Dem Veepstakes: Land of Exciting Whites

So many bros, so little time

Hello there, Kudzuligans! (Still workingshopping that…) It’s the last day of July, which means the Democratic National Convention is only a few weeks away. Brand-new presumptive presidential nominee Kamala Harris has signaled that an announcement about her vice presidential pick could come any day now.

Conventional wisdom suggests she’ll pick a white dude so as not to overload Middle America’s imagination with too much diversity on one ticket. The top contenders seem to be Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, both of whom hail from swing states and could help with electoral math. Biden’s Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttegieg, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear are also mentioned as possibilities and have been all over the airwaves since Democrats coalesced around Harris. ICYMI, Buttegieg’s interview with Jon Stewart earlier this week is worth your time.

Buttegieg is the best communicator in the Democratic Party and would be my top pick by a mile, but he’s gay and blah-blah-blah diversity overload or whatever. With polls still showing the race as a tossup, Shapiro and Kelly probably make the most sense. Harris has excited the Democratic base and might put more states in play, including Kelly’s Arizona, but Pennsylvania with its 19 electoral votes is pretty much do-or-die for Democrats, and Shapiro has a 60% job approval rating in this closely divided state. His potential liabilities? He’s Jewish and has been loudly critical of pro-Palestianian activists, which might alienate some progressives. And when he’s speechifying, he sounds like he’s practiced his Barack Obama impersonation in front of the mirror a little too much. (A smarty pants on X dubbed him “Baruch Obama.”)

People vote for the person on the top of the ticket, and, contrary to popular belief, the veep pick probably doesn’t impact electoral votes much. Harris’s choice may have a greater impact than runningmate selection usually does, though, because Harris isn’t well-known, and this decision is seen as a way to gauge her mettle as an executive.

I like the idea of Kelly on the ticket. He’s a mild-mannered moderate who has been critical of the Biden Administration’s handling of the southern border and could help with that issue, which is considered to be one of Harris’s biggest weaknesses. Kelly is a former astronaut and Navy fighter pilot, offering national security and defense expertise. And he’s an outspoken advocate for reforming gun laws, as he’s married to former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head more than a decade ago and nearly died.

Kelly is no great orator, but he’s smart, he’s won two competitive statewide elections in the last four years, and he brings a lot to the actual job of governing.

So, we’ll see. The Harris campaign says they intend to announce the vice presidential pick before next Tuesday, when the ticket will hit the road, holding rallies in several major cities leading up to the convention later this month.

In other news…

• You should listen to this crazy podcast episode about the people behind scam texts (via WSJ’s The Journal).

• Former President Donald Trump participated in a Q&A today with the National Association of Black Journalists, and it sounds like it was a pretty awkward affair.

• GOP Veep Nominee JD Vance was served up at least two opportunities to walk back his “childless cat ladies” comment and declined to do so (with friendly interviewers, no less) here and here. Vance also clarified that he has “nothing against cats.” 😑

• Harris is moving up in the polls! Polls are a lagging indicator, so she’s probably in better shape than the numbers appear at the moment. Plus, her team is just getting started with big media buys, which will have an impact. And she’ll likely get a “bounce” from both the VP pick and from the convention. 📈

Until next time!

Laurin

PS – If there’s anything in particular that you’d like me to write about, let me know. Thanks for reading! ❤️