Politico reported Monday that Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) is the likeliest running mate for former Vice President Joe Biden — and chose a curious turn of phrase to report the news.

Politico’s Christopher Cadelago and Natasha Korecki reported (emphasis added):

Kamala Harris was written off as a possible vice presidential pick for Joe Biden last year after a cutting debate performance where she seemed to suggest he was racially insensitive.

Now, Harris is not only in top contention, but Biden aides, surrogates and major donors see her as the best fit at the onset of the process — at least on paper — to join him atop the Democratic ticket.

Biden’s campaign has formally started vetting a group of prospects that includes roughly a dozen women. But in interviews, more than two dozen Democrats, including advisers, allies and donors aligned with Biden, returned to Harris as an early frontrunner. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the favorite among progressives, was also seen as rising above the pack.

The person who is “atop” the ticket is typically the presidential nominee, but Politico frames Harris as if she were almost running with Biden for the same office.

Rumors have swirled that Democrats might try to replace Biden, who will turn 78 before the end of the year.

Whether true or not, unusually intense attention is being paid to Biden’s choice of a running mate.

Business Insider, for example, published an op-ed last month titled: “Joe Biden is not the most important person on the Democrats’ ticket for November.”

In May, when speculation had already begun about Harris as a potential running mate for Biden, she turned the tables, suggesting that Biden would be a good running mate for her.

“Joe Biden would be a great running mate. As vice president, he’s proven that he knows how to do the job,” she said.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, is available for pre-order. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.