Vice President Kamala Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris has a little over a week to pick a running mate to join her on the presidential ticket.

The list of possibilities is long, but many have a couple of things in common — the represent swing states and are white, straight men — qualities that might help make a winning ticket.

Who should the current Vice President pick to be her running mate, and what will make that a winning choice?

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In her remarks, which came after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Harris also said she held an “unwavering commitment to Israel."

Last weekend we were all thrown for a loop when President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Kamala Harris for the nomination. Just like everyone else, we are trying to quickly wrap our heads around what it means now that Harris is almost certainly going to be the Democratic nominee for president.

We expect to see the Harris campaign come out with some official policy proposals in the coming weeks and months. But for now, all we've got are clues, little breadcrumbs that she has dropped throughout her career that might lead us to a rough idea of what economic policies she might support.

Today on the show, we're going to visit three key moments from Harris' political career that might give us an idea of how her economic agenda might look. First, the 2019 presidential primary debates, where she laid out her own economic policies. Next, a vote in her Senate years that shows where she might fall on future trade agreements. And finally, a fight with some of the country's biggest banks from her very first year as Attorney General of California.

This episode was hosted by Keith Romer and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Emma Peaslee, edited by Jess Jiang with help from Meg Cramer, and fact checked by Sierra Juarez and Sofia Shchukina. Engineering by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

The Israeli leader spoke Wednesday to a joint meeting of Congress amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Republicans are strongly supportive of Israel, while Democrats are increasingly critical.

If Kamala Harris officially becomes the Democratic presidential nominee next month, she'll be the first woman of color to lead a major party's ticket.

Of course, that would not be her first, first.

Harris's entire career is a list of jobs that nobody who looks quite like her had held before, including California's attorney general, Senator, and Vice President of the United States.

Harris often stresses that while she may be a first, others paved the way.

Kamala Harris has had a career full of firsts – could she also be the first woman to become President of the United States?