Former Vice President Joe Biden reportedly is considering some of his former rivals for the Democratic nomination as potential running mates, according to a political adviser for the Democratic Alliance.
Sens. Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker reportedly are on Biden's short list, according to Joshua Dickinson, who cited NBC News. The Hill also mentioned the senators as potential running mates.
The race for the Democratic White House nomination could be all but over when Georgia’s presidential primary rolls around March 24.
That’s because a huge number of delegates are at stake during the next two weeks, including Michigan on Tuesday and Florida, Illinois and Ohio on March 17.
Six states are holding primaries Tuesday, but Michigan and its 125 delegates are March 10’s biggest prize. Other states voting Tuesday are Washington (89 delegates); Missouri (68); Mississippi (36); Idaho (20); and North Dakota (14).
On March 17, 577 delegates are at stake in Florida (219); Illinois (155); Ohio (136); and Arizona (67). A total of 105 delegates are available in Georgia on March 24, the only state holding a presidential primary that day.
The race’s top two remaining candidates —Biden and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders — have been campaigning heavily in Michigan, a state Sanders desperately needs to stay in the race.
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“Have we been as successful as I would hope in bringing young people in?” Sanders said to reporters earlier in his home state of Vermont. “The answer is no.”
Sanders added stops during the weekend in Michigan. Originally, he was to campaign in Mississippi last Friday, but that was changed in favor of a rally in Detroit.
“Michigan is obviously an enormously important state,” Sanders told reporters Wednesday in Vermont. “We are going in there with the full expectation and the hope that we will win.”
Biden has been consolidating support as, one by one, every other Democratic White House hopeful has dropped out of the race except U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.
After his resounding South Carolina primary win, Biden was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and billionaire Tom Steyer, all three of whom dropped out after the Palmetto State primary.
Riding a wave of African American support in the South, Biden won 10 of Super Tuesday’s 14 states. While Sanders won the night’s biggest prize — California and its 415 delegates — Biden was widely seen as Super Tuesday’s biggest winner, resurrecting a campaign that had been declared all but dead only a week before.
»MORE: Southern surge leads Biden to big Super Tuesday wins
The day after Super Tuesday, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg quit his short-lived, $500 million presidential bid and endorsed Biden.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who didn't win a single primary and finished in third place in her home state of Massachusetts, was next to fall. Surrogates from her and Sanders' campaign met late into the night Wednesday, leading to speculation Warren would endorse Sanders, but that hasn't materialized.
Klobuchar campaigned for Biden during the weekend.
For Sanders, the stakes could hardly be higher. He defeated Hillary Clinton in Michigan in 2016, emboldening his argument that he could win with a diverse coalition that drew well from young voters, working-class whites and African Americans. But it is the kind of victory he has not been able to replicate this time, and if he does not Tuesday, any chances at the Democratic nomination may be greatly diminished.
Biden has been emphasizing the Obama administration’s bailout of the auto industry, which provided an economic lifeline for GM and Ford, likely saving thousands of jobs. He is also counting on continued strong support among African American voters.
How Michigan votes will also be clarifying for November. Some see Sanders’ sweeping promises to cancel student debt and provide health care for all potentially energizing young voters but not older ones wary of his democratic socialist ideology. Centrist and safe, Biden could do exactly the opposite, though.
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