‘Binders full of women' anyone? Biden blasted for 'calendar model' VP search

Joe Biden is getting put through the ringer on social media for his latest reported blunder, comparing vice presidential picks to calendar models, which looks especially bad considering he wants a female running mate.

The tidbit that set social media ablaze was buried in a friendly New York Times piece about Biden picking a vice presidential nominee for November. 

“Mr. Biden has likened running-mate evaluation to deciding among calendar models,” The Times wrote, going on to describe a three category process that includes “‘Mr. August’ (a shot of momentum in the summer), a ‘Mr. October’ (a reliable and effective campaigner for the fall) or a ‘Mr. January’ (a governing partner, politics notwithstanding).”

The “Mr.” part isn’t really relevant to the presumptive Democrat Party’s presidential nominee since Biden has vowed on multiple occasions to pick a female running mate, with names like Senators Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren rumored as the top choices. 

The "calendar model" phrasing has given Biden's critics a field day, however, given his penchant for blunders and controversy stemming from accusations of unwanted touching to actual sexual assault. Some have even compared the strategy to the “binders full of women” comment that got 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in hot water with the mainstream media.

“Seriously Joe Biden? You view your vice presidential pick as a ‘calendar model?’” Republican strategist Steve Guest tweeted. 

“Binders full of women, anyone?” another user added.

“Imagine a world where Mitt Romney said ‘I'm going through calendar models to pick my vice president,’” tweeted another.

It was Biden who specifically went after Romney in 2012, as the incumbent vice president, calling the "binders" comment sexist and a relic of the past.

“What I can't understand is how he has gotten in this sort of 1950s time warp in terms of women,” Biden said at the time.

Barack Obama's vice president may have bigger issues when it comes to both women and his presidential campaign, though. Former staffer Tara Reade, who accused Biden of assaulting her in the ‘90s, is seeking to authorize a search of Biden’s Senate papers, insisting a complaint she filed against him may be in there. 

Reade claims she filed a complaint over workplace harassment and discrimination against the then-senator — she was working as a staff assistant — and she believes her complaint is in Biden’s archives, which are held at the University of Delaware.

Reade’s attorney has requested Biden “immediately open up” the records. Biden has denied all allegations and refuses to grant access to the archive.

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