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The hype over whom Kamala, a VP, will pick as her VP, is part of the astroturf effort to generate excitement around her non-candidacy. It really doesn’t matter which of the contenders she ends up picking.
The last vice president to take the White House before Biden was George H.W. Bush. And like Biden he was a one-term president.
The last vice president to exercise any meaningful influence in an administration was Dick Cheney and he was an exception. The average vice president is like the second son of a royal family, largely useless except for ceremonial events. Vice presidents tend to be lightweights (Kamala, Biden), not very bright (Kamala, Biden), and useless for anything that doesn’t involve having their picture taken (Kamala, Biden).
Even when it comes to elections, the idea that the VP brings along his state is debatable. Shapiro is currently a popular governor, but few people in Pennsylvania are so undecided between Trump and Kamala that he’s going to sway them. Having a VP who can talk to white working-class voters, basically the qualifier for Kamala’s aspirants, would be nice, but it doesn’t outweigh a presidential candidate (Kamala, Obama) who’s kryptonite to them.
The Veep search is just more hype for a campaign that has nothing to be hyped about but is trying to manufacture energy any way it can. Whomever Kamala picks won’t define the ticket, she will.
Vice Presidents do matter. For one thing, they can cast the tie-breaking vote if the Senate is evenly divided between the two parties. And that is in fact what happened several times over the past four years .The Vice President “shall act as President” if the President dies in office, as has happened several times in American history, beginning with John Tyler, who assumed the presidency when President William H.Harrison died in office after only one month in 1841. The Vice Preisent also becomes President if the President resigns before the end of his term, as Richard Nixon did in 1974. Under the 25th amendment the vice president, with the consent of the majority of the “heads of the executive departments,” may declare the president to ill to continue performing the duties of his office, and after notifying Congress of the cabinet’s decision, assume the duties of the presidency. Considering Biden’s deplorable health, both mental and physical,, he may well pass away before November, in which case Kamala will be the “incumbent” presidedent. And if Biden’s incapacity becomes undeniable, for example if he falls into a coma, then Kamala may well exercise her powers under the 25th amendment and “act as president.” And of course, whomever she chooses as her vice president will then become next in line for all of these powers.