Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said she’d welcome an offer from presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to run for vice president.
“Yes. I would be honored. I would be an excellent running mate. I have the capacity to attract voters by motivating typically ignored communities,” Abrams, 46, told Elle magazine.
“I have a strong history of executive and management experience in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. I’ve spent 25 years in independent study of foreign policy. I am ready to help advance an agenda of restoring America’s place in the world. If I am selected, I am prepared and excited to serve.”
Biden said during a debate in March he would choose a woman for his running mate, and Abrams’ name has often been mentioned along with those of Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Kamala Harris of California and even Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Abrams, who graduated from Spelman College and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin before earning a law degree from Yale, would have been the first African American woman elected governor in US history.
But she lost a close race to Republican Brian Kemp, and told Elle the loss was a learning experience.
“I’ve learned that failure is not permanent. My responsibility is to not let failure dissuade me from my core obligations. Sometimes we pursue a challenge thinking it is about our victory, but we don’t know the true purpose until later. Not becoming governor of one state gave me the opportunity to launch a national network in 20 states,” she said, referring to an effort to guarantee fair elections.
“I may not have won the office, but what I was able to learn for the causes I serve has been extraordinary, and beyond anything I could have imagined. Apparently, I’m a really good loser.”
She also had praise for the former veep, saying he has a “truly sincere sense of humor” and loves interacting with everyday Americans.
“When you’re in politics, you learn the difference between those who simply tolerate others and those who genuinely love people,” she said. “As an introvert, I find it fascinating. His charming gregariousness isn’t just an affect.”
And she described her view of the role a vice president plays in an administration.
“The VP’s job is to be chief lieutenant and partner by taking on the roles and responsibilities assigned to you by the president,” she said.
“I am very self-aware, and I know that my résumé … is usually reduced to ‘She didn’t become the governor of Georgia.’ But it is important to understand all the things I did to prepare for that contest. That campaign was not a whim,” she said.
“It was the outcome of decades of deliberate work building my capacity to serve as many people as I could, in the most effective way possible. My responsibility is to be ready to do the job — to have the core capacities that are embedded in the role. I am able to stand effectively as a partner, to execute a vision, and to serve the vision of the president.”