Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has remained largely outside the public view amidst the coronavirus pandemic, but the campaign has continued to eye potential candidates for the former vice president’s 2020 running mate.
While there is no evidence the campaign has made a final decision, the New York Post reports that Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who ran in the presidential primary as an outspoken Democratic moderate, has been emerging as a favorite among some campaign and party insiders.
According to the exclusive report, a Biden campaign insider recently told the news agency that Klobuchar “could be No. 1” on the former VP’s shortlist. Another party insider, a person who works in the Senate, told the news agency that Klobuchar was the stand-out candidate for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The news agency reports that senior party insiders also believe that Klobuchar has the best shot at joining Biden’s 2020 presidential ticket. In descending order of likelihood, party insiders also told the Post that Governor Gretchen Whimter (D-MI), Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) also still have a shot at joining the ticket.
Since endorsing Biden last month, Klobuchar has drawn strong buzz as a potential running mate for the former vice president. As The Daily Wire previously reported, the Minnesota senator accidentally told a crowd of Biden supporters last month that she “couldn’t think of a better way to end my candidacy than to join the ticket.”
Although the crowd reportedly cheered after the statement, Klobuchar immediately clarified that she was joining the campaign, not the ticket itself. The remark drew the attention of NBC reporter Amanda Golden, who noted that the senator’s verbal slip-up seemed to be a “bit of a Freudian slip.”
Back at the February debate, Klobuchar was the only candidate to raise their hand after the moderator asked whether any of seven primary candidates would be concerned with a self-described democratic socialist at the top of the ticket in November.
During an interview with CBS News, Klobuchar criticized the other candidates for not speaking out against socialism, but also indicated that she has a friendly working relationship with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
“The question should be why didn’t everyone else raise their hand,” remarked Klobuchar, reports RealClearPolitics. “I am troubled by having a socialist lead our ticket.”
“I like Bernie, we are friends, he would tell you that as well. We have worked together on prescription drug prices and the like,” said Klobuchar. “But I think a candidate like me, who is able to actually bring in ideas and get them done, and as I’ve said so many times, people are tired of the extremes in our politics and the noise and the nonsense, that they have a home with me. That to me is the ticket of winning big.”
Sanders has since suspended his campaign, but has not explicitly endorsed Biden for president, reports Fox News. The Democratic Socialists of America has also refused to endorse the former vice president.