副大統領候補はハリス氏？　バイデン氏、メモ帳に名前ちらり

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】11月の米大統領選挙で民主党候補指名を確実にしているジョー・バイデン氏が副大統領候補として誰を選ぶのかは、米政界のトップシークレットとなってきた。だが、その人物がカマラ・ハリス上院議員である可能性が、米政治メディアによる記事の誤配信や、バイデン氏自身が思わせぶりにちらつかせたメモ帳から浮上した。（写真は米デラウェア州ウィルミントンで開いた選挙集会で、カマラ・ハリス氏の名前が書かれたメモ帳を持つジョー・バイデン氏）
　副大統領候補の人選をめぐっては４年ごとに推理合戦を繰り広げるのが恒例となっているが、今回の選挙では特に注目が高まっている。
　バイデン氏は、世論調査の支持率で共和党のドナルド・トランプ大統領を大きく引き離している。当選すれば歴代大統領で最高齢の７８歳で就任することになるが、本人は１期のみでの退任を示唆しており、そうなれば副大統領が次の大統領選で民主党候補の指名を獲得する可能性が高い。バイデン氏はまた、早期から副大統領には女性を選ぶと明言し、注目を集めた。
　ハリス氏は上院での実績を含め輝かしい経歴を持っており、今回の大統領選では民主党候補者指名争いに立候補したが撤退し、バイデン氏支持を表明していた。また、「黒人の命は大切」運動が盛り上がりを見せる今、黒人であることも強みとなる。
　バイデン氏は２８日、記者団を前に、副大統領候補の人選は「８月第１週」に明らかにすると述べた。だがその際、手にしていたメモ帳には「カマラ・ハリス」の名前が書かれており、その下には「根に持たない」「選挙運動の大きな助力に」「大きな尊敬を集めている」といった長所が列挙されていた。他の副大統領候補についてのメモも持っていた可能性はあるが、そうだとしてもＡＦＰなどのカメラマンが撮影できる場所に取り出されることはなかった。
　さらに、評価の高い米政治ニュースサイト「ポリティコ」では、ハリス氏が副大統領候補に選ばれたと伝える記事が“誤配信”され、一部の米政界関係者を驚かせた。同サイトは直ちに該当部分を削除。ブラッド・デイスプリング副社長（マーケティング・コミュニケーション担当）は、予定稿を誤って掲載してしまったと説明した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/07/30-12:38）

Joe Biden's vice presidential pick has been one of Washington?s best kept secrets but a supposedly accidental news publication by Politico and Biden?s own teasingly displayed notes are raising expectations that the winner is Kamala Harris.
Speculation over the choice of VP is a parlor game played every four years in Washington, but this time the stakes are unusually high.
Biden would be 78 on taking office -- the oldest president ever -- and he has hinted that he might not seek a second term, making his deputy the prime candidate to take on the party's nomination.
Biden, who is leading strongly in the polls against Republican President Donald Trump, has also upped the interest factor by declaring well in advance that he would only choose a woman. This will be just the third time in US history that a woman is chosen, even if both previous cases -- Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Sarah Palin in 2008 -- turned out to be on losing tickets.
In line with his ultra low-key campaign, Biden has kept a lid on leaks about his intentions.
Media speculation has ebbed and flowed from heavy hitters like Senator Elizabeth Warren and Barack Obama's former UN ambassador Susan Rice, to strong late entries like Florida congresswoman Val Demings and war-wounded Senator Tammy Duckworth.
Harris has always been in the mix with an impressive CV that includes her own performances in the Senate, her bid for the Democratic nomination before ceding to Biden, and, in the era of Black Lives Matter, the fact that she is black.
On Tuesday, Biden said he would reveal his decision in the first week in August.
I'll let you know when I do, he told journalists.
But what if he already has?
In his hand Tuesday was a piece of notepaper bearing the words Kamala Harris.
Underneath, were a series of positive points:
Do not hold grudges and great help to campaign and great respect for her.
If Biden was also carrying around notes on his other potential VPs, he wasn't holding them in a way that allowed -- accidentially or not -- an AFP photographer and others to get a shot.
- Premature publication -
Adding to the mini-drama, the respected news site Politico ran -- accidentally, it said -- a story declaring Harris the winner. This was a placeholder text... mistakenly published to the site, Brad Dayspring, Politico's vice president of marketing and communication, said.
The text was quickly taken down but not before leaving a few Washington insiders wide-eyed.
Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris to become his running mate for the 2020 election on Aug. 1, two weeks before the Democratic National Convention, after keeping his choice close to the chest for months, Politico wrote in the premature news item.
It said that Biden saw Harris as a worthy opponent during their primary clashes and that she would bring name recognition, her years as a California prosecutor and skill as a debater to the ticket.
- Game still on? -
Of course it's possible that Politico really did mistakingly run a text that had been prepared just in case of Harris winning -- a common practice in news organizations.
And it's possible that Biden's notes meant nothing other than that he admires Harris. The same points in the notes could, in theory, be used to praise her during a speech to announce he'd chosen somebody else.
Other candidates, particularly Rice, have been talked up in the final stretch. Warren, as a huge figure on the left of the Democratic party, has also remained in the mix.
Harris brings the baggage of anyone who has done as much in public life, particularly as attorney general in California, where her role as crime fighter raises hackles among some on the Democratic left.
Still, with her mixed Jamaican and Indian heritage, her proven toughness on the job, and the fact that she is only 55, Harris ticks a lot of Biden's boxes.
Her former spokesman, Ian Sams, said Harris scares Trump.
He's flummoxed by strong women, Sams claimed on Twitter.
But on Tuesday, Harris was applauded by none other than Trump himself.
I think she'd be a fine choice, Kamala Harris. She'd be a fine choice, he told reporters.