The vice president, it is said ominously, is “a heartbeat away from the presidency.” The White House, barring a dramatic upheaval, will still be occupied by a man next year. But at the age of the candidates, “Madam President”, it is only a matter of time.
Welcome to the third decade of the third millennium, candidates now have a woman as their running mate. Donald Trump is still waiting, but at home too, the signals are pointing in this direction.
Already since 2020, Joe Biden has been supported by a woman for vice-president. Last week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the only minor candidate who could make a difference next November, confirmed that a woman will accompany him on his tortuous presidential campaign.
A DECISION UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
From one presidential election to another, the choice of a running mate illuminates the priorities of the presidential candidate, the weaknesses he wishes to fill and, often also, the electorate he wants to court.
Barack Obama, a young senator from Illinois, wanted to silence criticism in 2008 about his inexperience, particularly in matters of international politics. Joe Biden, a long-time member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, became the ideal running mate.
In 2016, Donald Trump – doubly divorced, thrice married and new to active politics – needed to reassure the evangelical electorate of his conservative beliefs. Mike Pence, the pious and modest former governor of Indiana, proved to be the ideal guarantor.
For his part, Joe Biden, by joining forces with Kamala Harris in 2020, rejuvenated the tandem and signaled to the female electorate, but also “of color”, that his presidency was going to have their interests at heart.
YOUTH AND MONEY FOR RFK Jr
Robert F. Kennedy Junior – we said last week – has no chance of winning the presidential election. However, he appears to have enough support to sabotage Biden’s campaign and allow Trump to sneak to victory.
His running mate, presented Tuesday in Oakland, California, created a surprise. Nicole Shanahan has already lived, at 38, one of those cookie-cutter lives. Born to a Chinese mother, raised in poverty, she became a lawyer and high-tech entrepreneur.
She can, with one voice, address the most disadvantaged, women, immigrants, young voters and those whom the Republican septuagenarian and the Democratic octogenarian do not inspire. Former spouse of the co-founder of Google, she is also rich and generous, which will not do any harm to RFK J’s campaignr.
TRUMP AND THE JOB LOOK
Donald Trump, who always liked to be courted, still lets potential running mates stand out. However, names are coming up with more and more insistence, including that of Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota.
She is from the Midwest, enough to please her MAGA base, and a mother, which could soften her image among the all-important suburban voters. Finally, a woman with executive experience and charm, the basic criterion of the Republican candidate, known for liking women “who dress like women.”
It would be a small revolution in the United States if the two main candidates for the presidency and a third who could come to shuffle the cards campaigned with a woman as their vice-presidential candidate. We’re not yet at “Madam President,” but we’re getting close.
WOMEN AT THE GATES OF THE PRESIDENCY
Kamala HARRIS
Photo AFP
- 59 years old
- Vice-president since January 2021
- Senator from California (2017-2021)
- Indian mother and father of Jamaican origin
- Completed his secondary education at Westmount High School.
Nicole SHANAHAN
Photo AFP
- 38 years old
- Lawyer, technologist and philanthropist
- From Chinese mother
- Ex-spouse of Google co-founder Sergei Brin
Kristi NOEM
Photo MEGA/WENN
- 52 years
- Governor of South Dakota since January 2019
- Very conservative, she has pledged, for example, to maintain her 100% anti-abortion voting record.