Failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is what the kids these days call "thirsty AF." For weeks, Abrams has been all but begging former vice president Joe Biden to pick her as a running mate.
Abrams's thirst for power appears to know no bounds. According to a Politico report published Tuesday, the former Georgia lawmaker has been waging an aggressive behind-the-scenes lobbying effort in addition to her public self-promotion campaign.
Abrams, who has repeatedly declared herself the winner of Georgia's 2018 gubernatorial election despite receiving fewer votes than her Republican opponent, has been "privately calling Democratic powerbrokers, asking them to tell Biden campaign officials that she should be vice president."
These private efforts to promote herself as the ideal candidate are in line with what Abrams has been saying in public. In multiple interviews with major media outlets, Abrams has described herself as "an excellent running mate" with a "strong history of executive and management experience," as well as expertise in international affairs gleaned from "25 years in independent study of foreign policy."
Though Abrams has touted her "capacity" and "competence" to do the job, she has also expressed "concern" about the possibility that Biden would choose a white running mate. The former VP has already pledged to pick a woman. Politico reports that Biden advisers are debating the importance of having an African American on the ticket as opposed to a "progressive" white candidate.
The report suggests that some Democrats have been turned off by Abrams's "overt campaigning" for the vice presidential nomination. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, whom Biden is also considering as a possible (white) running mate, delivered a subtle jab at Abrams.
"I just know that, you know, you don't run for that," Whitmer said on Monday. "That is a selection of the top of the ticket, and everyone else should be just busy doing their jobs."
Politico contributing editor Bill Scher suggested on Twitter last week that Abrams should "shut down all VP talk" and focus her energy on challenging Gov. Brian Kemp to a rematch in 2022. Scher's advice was retweeted by Ronald Klain, a Biden supporter who served as the former VP's chief of staff.
Biden is expected to announce a selection committee by May 1, but the announcement of a running mate might come as late as July. Meanwhile, the campaign faces heightened scrutiny surrounding the allegations of former Senate staffer Tara Reade, who has accused Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993.
"If Biden remains the Democratic nominee, whichever woman gets the nod to be his running mate will wind up drinking from a poisoned chalice," Rebecca Traister wrote in New York magazine on Monday. "Because the promise to choose a woman ensures that whoever she is, she will be forced to answer—over and over again—for Biden's treatment of other women, including the serious allegations of assault leveled by Tara Reade."