She pulled off the feat that fueled Barack Obama’s rise: She made folks want to live up to what she personified. She made us all want to do better. In woke, post-Ferguson America, virtually all Democratic politicians are terrified of looking as though they aren’t sympathetic to the radical, sometimes riotous left.

But excusing riots is never a winning political tactic. Mayor Bottoms exuded courage and strength as she said exactly what needed to be said: that rioters make everything worse for black America…

Mayor Bottoms, as mayor of a very large city for the past two years, already has far more leadership experience than Obama did in 2008. Barring some adverse revelation about her, Biden would be wise to choose her as his running mate. So far he’s refrained from coming out strongly against rioting. He should let Bottoms guide his thinking.