Bernie Sanders revealed everything when he refused to commit to a woman VP at the debate last night

The season can now end

Viewers could take many things away from last night’s Democratic primary debate between former vice president Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. The two discussed the brass tacks of combating the coronavirus pandemic. They discussed congressional records, Biden’s time as vice president, and proposed presidential policies. But the most important moment of the Democratic primary debate, for me, came down to the question of running mate.

When asked by CNN moderator Dana Bash about whether or not he would choose a woman as his vice president, Joe Biden was unequivocal. “I commit that I will, in fact, appoint a woman to be vice president,” he said. “There are a number of women qualified to be president tomorrow.”

Senator Sanders, on the other hand, was not as clear. “In all likelihood I will,” he said. “For me, it’s not just [about] nominating a woman,” he then added. In a field that has been whittled down from six female candidates to zero, this distinction speaks volumes.

Senator Sanders has been accused of turning a blind eye to sexism within his campaign. In January 2019, The New York Times published an article alleging that the 2016 Sanders campaign had failed to take action on numerous claims of sexual harassment that had been brought to campaign supervisors, and that female staffers were paid roughly 50 per cent of what male staffers were paid. Sanders denied the allegations. In January of this year, Senator Elizabeth Warren disclosed that Sanders told her, in private, that he did not believe that a woman could be president of the United States.

Senator Sanders has been criticised, too, for his failure to rein in the behaviour exhibited by the so-called Bernie Bros, the supporters of his who often target women on the internet – most recently, the Warren supporters who refused to convert their support to Sanders. Warren herself has referred to the trolling as “organised nastiness,” and her absent endorsement – despite aligned interests and values between them – speaks to how she feels about Sanders’ apparent attitude towards women in the political field.

Sanders had an opportunity last night, really, to reach out to women and say: I am your ally. Instead, he made femaleness a purity test. He would consider a woman, he said, but only if he could find one progressive enough. The subtext, of course, was that his vice president need not be a woman; his vice president need only be a person that Bernie Sanders deems perfect.

But there is no perfect woman. Any woman can tell you that. We’re either too loud or too quiet, too progressive or too moderate, too maternal or too work-oriented, too fierce or too timid. No woman has been president or vice president of the United States, and it is not because we are incapable; it is because men think we are incapable. Men are in power, and so men are the only ones with the power to give us that power. If we cannot win the presidency – and, this year, we cannot – then it is our turn for the vice presidency. If Sanders cannot see that women everywhere feel that it is time for a woman next to a man in the Oval Office, then he has sorely misjudged the electorate.

Joe Biden is far from the perfect Democratic candidate. Like Sanders, he is too old and too white. Unlike Sanders, he is, in many ways, too moderate. Some parts of his track record are troubling. Also unlike Sanders, he is experienced in ways that do actually matter. For most of us, he is neither a first, second, nor third choice. But the fact that he has committed to putting a woman next to him is a non-negotiable and necessary part of his presidency. The idea that he wouldn’t is ridiculous. The idea that Sanders wouldn’t hadn’t even crossed my mind.

Sanders’ wishy-washy answer pursuant to appointing a woman to the position of the vice presidency said everything it needed to, and, in a way, it’s a coda to the primary. The season can now end. Sanders doesn’t feel like he owes women anything. He doesn’t think that 2020 should be a momentous year for women. But with two septuagenarian white guys running for the Democratic ticket, a failure to commit to a female vice president should be, at this point, disqualifying. And it most likely will be.