Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) is beginning his search for a running mate in the 2020 presidential election.
And, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams thinks she would make an “excellent” running mate for Biden.
“I would be honored,” Abrams said when asked if she would be willing to be Biden’s running mate during an interview with Elle Magazine. “I would be an excellent running mate. I have the capacity to attract voters by motivating typically ignored communities.”
She continued, “I have a strong history of executive and management experience in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. I’ve spent 25 years in independent study of foreign policy. I am ready to help advance an agenda of restoring America’s place in the world. If I am selected, I am prepared and excited to serve.”
Abrams, who ran for governor in Georgia in 2018, has signaled that she would be open to being vice president. However, she also said she would like to run for president, as IJR has previously reported.
Last week, Abrams said, “I would be honored to be on the campaign trail as a running mate.”
“But that is a process that you can’t campaign for, and I’m not campaigning for. I’m just being straight-forward,” she added.
Despite her failed gubernatorial bid, Abrams says she feels she is qualified to be vice president. She also said she understands the role of the vice president, “The VP’s job is to be chief lieutenant and partner by taking on the roles and responsibilities assigned to you by the president.”
She continued:
“I am very self-aware, and I know that my résumé…is usually reduced to ‘She didn’t become the governor of Georgia.’ But it is important to understand all the things I did to prepare for that contest. That campaign was not a whim. It was the outcome of decades of deliberate work building my capacity to serve as many people as I could, in the most effective way possible. My responsibility is to be ready to do the job—to have the core capacities that are embedded in the role. I am able to stand effectively as a partner, to execute a vision, and to serve the vision of the president.”
Biden has already compiled a list of up to a dozen potential female presidential picks and Abrams is reportedly on the list. During the last Democratic presidential debate, he vowed to pick a woman to be his running mate, as IJR has previously reported.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) weighed in on Biden’s search for a running mate, “To have our first female vice president, and to have that be a woman of color is a significant milestone.”