#WashWeekPBS Extra: Who would Sanders and Biden pick as VP?

ROBERT COSTA: Welcome to Washington Week Extra. I'm Robert Costa. Let's revisit that conversation about the 2020 campaign. The race has now come down to former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders, but the eventual nominee will have to unite a fractured party, possibly with the vice presidential

pick

. I'm joined now by Abby Phillip, CNN political correspondent; and Jonathan Martin, national political correspondent for The New York Times. Jonathan, Abby, thanks for staying to watch the Extra. Look, it's a long way off, the vice president election. We don't even know who the nominee will be. But if it's Biden, who do you think?

ABBY PHILLIP: Definitely someone younger. I mean, I think he really has to reassure people about the fact that he's older and he needs someone who is vibrant, who has a bright future ahead of him. I'm not so sure, you know, I think the vice presidential

pick

s are a bit of a stretch, but I think he wants to point out the future of the Democratic Party. So, you know, I think an African American woman: Kamala Harris, Val Demings, both options that I think people have mentioned in the past. But he doesn't... you know, I don't necessarily think he needs a kind of, you know, younger white man.

I mean, I think a lot of people might have thought that Pete Buttigieg

would

be kind of a natural fit for him, but Biden doesn't need to double down on him. I think he needs someone who will complement him in different ways and who can energize the younger portion of the Democratic Party that is simply looking for the next generation of leaders. COSTA: Has the Biden campaign, Jonathan, started to think about it even a little bit informally? JONATHAN MARTIN: I'm sure they have that in mind and I'm sure Biden has thought about it as he talks to some of these people.

But, Bob, they are so busy trying to scale up for these primaries and trying to catch their breath after the last few days, that I'm not sure there is any serious planning going on. But I think Biden has to decide how he wants to approach this. I mean, obviously, an election for government is important, someone who you can work with and who can take over the country if necessary, obviously is essential. But also, does he want to try to placate the left if he defeats Bernie Sanders? And obviously, that could be a challenge. Would he want to reward and honor African-American voters, who are both the party's most loyal base and the people who basically saved his candidacy in South Carolina and then on Super Tuesday?

Or does he want to try to help the voters he hasn't done so well with: Hispanic voters, with whom Sanders has done better? COSTA: Well, who could be someone Hispanic for Biden? MARTIN: There are a couple of names I've heard. Catherine Cortez Masto, the senator from Nevada, was introduced to me a few months ago by Congressman Filemón Vela of Texas. She is a first-term senator and someone you could watch from Nevada. Michelle Luján Grisham is the governor of New Mexico, she was in the House before she became governor and I think she is someone she could consider as well.

Those two states, Bob (Nevada, New Mexico, sort of the interior West), that's the Democratic future that exists. These are states that have become bluer and I think they are places that Biden

would

want to turn to to try to energize those types of voters. COSTA: How are you? He mentioned Val Demings, the Florida lawmaker, part of the House impeachment team. Does he seem to have a rising profile? PHILLIP: Yeah, and I think people have been paying attention. She comes from a police background. She is a good presenter. She is an African American woman. I think a lot of people are looking at it a second time.

I mean, she's lesser known, but so are a lot of these people we're talking about here. This is going to be...she needs to be someone who can quickly jump to a national profile and perform. She seemed to demonstrate this with her performance at the impeachment hearings. I think her toughness is also going to be very important with a kind of second-level Democratic message, which will be on the issue of corruption with President Trump. They're going to need... so I think it would be beneficial for Biden to have someone who can... who can prosecute that case.

And that could be a Val Demings. She could also be a Kamala Harris. MARTIN: That's a good point. By the way, when she was in the Senate prosecuting the impeachment case, she caught the attention of one Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, who last week was telling people that he thinks she might be a good choice. . for Biden. So I think that's huge. And look... COSTA: What about Senator Warren? She's sitting there... MARTIN: I was going to say, you know, traditionally those who came second in campaigns often get a long look. And I think this will be no different.

I think Kamala Harris will take a look at it. I think Klobuchar will take a look. And I think Warren will take a real look. COSTA: Well, what about Senator Sanders? If he is the nominee, does he go from left to left or does he move toward the center with his choice? PHILLIP: I think he needs to move downtown. He has to find someone who can help him. And in fact, in some ways I think a Warren vice president would be a good choice for Bernie Sanders because, again, Warren is seen as a progressive, but her base of supporters - these are Hillary voters, these are Biden voters, they're Buttigieg.

These are people whose second choice in Iowa and New Hampshire were Buttigieg and Klobuchar. COSTA: But he's had problems with African-American voters. Maybe Val Demings, Stacey Abrams or Senator Harris? PHILLIP: Yes, exactly. I mean, if any of them would. However, one of the challenges is that some people consider Bernie Sanders simply not ideologically similar enough. It's about the tone. I heard this from Kamala Harris, friends of Kamala Harris, that she, you know, respects Bernie Sanders, but they don't necessarily agree on his approach to politics. That's going to be a real problem. COSTA: Wouldn't you be surprised, though, if someone turned down the vice president offer?

PHILLIP: That would be surprising. But, I mean, everyone has... you know, you never know what people are going to do until you offer it to them. And I think people tend to say yes. COSTA: How about a unity formula: Sanders/Biden, Biden/Sanders? I mean, that's what happened in 1980, Reagan brought in George H.W. Bush. MARTIN: I think you'd be doubling down on the geriatric base there, Bob. (Laughter.) I'm not sure the country is ready for 79 and 78 in 2021, which is what they would be. I think it's a long shot. PHILLIP: Yes. But a big question I have as we move into these industrial Midwestern states is: Is Biden really performing with white working-class voters, with white working-class men?

That's been his calling card for a long time. And it hasn't been tested yet. If he performs well, he's probably in good shape and can duplicate his efforts elsewhere in the Democratic coalition. But if he doesn't, then I think maybe we'll start looking for someone from the Midwest who can. COSTA: Gretchen Whitmer. PHILLIP: Exactly, like the governor of Michigan. MARTIN: Literally this afternoon I was talking to a state senator from Detroit. And he told me, preemptively by the way, preemptively he said: You guys are missing the story. He said: I'm telling you right now, it makes a lot of sense for Gretchen Whitmer to be Biden's running mate because not only is Michigan, a swing state, but she's the kind of... the kind of Democrat that the Democrats flocked to. moderate suburban women. in her campaign in 2018.

And she could help Biden with that crucial demographic in 2020. She would solidify those voters and give Biden the White House. So that's definitely a possibility. PHILLIP: I mean, it could be a one-two punch, because it would be suburban women and also the kind of Midwestern vote that, you know, for Biden could be very important. But it really depends on whether Biden alone has enough power to overcome it. Because if he does, then they should really work on engaging the Democratic base: progressives, minority voters, and the like. MARTIN: And Whitmer, finally, was smart to get her endorsement of Biden before the primary, by the way.

PHILLIP: Yes, exactly. (Laughs.) Just under the radar. (Laughter.) COSTA: I know it's a long way off, but sometimes there's nothing better than vice presidential speculation: what's at stake. MARTIN: Yes. Totally irresponsible, but still fun. COSTA: It's fun. It's fun. That's all for this edition of Washington Week Extra. You can listen to them wherever you get your podcasts or watch them on our website. While you're there, check out our weekly quiz, the Washington News Weekly Quiz. I'm Robert Costa. Thank you for joining us. See you next time.