Kamala Harris expected to announce running mate for election

Harris’s decision – expected to be announced this morning – comes after she interviewed several contenders over the weekend.

Among those to be grilled were governors Josh Shapiro and Tim Walz, and Senator Mark Kelly.

Harris also reportedly met her vetting team – led by former US attorney general Eric Holder – over the weekend and received in-depth presentations on their findings, including potential political vulnerabilities.

Who might Harris pick?

The search for a running mate has reportedly narrowed down to two.

Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania governor: Shapiro has seen high approval ratings since he was elected in 2022 and could help Harris capture Pennsylvania – a must-win state in the race for the White House.

He would be the first Jewish vice-president if chosen, and if Harris then wins in November.

Tim Walz, Minnesota governor: Walz, who served 12 years in Congress before becoming governor of Minnesota in 2019, gained national attention for his strategy calling Donald Trump and JD Vance “weird”.

The 60-year-old led Minnesota through the 2020 protests over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.

But there are other names in the mix: Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Sex, money, social media – how VP contenders are vetted

Presidential campaigns put their potential vice-presidential picks through a gruelling vetting process before they can join the ticket – one past participant likens it to “a colonoscopy”.

Have you ever paid for sex?

Have you ever paid for an abortion?

Have you ever had a homosexual encounter?

Those are just some of the questions VP hopefuls might face.

The vetters pore over a contender’s tax returns and medical history. They may log on to his or her private social media accounts. They even scour the social media posts of his or her children and grandchildren.

Evan Bayh, a finalist to become Barack Obama’s running mate in 2008, remembers the procedure took nearly three months and was “like having a colonoscopy performed with a telescope”.

“There was a whole team assigned to me: an accountant, a lawyer, a physician,” the former Indiana senator and governor told the BBC.

The head of the vetting team phoned one day to ask Bayh about a false internet rumour that he had once received psychiatric treatment.

“And I said, ‘No, it’s not true. But if you guys don’t hurry up and make a decision, it might be true.'”

SOURCE: BBC NEWS

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