Picking a running mate: Inside the 16 days between Kamala Harris' launch and her choice of Tim Walz

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 his understudy, Ohio Sen. JD Vance — all while rival factions made their pitches and wielded their knives.

The whole thing was made more intense and conspicuous given the time constraints, highlighting the breadth of Democrats’ bench and, at the same time, the fragility of the party unity that defined Harris’ nascent White House bid. By the end, the process offered a preview of how Harris might fare under the pressures of the Oval Office, quickly working through options, with minimal leaks from her team and a result that, at least initially, has drawn plaudits from a party that seems intent on one undisputed goal: defeating Trump and Vance in November.