Former first lady Michelle Obama has officially passed Joseph R. Biden’s VP sniff test.
Mr. Biden told a CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh this week that a vetting process is underway for a female vice president, although Mrs. Obama only needs to say the word and the job is hers.
“We’ll shortly be announcing the committee I have named to review this and to begin to look through the backgrounds of the various potential nominees,” the former vice president told reporter Jon Delano on Monday. “And that’s just getting underway.”
Mr. Delano then asked about “speculation” of Mrs. Obama coming aboard.
“If she said to you she’d be willing to be your running mate, would you ask her?” he asked, Mediaite reported.
“Well, I’d take her in a heartbeat. She’s brilliant, she knows the way around, she’s a really fine woman,” Mr. Biden replied.
Absent Mrs. Obama’s interest in getting involved, Mr. Biden said he would only commit to a vice president on gender grounds instead of race and gender.
“I’ll commit that it’ll be a woman because I think it’s very important that the that my administration looked like the public, looked like the nation,” he said. “I’ve committed there will be a woman of color on the Supreme Court.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.