With Their Hopes For A Female President Dashed, Democratic Women Now Look To The Vice Presidency

KUT 90.5 | By Michael Marks | Texas Standard

Published March 5, 2020 at 4:33 PM CST

Errin Haines of The 19th says these four women, and others, could be viable vice presidential candidates: Clockwise from top left: Sen. Kamala Harris, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced on Tuesday she's dropping out of the Democratic presidential primary. At the beginning of the race, the group of Democratic candidates competing for the office was the most diverse ever assembled. Now, it's down to two white men in their late 70s.

Some Democrats are telling Errin Haines, editor-at-large for The 19th, that they want a woman to be on the ticket as the vice presidential candidate. The 19th is a nonprofit news organization that covers gender and politics. Haines says women she's talked to are frustrated by the lack of diversity.

"Two old white men on the ticket ... is really not an option for the majority of the electorate," she says. "They are saying that putting a woman in that position makes sense because somebody on the ticket would be there who has the lived experience of more than half of our population."

Haines says defeating President Donald Trump is the top priority for Democratic women, and the way to do that is through high voter turnout. But she says high turnout is possible only if people feel represented by the candidates on the ticket.

"Somebody who energizes women is one of the things that Democrats are saying is a way to achieve that," Haines says.

Women from a variety of backgrounds tell Haines that they ideally want a woman who's also a person of color. Former Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Kamala Harris, and former Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia, Stacey Abrams, are two possible choices, Haines says. But she says former presidential candidates, senators Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand and Elizabeth Warren, are possibilities, too.

"For the supporters of these women, who are disappointed that they were not able to make it to a nomination, being able to still cast a ballot for them in this way is something that ... would still make them feel satisfied in this cycle," Haines says.

Written by Caroline Covington.

Note: This interview was recorded before Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the presidential race.