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The VP Candidate Isn’t Being Vetted. She’s Being Scrutinized.
No woman will ever be seen as good enough, not even for the second-most important job
As Joe Biden inches closer to announcing his running mate, one thing has become clear: Because the presumptive Democratic nominee has committed to having a woman on the ticket, no one he picks will be seen as good enough for the job.
Kamala Harris is too ambitious; Elizabeth Warren is too much of a know-it-all; Stacey Abrams doesn’t have enough experience. This is more than standard vetting — it’s a live demonstration of the impossibly high standard women are held to, even when they’re up for the second-most important job. It’s the latest iteration of the “I’ll vote for a woman, just not that woman” phenomenon, and it shows that despite all the feminist gains made in female representation in D.C., America still has a problem with women in leadership positions.
Only 45% of American men would feel “very comfortable” having a female president; it makes sense that the same would be true for vice president — a role just a breath away from the presidency. That’s a bitter pill for women to swallow. It’s bad enough that there’s another old white man representing Democrats in the presidential election, but now we have to…
