To be fair, there was a fair bit of strategic consolidation happening which makes it hard to work through “what ifs”. Bernie and Biden would never have considered settling for a VP slot. But Booker, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Castro and Harris were young enough and in need of national exposure enough that they would have been betting on the place rather than win only. And some of the others may be rewarded by cabinet positions.
That’s the weird thing about the US system. The minimum age for President is 35, while the minimum age for the Senate and the House are 30 and 25 respectively. It’s hard to earn your stripes as you can do in the party system in Oz. Being in the Senate isn’t a quick launching pad for a presidential run as the plum roles in Senate committees are awarded on seniority. A senator also doesn’t want to put in too many years in the Senate as the public tends to think they’re lazy and part of the gridlock in Congress (and their voting history can come back to haunt them).
Few Senators have won the presidency without having some other claim to fame. JFK was a war hero & studmuffin and Obama made a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention which catapulted him into the spotlight. Nixon was gifted a VP spot halfway through his 1st term as a Senator. And Biden relies more upon his VP status than he does his long service in the Senate.
Reagan, Clinton & George W. made their names as State Governors while George H.W. Bush made his name as a UN Ambassador & CIA Director and then VP. None of them bothered to run for Congress.
So running as a candidate for your party’s nomination is usually a way to introduce yourself to the nationwide public rather than winning in your first go. Not only did Harris generate name recognition during the primaries, if she becomes VP she will be in the box seat.
That’s the weird thing about the US system. The minimum age for President is 35, while the minimum age for the Senate and the House are 30 and 25 respectively. It’s hard to earn your stripes as you can do in the party system in Oz. Being in the Senate isn’t a quick launching pad for a presidential run as the plum roles in Senate committees are awarded on seniority. A senator also doesn’t want to put in too many years in the Senate as the public tends to think they’re lazy and part of the gridlock in Congress (and their voting history can come back to haunt them).
Few Senators have won the presidency without having some other claim to fame. JFK was a war hero & studmuffin and Obama made a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention which catapulted him into the spotlight. Nixon was gifted a VP spot halfway through his 1st term as a Senator. And Biden relies more upon his VP status than he does his long service in the Senate.
Reagan, Clinton & George W. made their names as State Governors while George H.W. Bush made his name as a UN Ambassador & CIA Director and then VP. None of them bothered to run for Congress.
So running as a candidate for your party’s nomination is usually a way to introduce yourself to the nationwide public rather than winning in your first go. Not only did Harris generate name recognition during the primaries, if she becomes VP she will be in the box seat.