Know how a running mate is selected for a Presidential candidate?

As we enter the second half of the year, preparations for the US Presidential elections are in full swing. A recent report suggests that Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden will soon announce his running mate. Current President Donald Trump will run for the President again in search of a second term in office. For the Republican party, it is not clear that who will find a place as the running mate with President Trump. Will it is Vice-President Mike Pence or there will be last-minute changes in the plan?

You might be confused about what is a running mate? Well in the current political system of the United States, there is a place for a President and a Vice-President. Every party has to choose a vice presidential running mate. The running mate is simply the person running for Vice- President. People vote for the combination of Presidential and vice-presidential candidate in the election. Countries like Brazil, Indonesia and Palau also use the same system as the running mate of the presidential candidate is made Vice President automatically.

Running mates selection process!

The Presidential candidate selects the running mates with advice from advisors or anyone else the candidate wants to. There are no set or required criteria to select a potential running mate. In most cases, the presidential candidate selects a running mate who will help in the election and afterwards or at least will do not do any harm. Experts believe that running mates are not much of an influence in the Presidential election.

Reports suggest that the democratic candidate Joe Biden is considering Val Demings, Kamala Harris, Karen Bass, Susan Rice and Tammy Duckworth as his running mate. But these are only speculations, only the time will tell (probably within this week) who Joe Biden will decide as his mate for the election. Donald Trump so far seems a little behind in the polls, so he might want to change his running mate else than the present Vice President Mike Pence.

Is running mate important?

Although it is believed that running mates don’t attract many eyeballs as the focus is centred to the presidential candidates but because running mates have a chance of becoming president themselves in some unusual time, so the post of running mate is important. Running mates being second in command are the first choice to become President if something happens to designated President.

For example, if Joe Biden selects a female running candidate, and if they win then the US will get its first female Vice- President. Also, there is a chance that she might become the first lady President in the United States.

In India, when political parties choose its candidate in the election, they keep a close watch on the following of leader, caste, religion and region of the candidate. In a similar way, Joe Biden might want to choose a non-white female Kamala Harris as his running mates in the pretext of #BlackLivesMatter and pro-feminism protests. Similarly, Trump can also think on a female or non-white running candidate in the upcoming election.

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