Why Biden Won’t Find His Biden

He has already made at least one politically strategic choice by limiting the candidates to women. Limiting the prospects by gender eliminates a lot of Mr. Biden’s most loyal and presumably “simpatico” allies — a group that largely comprises white men. As one racial justice activist politely put it: “Even his set of relationships, I’m quite sure, are geared toward his world.”

Picking a woman isn’t about personal loyalty; it’s about energizing female voters and recognizing the momentum that women — particularly Black women — have given the Democratic Party during the Trump era.

Given his age, Mr. Biden also needs to reassure voters that there’s someone who can take over if he can no longer serve as president — a reason there aren’t many older women on the list.

I suppose this is a really long way of guiding you, dear readers, through the blizzard of vice-presidential speculation blanketing the political conversation.

Mr. Biden said he would announce his pick in early August, so the forecast this week is for more hot takes, rumors and backbiting. Because the field is all women, there will probably be a touch of sexism in the mix as well, as we’ve already seen in reports detailing largely anonymous concerns from donors who say Kamala Harris is “too ambitious” for the job. (I’ve never met an unambitious politician, but perhaps that’s a subject for a whole other column.)

Don’t get too caught up in the leaks and the counterleaks, the “close Biden allies” and the chattering donors. Sure, picking a running mate is complicated. Sure, personal relationships and trust matter. But you know who doesn’t care about chemistry? Losing presidential candidates.

In the end, there’s one strategic imperative that outweighs all of the others.

Winning.