What If Biden Declared His Running Mate Would Be A Man? The Downside Of Selecting Based On Sex

Article here. Excerpt:

'But, Joe Biden is the first major party presidential candidate to announce that he is committed to a female running mate, before actually choosing who that running mate will be. In other words, he’s the first to limit the pool of candidates to only women. “And I commit that I’ll pick a woman to be vice-president. There are a number of women who are qualified to be president tomorrow, I would pick a woman to be my vice-president,” Biden declared during the March democratic debate.

Selecting from a female-only pool sends the message that if the decision were sex-blind, he wouldn’t have chosen a woman—that women couldn’t earn this position on their own, without some help. People may also not respect the selection as highly. She’s not necessarily the best pick, but she’s the best of the women. If Biden had chosen the best candidate without regard to gender, it’s still very likely the candidate would have been female. And her appointment would not have been diminished by his narrowing down the field by gender beforehand.'