Here are the names Democrats are considering for Kamala’s running mate

The fallout from Biden’s disastrous debate performance continues to outpace his campaign’s insistence that he will remain in the race, with what CNN describes as “many in senior Democratic circles” already evaluating who Kamala Harris’ running mate should be.

Two dozen prominent Democrats, described by CNN as a “growing group of top party leaders, operatives and donors,” have considered Democratic governors as potential running mates for Harris, along with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Kentucky Gov. Governor Andy Beshear Democrats have also mentioned Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as potential candidates.

CNN reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere, who wrote the article examining the potential candidates, said that within hours of its publication, even more Democrats were offering ideas for Harris’ running mate. The assessments of Harris’ potential running mate, CNN notes, are born out of the certainty among leading Democrats that Biden’s reelection campaign is doomed. The names being floated are part of a quasi-mutinous effort to make a compelling case for Harris despite the Biden campaign’s firm stance that he will not step down.

An unnamed Democratic senator described the situation to CNN using a lengthy football allegory, describing Biden as a failed “star quarterback” and Harris as his backup quarterback. The senator argued that a Harris ticket is more realistic than backing an outside replacement, saying, “The idea that we’re suddenly selecting someone from a school with a different playbook who hasn’t played a single game in the NFL is a huge risk.”

“We start talking in the huddle: Do we put a backup quarterback in? The backup knows our team, the backup knows the tactics, the backup has played in the NFL,” the senator told CNN. “The crowd in the stands full of passionate fans starts chanting, ‘Put in the kid from Alabama!’ ‘Put in the quarterback from Wisconsin!’ All because the backup threw an interception earlier. But we know the backup and we trust him.”

“(Biden) is in a very difficult situation,” a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, whom CNN described as a “Harris skeptic,” told the network. “But I’ve also had conversations about (Harris) with Democrats from some key groups who have been skeptical in the past and who think that everyone will rally behind her if she gets the nomination.”

“This is a clean sweep, and she’s ready to take action,” former Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan told CNN. Ryan said he received an outpouring of support privately after publicly calling on Biden to step aside and endorse Harris. “We also have to be decisive. This fits the stereotype that Democrats are weak. In one fell swoop, you can change so many different narratives.”

The estimates of Harris’s potential running mates are largely speculative and seem aimed at assessing which combination would constitute the strongest duo to defeat Trump and his as-yet-unknown running mate. Yet the drive to solidify a strong case for an ideal Harris ticket has further alienated the Democratic Party from the Biden campaign’s hard-line insistence that he will remain on the ticket — and echoes the efforts of major Democratic donors who are trying to use their money to force Biden to step down.