Meet the top contenders for Biden’s Vice Presidential pick

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As Joe Biden nears the announcement of his vice presidential choice, the top contenders and their advocates are making final appeals.

The campaign hasn’t finalized a date for naming a running mate, but three people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans said a public announcement likely wouldn’t happen before the week of Aug. 10. That’s one week before Democrats will hold their convention to officially nominate Biden as their presidential nominee.

Biden has pledged to select a woman — just the third woman to be in the No. 2 spot on a major party national ticket — and he’s said several women of color are on his list.

Meet 11 of the women Biden’s team is vetting as his potential VP pick:

The leading contenders include California Sen. Kamala Harris, California Rep. Karen Bass and Obama national security adviser Susan Rice. The deliberations remain fluid, however, and the campaign has reviewed nearly a dozen possible running mates.

“For Joe Biden, this is crunch time. After all the vetting, all the investigations into the prospective nominees, it’s now up to Joe. It’s personal,” said former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who was vetted for vice president in 2008. “It’s now about his gut feeling.”

The selection amounts to the most significant choice Biden has confronted in his nearly five-decade political career. He has pledged to select a woman and is facing calls to choose the first Black woman to compete on a presidential ticket.

Given the historic significance of the moment, some are urging Biden not to let the announcement linger too long.

“My sense is that the VP himself, having been through this process, is aware of and mindful of not letting people hang out there too long,” said Democratic strategist Karen Finney. “There certainly seems to be a bit of a media frenzy, and I think we have to be aware that at a point, it becomes unfair to the candidates being considered.”