Susan Rice Becomes Favorite to Be Biden’s Vice President; Harris Falls to Second

• Former Obama Administration national security advisor Susan Rice is now the odds-on favorite to be selected as Joe Biden’s Vice-Presidential running mate
• Longtime favorite Kamala Harris has dropped to second at odds of +160.
• Is it time to fade the junior Senator from California?

The contest to be Joe Biden’s 2020 running mate now appears to be a two-person race, and there’s a new person out in front.

Susan Rice has overtaken longtime leader Kamala Harris as the favorite to be selected as the Vice-Presidential candidate by presumptive Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden. Rice is listed as the -130 chalk in the latest betting lines.

Harris, the leader in this race for months, faded to the second-favorite at odds of +160.

2020 Democratic Vice-Presidential Odds

Odds taken August 11th.

Across the leading sportsbooks, Biden is the -170 favorite in the 2020 presidential election odds. Americans are slated to go to the polls to elect a President on Nov. 3rd.

Dishing Up Rice

A national security advisor during the Obama administration, Rice, 55, is making a late move in the odds. Leaks are revealing that she may very well be Biden’s choice as VP. A former Obama official told BBC News that Rice would be Biden’s running mate.

Rice would certainly bring plenty of diplomatic and foreign policy expertise were she to be added to the Democratic ticket. During her tenure, she helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Climate Agreement.

MY NEW GUESS FOR BIDEN’S VP: Susan Rice. (I will still be wrong.) (And I still think Keisha Lance Bottoms is a better choice.)

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) August 11, 2020

At 32, she was already working as an assistant secretary of state. Rice also served as US Ambassador to the United Nations. Her presence could help heal the international relations fractured by the administration of current US President Donald Trump.

Critics, though, point out Rice’s connections to Benghazi. That was the assault on the US Embassy in Libya that left four Americans dead. It’s a favorite talking point of conservatives.

With Trump flailing in the polls, why give his side a valuable and familiar asset? It’s a topic that they’ll hammer away at on the election trail.

Harris Isn’t Hopeless

Her odds may be fading but don’t sleep on Harris as a VP contender just yet. With a background in law enforcement, Harris could prove the perfect foil to Trump’s law-and-order campaign rhetoric.

It is going to be her. Isn’t it? #KamalaHarris pic.twitter.com/zXQAQU7mPg

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) August 11, 2020

She was district attorney for San Francisco and Attorney General of California. This was prior to earning election as California’s junior Senator in 2017.

Harris has run and won election campaigns. Rice has never done that. A tough questioner on the Senate floor, Harris is also a powerful presence on the debate stage.

Will Dems Veep This Up?

Democrats are infamous for their uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. A last-second decision to move away from Harris for Rice could prove disastrous. It might be the decision that helps give Trump four more years in the White House.

It could be argued that this will be the most important Vice-Presidential selection in the history of US Presidential elections.

Biden is 77. Voters will want to see a VP candidate capable of stepping into the role as head of the free world. Will there be as much confidence in voting for Biden if he’s standing alongside a running mate who’s never previously run for election?

Rice is the current favorite but Harris remains the wisest choice and the best bet.

Pick: Kamala Harris (+160)