS SENATOR
Warren,has spoken with Biden regularly since dropping out of the Democratic nominating race and endorsing him. The senator from Massachusetts is seen by Biden advisers as a bridge between the former vice president and people skeptical of his commitment to progressive policy priorities.
The selection of Warren, however, could fuel allegations by the Trump campaign that Biden favors an overly leftist agenda, while potentially alienating moderate voters in battleground states that Biden is cultivating.
Family life: Married to Harvard professor Bruce Mann, with two adult children from her first marriage and three grandchildren
MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM, 60. NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR
Lujan Grishambecame the first Latina Democratic governor of a state in 2018, after serving six years in Congress.
Biden's campaign has been pushed by allies to consider a running mate who could boost his support among Latino voters, potentially the largest minority voting bloc in the November election.
Family life: Husband Gregory Girsham died of a brain aneurysm in 2004. She has two daughters
GRETCHEN WHITMER, 48. MICHIGAN GOVERNOR
Whitmer raised her profile as the governor of a battleground state hit hard by the coronavirus.
But she came under fire earlier this year from some Michigan residents for a stay-at-home order that they viewed as too onerous.
Family life: Has two children from her first marriage and three stepchildren from her second marriage to Marc Mallory, a dentist
