Joe Biden bides his time with VP announcement

The presumptive Democratic nominee is expected to reveal his running mate just one week before the Democratic national convention is set to take place and officially seal the deal ahead of the election in November.

The 77-year-old Biden will be the oldest person to become President should he beat Trump at the polls and become the nation’s 46th President, but his age and mental health appear to be on the decline, especially with his recent appearances—a far cry from the Biden of the Obama era. Political commentators, myself included, believe that given Biden’s declining capacity to lead, the Vice President could very well end up running the country, should Biden win.

This makes Biden’s VP pick all the more important for the Democrats, more so than any previous election in recent history, as she (and Biden has confirmed it will be a woman) will be expected to run the country eventually, and run for the position again in 2024, should Biden duck out of the Oval Office at any point.

In March, Biden and his team announced that they would be selecting a candidate from their binder full of women as a means to promote gender equity in the White House. Many names have been forwarded for the position, with former Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris ahead of the pack. Others, like Susan Rice and Elizabeth Warren were also forwarded as possible candidates. Recent protests for Black Lives Matter have also thrust several black female leaders into the spotlight, including Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and California Rep. Karen Bass.