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Are you tired of reading about COVID-19 and its ever-expanding list of casualties? Every time I see something that hasn’t changed, and I’m quietly grateful. Apple trees are blooming. Birds bring their springtime song. Joe Biden needs a running mate.

I have a new candidate for Biden to consider. I’ll tell you who she is, but you have to make an agreement with me first. Promise you’ll read entire next paragraph before spit-taking your coffee and calling me crazy. Do we have a deal? OK, read on.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should be Biden’s Vice President. I know, I know. (Remember your promise.) AOC is not old enough to be president. She’ll turn 35 on October 13, 2024 — three weeks before the 2024 presidential election. Presidents must be at least 35 years old, according to our Constitution, but there is no age requirement for vice president. (I checked.) If a Biden presidency ended early, AOC would be passed over and the Speaker of the House would assume the presidency. Who’s more qualified than Nancy Pelosi?

Without that “heartbeat away from the presidency” burden, AOC would be free to electrify young people and troll the president on Twitter. She would match Trump’s showmanship — something  Democrats perennially lack.

“Dilbert” creator Scott Adams predicted Trump’s electoral success in 2016, saying he was bringing a flame-thrower to a knife fight. It rarely happens, but the Democrats could use AOC to fight fire with fire. She knows how to use social media to rile people up. Can you name a single other Democratic woman with that ability?

Think of all the boxes her candidacy would check. She’s a woman, which Biden has made a prerequisite. She’s Latina. She draws huge crowds. She would represent so much more than an olive branch to the Bernie Bros. She might even succeed where Sanders failed. She might get young people to actually vote.

Young people don’t vote when there’s nobody on the ticket that looks like them, or speaks to them. AOC would meet these potential voters where they are — on Twitter, Instagram, and Tik-Tok. She speaks for the future because she’s not from the past.

AOC as VP would make down-ballot candidates more important than ever. Since she would be passed over in the U.S. Constitution’s presidential succession plan, Democrats would be powerfully motivated to keep their majority in the House and regain the majority in the Senate. Those majorities would determine who’s next in line for the presidency.

AOC would motivate young people in a way we haven’t seen since JFK. But her youth and inexperience wouldn’t frighten older voters because she wouldn’t accidentally become president during a tragedy. If she grows into the position under Biden’s tutelage, Democrats could be set up for a bright future. But that’s not essential right away.

What matters immediately is not governance. It’s winning the election — barnstorming a nation that has suddenly gone digital. Trump knows how to do that better than any Democrat in Washington, except one. AOC’s disqualifying youth is a feature, not a bug.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

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