Biden Hypothetical

[Phoebe]

OK, I have a question for you all. The way the question is set up does not reflect my actual beliefs, but I'm setting it up this way to try to isolate the issue. Let's suppose that you're Joe Biden. Suppose it is a certainty that you will be elected as president, no matter what, and no matter who you select as your vice president, because the Argentinians are going to rig the election. Nobody ever thinks it's going to be the Argentinians, but that's what's going to happen. You also know with certainty that you will step down after one year due to secret health reasons only you know about at this moment, so whoever you pick to be your VP is going to become the president.

You are thinking of picking another white man as your vice president, because you think he would be the best at carrying out the tasks of the presidency, given what you know well from your time as vice president. You also like him better, and that's important when the two of you have to handle some of the most difficult jobs in the world! You are also thinking of picking a woman of color, but you do not truly believe she would be quite as good at carrying out the tasks of the office as the white man. The difference is not enormous and perhaps she would grow into the requirements of the job. But given what you know right now, the white man would do a slightly better job. You don't think you're biased, but you're aware that perhaps your own bias could be affecting your assessment of the VP contenders' relative quality, so you need to keep that in mind too.

You have long wished to see a woman of color occupy the presidency, because remember, you're Joe Biden. You want to be part of establishing this incredible historical first, and you know it might have a lot of other difficult-to-quantify benefits for a very long time to come. For one thing, it will make it more likely that other women and persons of color are elected to office in future. Are these benefits powerful enough to overcome your sense that the white man is better qualified at the present moment to take on the job? How would you sort this out and what factors would help you make a decision?