Former Vice President Joe Biden may tap a prominent Republican to join him on the Democrat presidential ticket, a move he hopes peels away enough GOP votes to flip close states.
Responding to a question at a campaign event in New Hampshire, Biden says if he were to win the Democrat presidential nomination he would consider giving the vice presidential nomination to a Republican, but did not offer any names.
“The answer is I would, but I can’t think of one now,” said Biden. “No, I’m serious. … There’s some really decent Republicans that are out there still, but here’s the problem right now with the well-known ones: they’ve got to step up.”
It’s unlikely any Republican currently serving in Congress would accept Biden’s offer, but several GOP former officeholders may be interested.
Former congressmen Mark Sanford and Joe Walsh launched bids challenging Trump for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination, with Sanford quickly dropping out. Republican former Massachusetts Governor William Weld is also running against Trump for the GOP nomination and was the Libertarian Party’s vice presidential nominee in 2016.
As a staunch fiscal conservative Sanford would be unlikely to get an offer from Biden, and Walsh’s low name recognition and personal issues make him off-limits, but as a former governor and vice presidential nominee challenging Trump from the left, Weld may be an option.
Ohio Governor John Kasich, with a liberal-friendly record of expanding Medicare, supporting gun control and criticizing Trump, may also be on Biden’s radar, as he would also almost certainty hand Democrats Ohio, which they only narrowly lost in 2016.
Jeff Flake, the former Arizona senator, would also be a “Never Trump” Republican option from a state Democrats could possibly flip.
“Whomever I would pick for vice president — and there’s a lot of qualified women, there’s a lot of qualified African-Americans, there really, truly are … whomever I would pick were I fortunate enough to be your nominee, I’d pick someone who was simpatico with me, who knew what my priorities were and knew what I wanted to do,” Biden said.
AAN Staff
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