The “stench of sexism” is sure to follow the selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate.

At least that is the opinion of Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin in a recent column. Writing before Harris’ selection, Rubin argued that the various leading vice-presidential prospects were being evaluated against the sexist norms that have led to 48 consecutive male vice presidents.

According to Rubin, the slow pace of the selection process allowed “airing the same misogynistic platitudes” that have kept women from high office for most of the nation’s history.

In support of her claim she mentioned only that Harris is said to be “too ambitious” and Representative Karen Bass “is recommended because everyone in the party likes her — sending the message that women who are sweet, cheery and non-confrontational will be rewarded.”

Rubin’s failure to provide other examples of “misogynistic platitudes” in reference to other leading candidates does not mean that she is wrong about the different standards against which female and male candidates are assessed.

Harris will almost certainly be criticized as too ambitious by Trump supporters and, of more concern to Democrats, by some on-the-fence voters. Although women have made enormous progress in both public and private life over the last half-century, there is no question that sexist stereotypes persist.

But a reader only of headlines might have thought that Rubin was making a very different point about the vice-presidential search. Almost five months ago on March 15, 2020, presumptive nominee Joe Biden declared that he would “appoint a, pick a woman to be vice president.”

We might quibble with his choice of words — the Democratic Party, not the presidential candidate, selects the vice-presidential candidate. Well, actually, the party will only rubber-stamp Biden’s choice, making his statement practically if not technically accurate.

Allowing the prospective president to single-handedly select the person who, particularly in Biden’s case, could become president is a peculiar practice in a democracy. But that is the way we have come to do it.

To the claim that there was a stench of sexism in the vice-presidential search, Rubin might also have objected that only women, even if limited to the “sweet, cheery and non-confrontational,” will be rewarded.

Biden’s declaration excluded roughly half of the population from the pool of potential vice presidents. Imagine if Biden had declared that he would select a man as his running mate. Is it any less objectionable to state months in advance that the candidate will be a woman?

Of course it is long past time when this nation should have a female vice president. And it is probably a good political calculation to select a woman given President Trump’s reputation for misogynistic behavior and views.

But there could be no clearer case of sexism than declaring in advance that those of only one sex will be considered for the second highest office of our government. With only two exceptions, the inverse has been the implicit understanding that has kept women from being nominated for the vice-presidential office — and from holding many other important jobs since the founding of the nation.

It might be objected that if Biden intended to select a woman, he was right to declare that intention in advance. But there is a difference between selecting a woman for political reasons and stating in advance that men are not eligible.

Having effectively delegated the selection of our vice presidents to the presidential nominees, we should expect the performance of that crucial and quasi-official task to have at least the appearance of conforming to the fundamental, constitutional principles of equal protection and due process.

I suspect that some see no problem with Biden’s excluding half the population from his search — after all, women have been excluded from the job for over two centuries.

But if we really believe that discrimination on the basis of sex is wrong, the way to stop it, as Chief Justice John Roberts said in reference to race discrimination, is to stop discriminating on the basis of sex.

What Biden should have said is that he would select the best person for the job.  Then, when he announced his choice, headlines might have referenced Harris’s qualifications rather than her being the first woman of color ever selected as a vice-presidential nominee.

He could plausibly claim to have selected the best person, not just the best woman (or the best woman of color), to serve as vice president.