Am I The Only One Wanting This ‘VeepStakes’ Stuff OVER Already?

Yes, I’m sick of the amount of news about who will be the running mate for Democratic Nominee Kamala Harris. This whole ‘Who will the current VP pick to be HER VP?’ is taking up too much oxygen.  Time spent on this is time that could be spent going on the offense against Trump and the GOP.  So we wait, and people speculate. Even me although I’ve tried not to do so.  Enough I say.

The only consolation I can take this evening is that it won’t be that much longer, although the next 24-36 hours seem like a freaking eternity! We might, might I must note learn tomorrow who it will be but we might not learn until Tuesday morning sometime. On Tuesday Harris has a big campaign event (in Pennsylvania which is sparking ‘Shaprio has been her choice for a while now’ talk) that will kick off a seven state tour of what will be battleground states. Plus there’s the matter of the deadline of submitting a name before the formal virtual balloting closes – and also submitting the name to the states so ballots can be finalized. However, the fact is that while we THINK we know the three ‘finalists’ we can’t be sure of even that.

This article by Reuters is a good example of where we are, or think we are with the whole process.  It reports she met with her vetting team headed by former AG Eric Holder on Saturday. Detailed presentations were given on the candidates. What the article doesn’t talk about is the unusually short amount of time Holder and his team had to vet the candidates.  With the sea change that’s taken place in recent weeks fear of missing some item from the past of whomever Harris picks is front and center. If J.D. Vance isn’t enough of an example about not digging out every embarrassing detail and weighing whether they have positives that outweigh all that I give you Sarah Palin.

So yes, I understand the instinct to take as long as possible before naming a name. Hell, if I was Harris I’d probably give Holder’s team as much time as I could. Here’s the thing though. She was in the news kicking Trump around like a deflated soccer ball every day. There’s still some of that. But more attention has gone to the “Who will be her VP?’ stuff and like I said, THAT isn’t being on offense. When people think of General George Patton they tend to think of the nickname “Blood and Guts” and assume his troops suffered appalling casualty rates. In truth, the divisions he commanded endured fewer casualties than the norm!  It was due to his standing order to stay on the attack. To NEVER give the enemy a chance to get their footing and regroup.

I’m just a grouchy old guy now who might well not have a clue.  But part of me strongly believes Harris has known for days who she wants.  Had she named that person say on Friday that would have eaten up the weekend news cycles, and part of tomorrow’s. In addition to depriving TRUMP of attention (which would drive him nuts, always a bonus) it would have cleared much of the “Everything you need to know about” stories about the pick. That would have left clean decks (relatively) for the upcoming battleground state tour this coming week. Coverage would have been almost completely focused on THAT, and not cluttered up with stories about Harris running mate.

In the end it comes down to just three things. Someone capable of taking over right away should the worst happen. As in someone who really knew their way around government and who was a quick study for areas where their experience needed shoring up.  Second, someone with the ability to connect with voters on the campaign trail – with the ability to attack if that’s what the candidate wants at times. Ideally they could do so without being ugly about it. Finally, there has to be a rapport and trust between the candidate and their running mate.  That’s it. Sure, it gets more detailed and complicated than that but that’s what things boil down to.

Harris knows, and has for a while everyone who’s been under consideration since before President Biden stepped away from the race. If she’s gotten to know some more than others not a one of them is unknown to her.  All have strengths they can bring to the ticket/campaign yet all have some drawbacks too. There is no “Goldilocks” candidate for Harris any more than any major Party nominee has had one.  I still say she’s had a really good idea for a number of days now who her top choice is. After the briefing from Holder she knew whether that person or any other choice had any “Uh Ohs” in their background.

Let’s get this over with. If she won’t make the announcement tonight then make it in the morning. Give journalists a day for “process” and “what you need to know about Harris pick Schmuckatelli” and move ahead towards getting the focus on the campaign events coming this week.

(FYI, I said I couldn’t resist a little speculating myself. I’d pick Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz because he’d be popular in the midwest, is a down to earth guy with a great personal story (a career as a small town teacher!) and put in over twenty years service in the National Guard. He actually reached the level of Command Sgt. Major but didn’t complete some of the coursework before retiring so he retired at a lower rank. Like Vance he never saw combat but he did deploy overseas and his duties gave him some foreign policy chops. Vance might be a fellow Marine but on this one I’d enjoy watching an Army guy dismantle him when it comes to military credentials!  Clearly he’s great on the campaign trail and on TV. Anyway that’s who I think would be best. And yet I freely admit I might be full of shiite. One more reason to have all this OVER with)