Picking the VP: Inside the 16 days between Harris' launch & her Walz choice

Kamala Harris' whirlwind process to select Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate can be summed up in a word: weird.

With President Joe Biden and Harris, his vice president, seeking a second term together, Democrats weren't supposed to have a veep search at all. But as soon as the 81-year-old president ended his campaign and endorsed Harris, it was go time. And there was no playbook for the newly elevated candidate and a vetting team that in a normal campaign would have months, not days, to make such a critical decision.

What followed was a 16-day blitz on parallel tracks. There was the behind-the-scenes action: Harris' lieutenants furiously researching contenders, the vice president debating options with top aides and confidants, and, finally, a weekend of interviews with finalists.

And there was the public campaign: Contenders found every cable news camera, stumped in battleground states for the prospective boss, tried out attack lines on Republican nominee Donald Trump and h