The Heart-Pumping Guide to the Women Who Might Be One Heartbeat From the Presidency Workout

Hi all and welcome to this hot topic Not Boring Workout we’re calling The Heart-Pumping Guide to the Women Who Might Be One Heartbeat Away from Being President Workout.

Why is it a heart-pumping guide? Because today is going to be all about cardio...and Biden’s shortlist of running mates.  So, start by jogging in place.

During this workout, and all of our workouts, you never need to worry about counting reps or keeping time.  Each exercise will be described and then you will simply repeat or hold that exercise until I say stop.  There’s a handy little bell-sound too. 

Ding.

Good. Keep going but let’s add in high-knees. This is kind of like a quick march but with each step you want to raise your knee up and touch it with your opposite elbow. Left knee to right elbow. Right knee to left elbow.  Quick quick quick.

As soon as it became clear that Joe Biden, for reasons I still can’t quite fathom, was going to be the Democrats presidential candidate, it also became clear that he would select a woman to be his VP.

There have only been two previous female candidates for VP which is pretty crazy. The first was Democrat Geraldine Ferarro who ran with Walter Mondale.  They lost in a total landslide to Ronald Regan and George H.W. Bush in 1984. And then there was the pride and joy of Alaska,  Republican Sarah Palin who was John McCain’s unfortunate pick to run with him against Barack Obama and um, oh yeah, Joe Biden.

Ding.

Time for jumping jacks. If I was actually doing this workout with you this would be my favorite part. I love jumping jacks. Makes me feel like a kid. So, jump kids! Jump!

It’s pretty fair to say that neither McCain nor Mondale were likely contenders to begin with but considering how things have been going lately Biden’s chances are looking up. That means there is a real chance that we’ll see our first female VP in 2020. 

And not to be morbid but Biden will be 78 when he takes office and has already hinted that he might be one-n-done meaning his VP will probably be the Democratic presidential candidate in 2024.

When it comes to the current VP options, there have been quite a few names tossed around. And team Biden is keeping its cards close to the chest. That said, we’ve got a pretty good idea of who’s being considered.

Ding.

Heart rate going up? Good. Time for squats. You can do them fast or you can do them slow but you gotta keep doing them until I say stop. If you don’t know how to do them, stand with your feet a bit wider than hip-width apart. Bend your knees like you are going to sit in a chair.  As your thighs get close to 90 degrees, stand back up.  Try to keep your chest up and back straight. Keep going.

At first, it looked like it could be fellow really old person Elizabeth Warren or the younger but kind of uninspiring Amy Klobuchar. But as much of the country continues to protest against rampant systemic racism and demands more diverse representation in both government and corporations there is no question that Biden should and almost definitely will select a woman of color to join him on the campaign trail.

Yeah, I know, polls still have Warren in the mix but I just can’t see it happening. She’ll make an amazing Secretary of State or Treasury and I don’t even think she’d accept the offer in the current climate. 

So, let’s take a closer look at the women most likely to end up a heartbeat away from the oval office.

Ding.

Told ya this was a hard workout.  And now it’s time for Mountain Climbers.  Place your hands flat on the floor, shoulder width apart. Extend your legs fully behind you with only your toes and balls of your feet touching the floor. Your body should be in a straight line, with your weight supported on your hands and toes only. Starting with either leg, flex your knee and hip at the same time to bring your knee up to your chest. Your other leg should remain fully extended. Now reverse the position of your legs, by extending the bent leg back and simultaneously flexing the straight leg until it is in the start position. It’s kind of like running in a pushup position. Go go go!

The current frontrunner is the 55-year-old former candidate and current Senator from California Kamala Harris. 

If we were picking based on parents, Harris would probably win by a mile.  Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was a Tamil Indian breast-cancer scientist who immigrated from India in 1960. Her father, Donald Harris, is a Stanford University Emeritus Professor of Economics, who emigrated from Jamaica in 1961. Pretty sweet genes.

Harris started off as a lawyer and made her way up the ranks of the California District Attorney’s office. In 2004, she was elected District Attorney of San Francisco and then in 2010, Harris won the election as California's Attorney General  where she served until 2016 when she became California's third female U.S. Senator, and the first of either Jamaican or Indian ancestry

Although her own bid for the presidency came to an end during the primaries, she was strong on the debate stage and her experience in the Senate means she’s got a solid perspective on current players and issues on capital hill.

Ding.

Alright, time for a sort of a break. Lie down on your back, keeping your knees bent. Time for heal-touchers.  Fully extend your arms down the side of your body, palms facing in. This is the start position. Exhaling, crunch your torso forward and to the right until you can touch your right heel with your right hand. Hold for a count of one. Return to the starting position smooth motion, inhaling as you do so. Repeat the movement, this time to your left side. Keep going.

Word on the street is that Jill Biden might not be the biggest fan of Kamala Harris and with Joe spending all his time at home Jill is certainly getting her opinions heard. So, next on the likely-list is Val Demings.

While the moniker “Florida Man” inspires ridicule, Demings makes a strong case for why a “Florida Woman” might be the right choice for this crucial moment in our nation’s history.  Born in Jacksonville in 1957 to working class parents, Demings attended segregated schools in 1960’s before obtaining her degree in Criminology from Florida State university in 1979. She returned to Webster University and earned a master’s degree in Public Administration in 1996.

More to the point, Dennings joined the Orlando Police Department in 1983. She started off as a beat cop and eventually became the city’s first black Chief of Police in 2007, serving until 2011. This seems to be both a pro and a con according to the “pundits” - Orlando cops have a pretty terrible record of all the bad things cops do and Demings was in charge for a while. On the other hand, she has a deep understanding of just how broken the system is and might know what it will take to change it.

Demings is currently serving in the US House of Representatives and played a big role in the Trump impeachment hearings, so she knows her way around the swamp.

Ding.

Ok, just because I care so much about you, stay on your backs. Let’s do some hip thrusts. All ya gotta do is keep you legs bent, feet flat on the floor.  Put your hands to your sides and lift your hips up off the ground. Give a little core squeeze at the top and then lower back down. Repeat! Up. Down. Up. Down. Keep going.

Which brings us to Susan Rice, who you might remember from her time in the Obama administration where she served as both the National Security Advisor and Ambassador to the United Nations.

Rice is a DC native, born in 1964 to some seriously smart parents. Mom was an education policy scholar and dad was an economics professor. Clearly not one to rest on her laurels (love that phrase!) Rice was a 3-sport varsity athlete, school president and Valedictorian in high school, got her BA in history from Stanford and then went to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar for her Masters and then Doctorate in Philosophy and International Relations. Damn.

While part of the Obama administration Rice was heavily involved in both the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Climate Accords. She also faced criticism for her role in the Benghazi affair, which could be made into an issue should she be selected.  

There’s no question Rice has the international experience edge but she’s never held public office so her abilities on the campaign trail are an open question.

Ding.

Alright, that’s enough lying around. I really only gave you a break because now you have to do Burpees, which suck. If you’ve done them before, get to it! If not, here’s a breakdown. Start standing. In one smooth motion, squat down and place your hands palms down on the floor in front of your feet. Lean forward, so your weight is on your hands, at the same time jumping or walking your legs out behind you until they are fully extended. Your body should form a straight line with your weight supported on your toes and the balls of your feet and your arms fully extended. (In a push up position). Now do a pushup. Then jump or walk your feet forward to just behind your hands. Use an explosive motion to push through your heels and jump up in the air. Once you land, do it again.

Atlanta is one of the country’s most dynamic cities and their mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, has proven to be a dynamic leader. 

Bottoms was born and raised in Atlanta and is the only mayor in Atlanta's history to have served in all three branches of government, serving as a judge and City Councilmember before being sworn in as Mayor.

An early Biden supporter, Bottoms was already being vetted before gaining national attention for quickly calling for the firing of the officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks. Bottoms has been an outspoken Trump critic, argued against Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s early re-opening of the state in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and has been pushing hard for police reforms in Atlanta.

Probably the biggest knock against her is simply her lack of national political and foreign affairs experience.  Considering Biden’s age this could weigh heavy in the final decision making process.

Ding.

Now, I know you’re feeling pretty winded at this point and we are almost done but we’ve got one more candidate and one more exercise - we’re gonna burn out those arms with arm circles. These kinda creep up on ya. So you’re standing up straight. Put your arms out to your sides in a “T”.  Reach through your fingertips and then start making small circles forward. I’ll let you know when to switch directions.

Our last contender, and I’ve gotta admit she’s become a bit of longshot, is Stacey Abrams. 

Born in Wisconsin, raised in Mississippi and then Georgia, Abrams’ parents are both Methodist ministers.  Abrams is one of several contenders with a law degree, graduating from the Yale Law School in 1999. 

She served in the Georgia General Assembly from 2007 to 2017 and then narrowly lost the Georgia Governor’s race in 2018. 

Ok, switch direction on those arm circles.

Abrams gained a lot of attention when she became the first African-American woman to give the Democrat’s response to Trump’s State of the Union address in 2019.  She’s a powerful speaker who has been fighting hard against voter suppression as the leader of the Fair Fight Action advocacy group.

But while she has made it quite clear she’d love to be the next VP, much like Bottoms, her main obstacle is a lack of major office experience.

Ding.

That’s it! You did it.  No more hard work.  Let’s reward that with a nice stretch.  Reach your arms up high over, reach, and then reach down for your toes. Hold that.  Now back up to the sky. And down to your toes. Do a few more of those nice and slow.

Word on the street is that Biden will announce his VP pick sometime in August, which seems pretty soon but is also a long time away all things considered. It’s also still possible Biden will end up picking a white woman but with so many strong women of color in the mix it would be surprising. And disappointing.

Ding.

So, why don’t you give yourself a nice strong hug. And release.

That’s it. We’re done! 

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