Biden’s celebration process provided a major impetus to the national profiles of nearly a dozen Democratic women. Top party operatives believe that the bank of Democratic women is not only significantly increased by the process, but because of the unusually public nature of the search, many Americans have a deeper understanding of the roles women play in the party.
And Susan Rice, the veteran diplomat and former Obama national security adviser, has always been likely a leading candidate for a top foreign policy role.
But others have seen their profiles rise as a result of Biden’s process.
Bass also saw her status in the House of Commons grow when Biden challenged her and after calling for a police reform bill. And with the top three-ranked House Democrats all 80 or older, leadership positions could be available here.
Illinois First Chamber Member Tammy Duckworth, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Rep. Val Demings, also appeared as candidates for the away game and saw himself reserved for national television interviews and showed up as future Democratic leaders. In battlefield Florida and ever-competitive Georgia, Demings and Lance Bottoms could be sought for state candidate.
All of them – as did New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams and Wisconsin sen. Tammy Baldwin – held fundraisers and events as Biden surrogates, and earned chits with Biden and his campaign in the process.
“Part of what we wanted to do through this process was to improve all these careers for women and lift all their profiles and give them the opportunity to have a national stage in a few months, so that they can grow their influence. , so that they can make their voices more powerful, and whatever happens to them, they will feel that this was a good, productive thing to be a part of ‘, said an aide of Biden.
In the whole subject, a number of high-profile Black women with decades of experience in Democratic politics have – including Donna Brazile, a former interim chair of the Democratic National Commission, and Leah Daughtry, the chief executive officer of the Democratic Party. 2008 and 2016 Democratic conventions – – pressed Biden to choose a Black woman as his running mate.
But, these women said that push was about more than just placing a Black woman next to Biden; it was also about increasing the reach of women to be considered for future jobs that Biden may need to fill, something the former vice president was receptive to.
“Clearly, the vice president has always stated from the beginning that he not only wanted his campaign, but he wanted the label and his cabinet to look like America,” Brazil said. He made clear “the fact that women will play important roles in both a Biden candidacy and a Biden presidency.”
Brazil, a former interim chairman of the Democratic National Commission, said she and other Black female Democratic leaders also held talks with the team that Biden appointed at the end of June to work on his transition to office as he is elected – a group led by former Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman, a longtime Biden adviser.
“They’re already considered,” Brazil said of women like Bass, Demings and Lance Bottoms, who had already emerged as one of Biden’s most trusted surrogates during the Democratic primary.
The women who considered Biden but did not select “did not accidentally have to be on the short list,” said Valerie Jarrett, a longtime top assistant to Barack Obama who has spoken to women through Biden. Without detailing specific cabinet positions, some of the women could fill, she said, “It would not surprise me to see opportunities available to many of the women who were considered.”
Biden has said he believes the women who made his shortlist were all eligible for the vice presidency.
“It’s fair to say if he believes they are qualified for that job, they are qualified for other jobs in high government,” a Biden aide said.
Biden has also promised to appoint a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
But, Jarrett said of women affected by Biden’s team: “They can choose to stay where they are.”
The control during the process was sometimes harsh. Bass’s history of remarks about Fidel Castro and Cuba drew criticism, and Duckworth found herself on the opposite side of Biden when she said it was time for a national dialogue on statues of founding fathers who owned slaves.
The negative stories began to worry some Democrats, such as Christina Reynolds, a top operative on Emily’s List, a Democratic organization that focused on raising and electing women.
But, Reynolds said, the search – taken as a whole – was good for both the women involved and for the Democratic voters.
“What I think was an overall net positive is that Americans were introduced to these women and saw the depth of women leaders in this country,” Reynolds said. “We get to see Nancy Pelosi, sometimes we see a sen. Warren or a sen. Harris, but we do not always know how many women there do this great work. … The idea that Americans see that a little more a real is a great thing. “
Reynolds said benefits also extend to Biden’s ability to build a cabinet as well, as millions of Americans “have an understanding” that women are represented at the very top of the U.S. government.
Few women understand the judicial process – and what it can lead to – more than former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who was among the finalists in the then sen. Barack Obama’s search for a vice president in 2008 and continued with Obama’s secretary of health and human services.
Sebelius broke up with many top female politicians in 2008 and supported Obama against Hillary Clinton, a decision that at the time took a lot of contempt, but earned her the appreciation of the president who would become. Sebelius said the fact that she was approached for vice president and her profile increased in that process was enormous.
“There is no question that the veteran helped,” Sebelius said. “First of all, the confusion that you are going through as vice president is so much stricter than anything I have ever been, even though I ran for office. … You get your profile raised a little bit, but you also have all from the possible warts on your background, every voice I had taken, all our financial decisions, what our children did, all that was ever combed. “
She added: “You do not go through that process without having your life returned and examined. I would not recommend it to anyone, but it certainly saves some steps as a rule.”
Because of this knowledge, Sebelius said that Biden’s decision to publicly choose a woman who had a walking partner upset her because she knew that even the women who were not eventually elevated .
“What has happened over the last number of months is a bright light has been shown on a wide variety of female leaders doing all sorts of different jobs with all sorts of different backgrounds and talents,” she said. “It was just very instructive and interesting process and will open doors for a lot of things.”
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