Kamala Harris is Joe Biden’s running mate

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris shake hands before a presidential Democratic debate in Detroit on July 31, 2019.

Former Vice President Joe Biden named Sen. Kamala Harris to be his running mate this fall.

The moderate former prosecutor from California has spent her career breaking barriers.

Here’s what we know:

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms addresses the media during a press conference at Atlanta Police Headquarters on May 31.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottom said the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ticket is needed to “show to America that our president will value diversity and there’s no better representative in that than Senator Harris.” 

“We need this ticket in America,” Bottoms told CNN’s Jim Acosta during “The Situation Room.” 

Bottoms said she talked to Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, on the phone today and he told her that she was not his choice. She called her conversation with Biden in-depth and at some points personal.

Biden did not tell Bottoms who his choice was going to be during the conversation, she said. 

The Atlanta mayor went on to describe why this moment is important for younger generations. 

An official with Joe Biden tells CNN that the former vice president called California Sen. Kamala Harris to offer her the job of vice president 90 minutes before his announcement.

Harris tweeted later that she was “honored” to join Biden as the Democratic party’s nominee for vice president, saying she’d “do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief.”

Sen. Kamala Harris addresses a post-midterm election meeting of Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network in the Kennedy Caucus Room at the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill November 13, 2018 in Washington, DC.

California lawmakers were quick to take to Twitter on Tuesday to praise Joe Biden’s selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate on the 2020 presidential ticket.

Harris, who was born in Oakland, California, in 1964, was the state’s attorney general from 2011 to 2017 and a former district attorney of San Francisco. 

Here’s how California lawmakers are reacting today:

California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted his support for Harris, saying she is the “perfect choice” for Biden.

In San Francisco, where Harris was once district attorney, Mayor London Breed expressed her excitement over calling Harris “her Vice-President.”

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Harris will help Biden “unite the American people, restore our nation’s soul, and rebuild our country.”

On the other end of the political aisle, Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California’s 23rd Congressional District attacked Harris in a tweet.

Sen. Kamala Harris attends a post-midterm election meeting of Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network in the Kennedy Caucus Room at the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill November 13, 2018 in Washington, DC.

President Trump praised Vice President Mike Pence when he was asked if Kamala Harris will help or hurt Joe Biden’s chances at the presidency. 

“Well I like Vice President Mike Pence much better (than Harris),” Trump said. “He is solid as a rock. He’s been a fantastic vice president. He’s done everything you can do. He’s respected by every religious group, whether it’s Evangelical, whether it’s any other group, they respect Mike Pence. He’s been a great vice president and I will take him over Kamala.”

Trump’s unprompted comments about Pence come a few days after the New York Times reported that Pence’s team had become concerned that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was going after Pence’s job.

Besides being the first Black woman on the ticket, Kamala Harris is also the first Indian American. Her mother Shyamala Gopalan was born in Chennai and immigrated to the US to attend a doctoral program at UC Berkeley. Like Barack Obama, a mixed-race heritage has allowed Harris to connect across identities and reach multiple audiences and voting blocs. 

To understand what today’s announcement means to this community, I turned to the best source I know on Indian Americans and politics: Aziz Haniffa. Haniffa was executive editor and chief political and diplomatic correspondent of India Abroad that shuttered just a few months ago after 50 years of publishing, under advertising and Covid-19 strains. 

He sent me an August 26, 2009, interview he did with Harris and gave me permission to excerpt portions. It’s headlined, “Kamala Devi Harris: The ‘female Obama’ discusses her campaign for California attorney general.”

The piece highlights the role of her Indian identity, sure to surface again in the coming months. Harris’ rise as the daughter of immigrants — one from Jamaica, one from India — serves a powerful counternarrative to President Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies. 

Aziz Haniffa: What did your mom instill in you, in terms of culture and heritage?

Harris: My mother was very proud of her Indian heritage and taught us, me and my sister Maya, to share in the pride about our culture. We used to go back to India every couple of years. One of the most influential people in my life, in addition to my mother, was my grandfather P.V. Gopalan, who actually held a post in India that was like the Secretary of State position in this country. My grandfather was one of the original Independence fighters in India, and some of my fondest memories from childhood were walking along the beach with him after he retired and lived in Besant Nagar, in what was then called Madras. 

He would take walks every morning along the beach with his buddies who were all retired government officials and they would talk about politics, about how corruption must be fought and about justice. They would laugh and voice opinions and argue, and those conversations, even more than their actions, had such a strong influence on me in terms in terms of learning to be responsible, to be honest, and to have integrity. When we think about it, India is the oldest democracy in the world – so that is part of my background, and without question has had a great deal of influence on what I do today and who I am.

AH: Would it be true to say then that the roots of your civil rights activism began with those walks on the beach with your grandfather, as much as in your parents’ involvement in the civil rights movement in the US during their student days at the University of California?

Harris: It is important to not say one thing to the exclusion of the other, because I don’t feel the need to do that. They are of equal weight in terms of who I am and the impact that they had on me growing up. My grandparents used to visit us in Berkeley all the time. My grandfather and grandmother enjoyed the time they spent with people of all walks of life who were involved in the civil rights movement. I believe that one of the benefits of having travelled the world and having known different cultures is that you really understand and see very clearly that people, whoever they are, whatever language they speak, have so much more in common than they do differences.

AH: Some Indian-American politicians like Bobby Jindal have, after winning election campaigns in which they sought and received the support of the community, sought to distance themselves from their Indian-American heritage. What is your view on how the ethnicity factor plays out?

Harris: I am proud to be who I am, I am proud of the influences that my family have had on my life, that my community had on my life, and similarly the influence of my mentors and colleagues and friends. One is not to the exclusion of the other – I believe that point is at the heart of this matter. We have to stop seeing issues and people through a plate-glass window as though we were one-dimensional. Instead, we have to see that most people exist through a prism and they are a sum of many factors — everyone is that way, and that is just the reality of it.

Sen. Kamala Harris speaks to reporters after announcing her candidacy for President of the United States, at Howard University, her alma mater, on January 21, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Kamala Harris experienced the ultimate vetting during the presidential primary on her experience as a prosecutor in California. Democratic activists criticized her for being too tough as a prosecutor and not doing enough to reform California’s system.

Harris’s record is mixed. She did pursue reforms as attorney general, notably the “Back on Track” program that allowed first time offenders to avoid prison. But those reforms are not enough for some activists.

How does the Trump campaign view it? Well, take a look at the statement put out by Trump campaign adviser Katrina Pierson, that seems to suggest that *they* believe her record shows she was tough on crime. “Clearly, Phony Kamala will abandon her own morals, as well as try to bury her record as a prosecutor, in order to appease the anti-police extremists controlling the Democrat Party,” Pierson wrote.

Trump aides have long viewed Harris’s record as tough paint as extremist on crime. This statement suggests that they are going to rely on accusing Harris of having a change of heart, in order to paint her and Biden with the anti-law enforcement brush.

Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin took to Instagram to share some tips for Kamala Harris.

Harris is now the third woman to serve as a vice presidential candidate for a major political party, following Geraldine Ferraro as the Democratic vice presidential pick in 1984 and Palin in 2008. Harris is the first Black woman to run on a major political party’s presidential ticket. 

Read Palin’s advice:

Sen. Kamala Harris speaks at the National Forum on Wages and Working People: Creating an Economy That Works for All at Enclave on April 27, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sen. Kamala Harris’ time has finally come. Covering her campaign so closely day in and day out, despite the missteps and miscalculations that often times come with running a first national campaign, the question always felt more “when,” and not “if” Harris would reach this level.

Despite her often low polling numbers and inability to garner massive Black support during the primary, people always wanted to hear from Harris. She could always command attention.

But the moment it was announced she would be leaving the race, it felt like a cosmic shift in attitude. Folks from all different strides of life who criticized her platform, they then voiced regret that she, the only Black woman to run for the 2020 Democratic nomination, would not be on the December 2019 debate stage.

When issues of race would come up, people on social media called out to say they wished Harris was still around to give her take. Many women described it to me as a rug being pulled from underneath them. And every contest that Harris was not in, many said her contributions were missed. 

As a Black woman who covered her campaign, the joy I see on Twitter and an innumerable number of sources calling my phone to express their views on the news, does not surprise me.

Regardless of the probability that Harris had to win the ticket, many Black women saw Harris as one of them. Someone who naturally understood their concerns and took great strides to describe them in detail on public stage. A whip smart sister who dedicated her life to achieving greatness, and striving against what felt like the impossible. Harris would often wax poetically about the challenges that she faced in her career, how when you break ceilings, sometimes you get cut.

But it’s what you do after that, that matters. And now as the first Black and Indian woman on a Democratic ticket, Harris has broken one of the ultimate ceilings in this country.

Former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden wave after accepting the nomination during the final day of the Democratic National Convention at Time Warner Cable Arena on September 6, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Joe Biden talked extensively about his running mate search with many friends, including former President Barack Obama, who served as “a sounding board” over the last three months.

A person close to the vice presidential search tells CNN that Biden and Obama spoke regularly about the choices before him and the political moment facing the country.

The former president “did not put his thumb on the scale for any particular candidate,” the person close to the process said, “but mostly provided high-level counsel and was a sounding board as the vice president made his decision.” 

One of the reasons Obama selected Biden 12 years ago was that Biden had been tested on the national stage after twice running for president and being on the debate stage multiple times. It was that same quality that also contributed to Biden choosing Harris, given her experience as a presidential candidate in the 2020 primary.

A Biden friend said the former vice president took a deep look at nearly a dozen women in his search and Harris “always made sense to him.” It was a deliberate search, looking for a governing partner and a loyal teammate. 

Throughout the process, Biden talked often about the bruising nature of a presidential race, particularly the general election campaign ahead with President Trump, and he believed experience was critical.

That contributed to Biden beginning – and ending – his search with Harris. 

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee former Vice President Joe Biden delivers a speech at the William Hicks Anderson Community Center, on July 28, in Wilmington, Delaware.

Just after reports poured in that former Vice President Joe Biden had chosen Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, the Trump campaign issued a statement attacking the pair.

“Not long ago, Kamala Harris called Joe Biden a racist and asked for an apology she never received,” the statement begins.

Facts First: Harris explicitly did not call Biden racist but she did criticize him during a debate last year for talking about working with two segregationist senators.

Harris confronted Biden during a June 2019 debate on his recent remarks when he brought up working with two segregationist senators as an example of how he could work with people he disagreed with.

“I do not believe you are a racist and I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground,” Harris said during the debate, “but I also believe, and it’s personal, and it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who (have) built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country.”

Biden responded, saying it was “a mischaracterization of my position across the board. I do not praise racists. That is not true.”

Sources close to Joe Biden have long said that he was looking for a governing partner.

And while Kamala Harris is only a few years into her first term as US senator, one selling point on the experience front is her leadership as California’s attorney general.

Harris often said on the campaign trail that she led the second largest Department of Justice in the country, second only to the US Department of Justice. And as Biden looked at the range of experiences that would make a vice president ready to serve, that was one of them.

Watch more of CNN’s Abby Phillip’s analysis on Biden’s historic pick:

Former Vice President Joe Biden personally informed Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Florida Rep. Val Demings that they had not been chosen, according to sources with knowledge of the calls.

Duckworth had interviewed with Biden last weekend.

Sen. Kamala Harris participates in a interview and question-and-answer session with leaders from historically black colleges and universities during a Thurgood Marshall College Fund event at the JW Marriott February 07, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Many Black women across the country breathed a collective sigh of relief, at the notion that Democratic presumptive nominee Joe Biden made history today by picking the first Black woman and Indian woman to join a democratic ticket. 

Sen. Kamala Harris name has been discussed as a top contender for vice president since before she even declared her own candidacy to run for the democratic nomination in January of 2019.

Multiple black women have told CNN that Harris’ selection is not just about herself, but providing a base for something for all women of color across the country to aspire to.

“For every black woman, for every black child that has been hidden in America, or who has worked behind the same scenes. For every woman that is changing the bedpan, for every woman that is standing in a grocery store, Harris becomes the embodiment of that. She becomes the embodiment of Asian America, she becomes the embodiment of Indian Americans, she becomes the embodiment of a black woman,” Moore added.

And they say, it is a slap down to any notion that ambitious women shouldn’t be accepted with open arms and encouraged to ascend to leadership roles in the country.

President Barack Obama walks with California Attorney General Kamala Harris, center, and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, after arriving at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Thursday, February 16, 2012.

Former president Barack Obama reacted on Twitter following the announcement that Kamala Harris win be Joe Biden’s running mate.

Obama said Harris “is more than prepared for the job,” adding it is, “a good day for our country.”

Read his full statement:

A Biden campaign photographer has shared a photo on Instagram of former Vice President Joe Biden calling California Sen. Kamala Harris via video earlier today to inform her that she was his pick for his running mate.

Here’s a look at the moment:

Sen. Kamala Harris has tweeted her first reaction since it was announced that she will be Joe Biden’s running mate.

The California Democrat said she’ll “do what it takes” to make Biden “our Commander-in-Chief.”

Read the tweet:

Sen. Kamala Harris speaks during the AARP and The Des Moines Register Iowa Presidential Candidate Forum on July 16, 2019 in Bettendorf, Iowa.

History shows that Kamala Harris is likely to face a double layer of scrutiny as the first Black woman to run on a major political party’s presidential ticket, said CNN senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson, just moments after Joe Biden announced his choice. 

Henderson said there had already been leaks out of the selection process in which Biden allies had hit Harris with the kind of criticism often reserved powerful women, suggesting she “rubbed people the wrong way” or was “too ambitious.”

“Then there’s a double layer when you add on a person of color and of race and of ethnic backgrounds [as] we will see with Kamala Harris,” added Henderson. “I think she is a singular person and she has been vocal about the unfair ways in which women are treated and in this instance obviously a woman of color has to deal with that double scrutiny of both race and gender.”

Harris made history, then controversy as AG:

Cory Booker and Kamala Harris speak onstage at the 50th NAACP Image Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 30, 2019 in Hollywood, California.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) said the appointment of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate is a “defining moment in U.S. history.”

He added that “Black women have been at the forefront of moving us toward a more representative and unified society” but their representation within high levels of government never matched “their unwavering participation in our democracy.”

Johnson said this decision “breaks down one of these barriers in historic proportions. That it comes at a time in which Black Americans face dueling threats from a global health crisis and ingrained racism is all the more powerful.”

“While we do not support a political party, we recognize the overwhelming significance of this moment and what it means for this nation. We must not allow coverage of Sen. Harris’ historic candidacy to decline into ugly racist and sexist stereotypes and attacks,” the statement said.

“Regardless of party affiliation, every American should be proud that this milestone was finally reached,” Johnson added.

Jill Biden, Joe Biden’s wife, welcomed Kamala Harris’ husband to the team.

She just tweeted this to Douglas Emhoff:

About Emhoff: The Brooklyn-born Emhoff had been a quietly supportive presence during Harris’ own 2020 run. He was often spotted backstage or at the edge of Harris’ crowds at both her campaign events and book tour events last year, although he once rushed onstage to grab an animal rights protester who leapt on stage Saturday to confront Harris.

The Brooklyn native, who moved to Southern California in his teens and attended the USC Gould School of Law, launched his own firm in 2000 before Venable acquired it in 2006. At DLA Piper, Emhoff has continued to focus on business, entertainment and intellectual property law in both California and Washington, DC.

The couple was set up on a blind date in 2013 when Harris was California’s attorney general by her best friend, Chrisette Hudlin.

Kamala Harris speaks at a hearing of the Homeland Security Committee on June 25, in Washington, DC.

A reminder that President Trump less than two weeks ago said that Sen. Kamala Harris would be a “fine choice.”

Trump made the comment in response to a question about veepstakes as he was leaving the White House on July 29.

Asked how he’d rate Harris as a vice president, Trump said, “I think she’d be a fine choice, Kamala Harris. She’d be a fine choice.”

Prominent Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former president Bill Clinton are tweeting their approval of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate.

Here are the tweets:

Pelosi said Harris “will continue her legacy of trailblazing leadership to move our nation forward.”

Former President Bill Clinton called Harris a “terrific choice.”

Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said Harris will be a “strong partner” for Biden.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Harris was the “perfect choice” for Biden.

Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang said Harris is “set to make history.”

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms congratulated Harris and Biden on a “historic ticket.”

The Biden campaign has announced that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will give remarks tomorrow in Wilmington, Delaware. The time of the event has not been announced.

Stacey Abrams and Gretchen Whitmer, two other vice president contenders, praised Joe Biden’s decision to choose Kamala Harris as his running mate.

Abrams tweeted that she is thrilled to support Harris as the next vice president and that Biden’s focus is “on reaching out to every corner of our country.”

Whitmer also said that she is proud to support Harris and called them a “fierce team to Build America Back Better”

Read the tweets:

Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden participate in the Democratic presidential primary debate in the Sullivan Arena at St. Anselm College on February 7, in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Joe Biden called Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, himself earlier today to inform her that she would not be chosen as his running mate, according to a source familiar.

Following Joe Biden’s announcement that Kamala Harris will be his 2020 election running mate, the candidate’s campaign website was updated to show a photo of both candidates together.

Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice speaks at the J Street 2018 National Conference April 16, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice, who was among those seen as serious contenders as Joe Biden’s running mate pick, congratulated Sen. Kamala Harris. 

“I warmly congratulate Senator Kamala Harris on her selection as Joe Biden’s Vice Presidential running mate,” Rice said in a statement. “Senator Harris is a tenacious and trailblazing leader who will make a great partner on the campaign trail. I am confident that Biden-Harris will prove to be a winning ticket.”

Rice said she would do her “utmost to assist Joe Biden to become the next president of the United States and to help him govern successfully.”

 Her statement continued:

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris shake hands on Thursday, September 12, 2019, after a debate hosted by ABC at Texas Southern University in Houston.

Joe Biden announced Tuesday that Kamala Harris will be his running mate for the 2020 election ballot, making the California senator the first Black woman to run on a major political party’s presidential ticket. 

In selecting Harris, Biden adds a former primary rival who centered her own presidential bid on her readiness to take on Trump and show Americans she would fight for them. 

She rose to national prominence within the Democratic Party by interrogating Trump nominees during Senate hearings, from former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.  

Harris’ selection comes months after Biden committed to picking a woman to join him on the Democratic ticket. Harris, 55, is now the third woman to serve as a vice presidential candidate for a major political party, following Geraldine Ferraro as the Democratic vice presidential pick in 1984 and Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential pick in 2008.

Aware that his age could be a concern to some voters, Biden, 77, has said that he is “a bridge” to a new slate of Democratic leaders, and by selecting Harris, more than 20 years his junior, he has elevated a leading figure from a younger generation within the party. 

Within the pantheon of female candidates that the former vice president considered, Harris was long viewed as the most-likely choice because of the breadth of her experience as a US senator, former California attorney general and former district attorney of San Francisco. 

While potential candidates like Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, California US Rep. Karen Bass and Florida Rep. Val Demings were viewed as fresh-faced additions to the ticket, none of them had been vetted by Democratic voters like Harris, nor did they have her experience in all levels of politics. With her multi-racial background as the child of two immigrants to the United States, her allies believed she could complement Biden as a symbol of a changing America. 

She also proved to be a hardworking surrogate for Biden in recent months, taking part in everything from virtual policy events with voters in swing districts to a live DJ dance party fundraiser with Diplo and D-Nice online. 

Still, some members of Biden’s team resisted choosing Harris. A recent Politico story noted that former Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, who was helping vet candidates, was still galled by her attack on Biden during a June 2019 debate in Miami when she criticized his work with segregationist senators and highlighted his fight against busing to desegregate schools decades ago.  

The pushback against Harris apparently became so strong that Biden felt the need to defend her during his July 28 press conference, where an Associated Press photo captured the talking points about her on his notecard that included “do not hold grudges” and “great help to campaign.” 

Harris also benefited from being a running mate who could match this turbulent moment in American history. 

Many of the issues at the center of her life’s work — including criminal justice reform, improving healthcare for Black Americans and tackling income inequality — have come to the forefront in the three-pronged crisis America is now facing: the coronavirus pandemic (which has disproportionately affected communities of color), the fight against systemic racism and an economic recession. 

Harris took a rock to the head for supporting her friend:

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has announced Kamala Harris as his vice presidential running mate, making the California senator the first Black and South Asian American woman chosen for national office by a major political party.

The announcement comes following a search that was conducted under strict secrecy, with most campaign aides, donors and even many longtime Biden friends intentionally kept in the dark. 

“I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked Kamala Harris,” Biden tweeted. He called Harris a “fearless fighter” for the “little guy.”

Biden and Harris will formally accept their nominations next week during the Democratic National Convention, which will be conducted via video from various locations because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Read Biden’s tweet:

Watch:

Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams was informed today that she is not Joe Biden’s vice presidential pick, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN.

Abrams first ran for office in 2007, when she won her Georgia House seat. Over the next 10 years, she built a reputation as a hard worker and fully read in lawmaker, a standing that helped her launch a gubernatorial campaign in 2017– a bid that would’ve made her the nation’s first black woman state leader.

But Abrams lost that election against then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who was overseeing the election that he competed in. Voting rights was a flash point in the race, with the Republican secretary of state enforcing some of the most restrictive voting laws in the nation, and some Democrats contend that Abrams would be the governor of Georgia without the restrictive voting laws.

The loss, though, turned Abrams into a well-known and sought-after Democrat, with nearly every presidential candidate in 2020 looking to tie themselves to her in some way. After the election, Abrams founded Fair Fight, an organization that advocates for voter protection across the country.

The Biden campaign has informed some of the women the former vice president’s team vetted about his choice of running mate, three sources familiar with the matter tell CNN

Rep. Karen Bass of California was told by Joe Biden himself that she was not the pick, a source familiar tells CNN.

Bass had a relatively low-profile relative to the other VP contenders under consideration. She is serving her fifth term representing California’s 37th Congressional District, which is based in Los Angeles County, and is the current chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. 

She was first elected to Congress in 2010, and represented the state’s 33rd Congressional District for two years before redistricting occurred. In addition to chairing the CBC, Bass serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, where she is the chair of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, and the House Judiciary Committee. She is also the founder and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth. 

Prior to serving in Congress, Bass represented the 47th District in the California State Assembly from 2005 to 2010 and became the first Black woman to serve as Speaker of the California Assembly. She previously served as the Assembly Majority Whip and Majority Leader. 

Before running for office, Bass spent several years working as a physician assistant in one of the nation’s largest trauma centers in Los Angeles. 

The other contenders: The former vice president has spoken directly to the final contenders, according to people familiar with the process, through either face-to-face meetings or remote conversations.

Officials would not say which of the candidates visited Biden in person, but CNN confirmed last week that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had flown to Delaware for a meeting. California Sen. Kamala Harris and former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice are among the others seen as the most serious contenders.

CNN had previously reported that Biden was also believed to be considering Bass, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, people familiar with the search say.

The Joe Biden campaign sent along this statement from campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates, preemptively dismissing any attacks from the Trump campaign ahead of the announcement of his running mate:

In a wide-ranging interview this morning on Fox Sports Radio, President Trump declined to weigh in on who Biden should pick as his running mate, suggesting it’s not that important but quickly backtracking to defend his own vice president.

“I will say this, people don’t vote for the vice – you know, this is history. This isn’t necessarily me, this is history because we have a great Vice President. Mike Pence has been incredible, actually. He’s been a great Vice President and, a really, really good job in everything I’ve given him and, but people don’t vote for the Vice President, they really don’t,” he said.  

As for Biden, he said, “I don’t think it’s going to matter. Joe’s gonna have to stand on his own two feet,” but later suggested “maybe with him it probably matters much more than it does for the obvious reason,” an apparent reference to Trump’s continued attacks on Biden’s mental acuity.

Then-Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama and then-Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden appear on stage at the end of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, in August 2008.

Potential presidents say a lot about themselves while choosing a number two.

A party nominee might choose a vice president who doubles down on their own appeal — like when Bill Clinton chose the youthful, centrist Southerner Al Gore — or to counter their own weak spots: John F. Kennedy picked Lyndon Johnson, balancing his Northeastern liberal credentials with a conservative Southerner who could deliver his home state of Texas. The last three vice presidents, Dick Cheney, Joe Biden and Mike Pence, offered governing experience to balance out relatively green presidents. The devout Pence also reassured evangelical voters about Donald Trump’s hardly pious behavior.

Biden, after 50 years in Washington, doesn’t have to worry about inexperience — but youth could certainly be a consideration. He’s already promised to pick a woman, reflecting palpable anger in the Democratic Party over Hillary Clinton’s defeat and a sense that sexism was partly to blame.

Going with one of several Black candidates for vice president could offer further historical redress. But for ideological balance, he could choose someone like Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a champion of the left, to set against his own moderate credentials.

Then there are the practical considerations: Biden would be the oldest president inaugurated for a first term, and he has acknowledged the possibility that his vice president could be called upon to take over. That’s one reason why a super-capable White House insider like Susan Rice, who would be a controversial political pick, has seen her star rise. It also helps if presidents and vice presidents get along, which usually means the number two stifling their own ambitions. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, long one of the favorites for Biden’s vice president spot, rejects claims that she might be a little too interested in the 2024 nomination.

Above all, Biden must avoid damaging his own hopes. In 2008, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona shocked the political world by choosing a little-known Alaskan named Sarah Palin. It worked great when the self-described “pit bull” gave an electrifying convention speech. But soon she was being lampooned on late-night TV. Few saw her as a potential president, and the ticket soon lost to Barack Obama and his more effective pick — Biden.

Read the full analysis here.

Editor’s note: This was excerpted from the Aug. 3 edition of CNN’s Meanwhile in America, the daily email about US politics for global readers. Click here to read past editions and subscribe.

With an announcement expected as early as today, a Joe Biden campaign official told CNN on Tuesday that they have assembled the staff for Biden’s future running mate.

Here’s who will be on the staff:

Whoever Biden settles on will be a history-making choice in her own right, becoming only the third woman to be nominated as a vice presidential candidate for a major party’s ticket.

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has selected his running mate, revealing to top advisers on Tuesday the woman he will invite to join his ticket, two people familiar with the matter tell CNN.

He is poised to make the announcement as early as today.

Watch:

Joe Biden’s search for his vice presidential running mate was conducted under strict secrecy, with most campaign aides, donors and even many longtime Biden friends intentionally kept in the dark.

People close to the process said it was heavily influenced by the nation’s reckoning on racism.

Biden said July 21 that he was considering four Black women to be his running mate, and had been receiving extensive vetting briefings about each potential candidate.

Biden said he was getting a “two-hour vetting report” on each of his potential picks, and that he and his team have gone through “about four candidates” so far.

“Then, when I get all the vetting done of all the candidates, then I’m going to narrow the list, and then we’ll see. And then I’m going to have personal discussions with each of the candidates who are left and make a decision,” Biden said.

CNN previously reported that Sen. Kamala Harris of California, Rep. Val Demings of Florida, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, former Obama administration national security adviser Susan Rice and Rep. Karen Bass of California were among the Black women being considered.

Biden had announced that he would choose a woman as his running mate.

Separate teams of lawyers assigned to each of the contenders neared the closing stages of reviewing three distinct types of records — written, financial and medical — in their background checks, according to people involved in the process.

The search was a dynamic one, though, which has evolved significantly from when it started. The goal was to have an array of options for Biden, particularly if an early favorite runs into complications.

With reporting from CNN’s Kate Sullivan and Sarah Mucha

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Election day 2020 is now less than three months away. In reality, however, the election starts in less than one month; on September 4, North Carolina will begin sending absentee ballots to voters.

The fact is that we no longer have one election day in this country, especially in the age of coronavirus. And with a record number of voters saying they’ll be voting via absentee (or mail) or early in-person, it could mean that President Trump has less time to make up his deficit against former Vice President Joe Biden.

North Carolina is one of many states that starts sending its absentee ballots out more than a month before Election Day actually occurs. In fact, states containing more than a combined 350 electoral votes will begin shipping absentee ballots out to voters a month or before the election begins.

This list of states includes a number of contests that, at this point, look to be competitive on the presidential level: Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin.

All of these battleground states except for Texas have no excuse absentee or mail-in voting. In fact, Texas is the only battleground state overall that won’t have no excuse absentee voting or allow coronavirus as an excuse to cast a ballot by mail.

Read the full analysis here.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic party’s presumptive nominee, is set to accept the party’s nomination and deliver his acceptance speech next Thursday during the Democratic National Convention held in a virtual setting. The vice presidential nominee will do the same a night earlier.

The event was originally going to take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but due to the pandemic and safety concerns, Biden and keynote speakers will not be traveling to the city and speeches will be streamed from multiple locations on video. Biden will accept the nomination from Delaware.

The convention will feature just two hours of prime time programming on each of the four nights. The decision to limit the programming, which will be streamed online and aired by TV networks, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET each night is one of the starkest signs yet of how unconventional this year’s gathering will be in the age of the coronavirus compared to previous conventions, typically filled with various events and speakers for many hours each day.

The convention’s speaking line-up will include former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, former president Bill Clinton and former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Democratic National Convention has announced “Uniting America” as the theme for its four-night convention that will seek to argue why Democrats believe Biden is the candidate to lead the US out of a global crisis, contrasting his leadership style with that of President Trump.  

Each night has a different sub-theme that ultimately points to that central message: “We the People,” “Leadership Matters,” “A More Perfect Union” and “America’s Promise.”  

A scaled-back event: Democrats announced in June that they would scale back this summer’s convention considerably and advised state delegates not to travel to Milwaukee. Officials had already pushed back the convention by a month as the country grappled with spiking coronavirus cases and deaths.

In July, organizers informed state parties and convention delegates that they would allow for nearly two weeks of virtual voting ahead of the convention.

The Democratic National Convention Committee also said that members of Congress should not plan to travel to this summer’s party convention, following its previous guidance that all members of state delegations should plan to participate this year remotely.