S presidential election.

It's in November.

You'll know that.

And while we know that the Democratic nominee is going to be Joe Biden and we know that he'll be up against Donald Trump and his vice president, Mike Pence, we don't know who Joe Biden's running mate is going to be.

Back in March, though, he did narrow the field a little by saying, My running mate will be a woman, though this hardly ranks is radical progress.

We should also say this would be only the third time that one of the major U.

S party has selected a woman for the vice presidency.

There are some reasons why Mr Biden might think this was a good idea.

One is the polls.

This recent Fox News poll found Biden's be ahead of Trump by 12 points overall, but by 19 points where narrowed that down to women voters is thought a female running mate would support that trend.

There's also some suggestion that picking a female running mate may insulate Biden from allegations that he engaged in unwanted physical contact with women in the more serious accusation that from a former staffer Tara Reid that he sexually assaulted her.

This article from Politico back in April addresses the issue, saying the allegations of rattled his VP search.

They say the job description has suddenly become more complicated.

They must now defend him against sexual assault accusations without looking hypocritical, while Anthony Circle is gonna help me cast his eye over the options for Joe Biden.

Since he made that statement saying he wanted to pick a woman as his running mate, Kobe, 19 has arrived in America.

Plus, we've seen the demonstrations after the death of George Floyd.

Have either of those two events affected his calculations?

It definitely has.

He's still looking at a about a dozen women, but there are a couple of names that have been on the upswing.

One is Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan.

She was put in the spotlight because of Cove in 19 and her state's response to what was one of the hot spots at the time, instituting shelter in place orders and dealing with a lot of protests from conservatives about her.

Her attempts to do that, including Donald Trump himself.

Another name is Kiesha Lance Bottom.

She's the mayor of Atlanta She's been dealing with the protests in her study, but she's a black woman.

She has spoken out very personally and passionately about what these demonstrations mean to her and how she's dealing with raising Children four Children in the southern city during this time of enormous upswings off emotion.

So I think those air to that probably were not anyone's radar last year.

Now I think they're not among the top in the upper half.

Okay, let's look through some of the contenders.

And there are quite a few, as you were saying, Anthony's written this excellent on highly comprehensive article on the BBC news website going through some of the contenders and their pros and cons candidates first, let's concentrate on Camilla Harris, widely considered to be the front runner.

She's a senator from California.

She ran against Joe Biden for the presidential nomination.

She didn't get that and need.

Is that in any way standing away, though?

Well, you know, I mean, there was a bit of a clash between Kabul Harris and Joe Biden in the first debate where Harris criticized bite him.

But I think the fact that she has been on a national stage that she was considered a front runner for the presidential nomination for a while and was subjected to that national scrutiny.

That's something that a lot of the other contenders don't have.

She comes from California big fundraising state.

She's quick on her feet, and she also kind of ticks some of those diversity boxes.

She's only the second black woman to ever serve in the U.

S.

Senate.

She has a a father who was from South Asia on Also, she is.

She's younger than Joe Biden, which also helps a lot.

All right.

Next, we have another person who ran against him for the presidential nomination.

Elizabeth Warren, senator from Massachusetts.

In fact, back in 2019 she led the polls in the race for the nomination.

She didn't get it, but she remains a heavy way.

Anthony.

What are the pros and cons of hers of running mate?

Well, what she has going for her is that she has notified with left wing of the Democratic Party, although there were some clashes between her and Bernie Sanders and some of the Bernie Sanders supporters aren't big fans of birds, and now she does represent kind of one of the emotional beating the heart of the progressive wing.

And if Biden brings her in, I think that solidifies his left left flank and also gives a lot of policy proposals that you can run on because she ran as that.

I have a plan for that candidate.

Of course, she is a white.

She's in her seventies, so she doesn't diversify the party in a way that say, Kamila Harris might or Kesha Lance Bottoms would.

But But she definitely, you know, she has a lot of gravitas on.

She is well liked within the party.

One other person I wanted to pick out is Tammy Duckworth's, a junior senator from Illinois.

She's the first tie American woman elected to Congress, as well as being the first double amputee woman elected to Congress in 2018 she became the first woman to give birth while serving in the Senate as well.

Before I read your article, I didn't know as much about her as I did about some of the other candidates for people watching you not encounter before introducer to us, please.

Yeah, I mean, she is a candidate when people start to learn more about her she becomes very compelling.

She lost both of her legs when the helicopter was shot down in the Iraq war.

So she is a Purple Heart winner of war, veteran of military hero in addition to being ah, US senator, As you mentioned coming from the Thai background, she would be the first Asian American on a presidential ticket from a major party.

So that is, it would be quite a historic moment as well.

Illinois.

While it is not a battleground state, per se very democratic, she it is close to the Midwest Midwestern battleground states like Ohio and Michigan and Wisconsin, all very close by.

So she could bring some of that Midwestern appeal, and it would be an interesting pick, one that you know a lot of people may not consider.

But it wouldn't be a surprise to me if Biden picture.

And finally, when does he have to decide by Well, he said he wants to decide by early August.

You remember the Democratic National Convention was originally scheduled in July, so we would be talking about VP picks an earnest if it wasn't for the krona virus and the fact that the National Convention got delayed to mid August.

You have to have a decision by that time.

So I think by saying early August, that fits right.

He wants to save this.

He likes the speculation.

It's good for him, and then when he rolls out his nominee, there's a lot of good press around it.

And then that nominee can get out on the stump, assuming that people can pick can campaign in person once he picks it.

So I think he's saving this bullet for a time when they could have the most impact no.