Strap in my friends, this is going to be a roller coaster on steroids pretty much without brakes. Due to the late departure of President Biden from the 2024 race, and the sudden investiture of Kamala Harris as his heir apparent, the Democrats are plowing uncharted territory here. Let me explain.
In a normal presidential political cycle, long before they actually secure the last delegate they need to grab the nomination, more like when their lead makes it a certainty that they’ll secure the nomination, the Veepstakes quietly begins.
And it is a lot more complicated than you might think. First the candidate and his or her closest advisors put together a list of potential nominees, people the candidate can work well with, and add something to the electoral ticket.
And that’s the simple part. Then the list of names is turned over to a high powered law firm for a thorough vetting process. And when I say thorough, I mean thorough. The optimum goal being to have vetted the candidate so thoroughly that passing an FBI background check for a security clearance will be a no brainer. Then the candidate does a series of interviews with the potential nominees for compatibility.
That’s the normal process. But this time is different. The DNC has promised to have a presidential nominee confirmed by August 2md. That means that Harris will have to have chosen a running mate by that time. Harris has already announced that the campaign has hired the law firm partnered by former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder. But they’re going to have to work overtime on the vetting process to give Harris time for interviews.
The two most important events in the presidential process are the naming of a running mate, and the national convention. And the same adage applies to both decisions. Hold the convention and pick a running mate that can help the ticket in November. The object in both cases being to generate grassroots enthusiasm in voters in critical swing states.
In my view the DNC literally wasted their convention pick by holding the damn thing in Chicago. Chicago is in the blue stronghold of Illinois, and the Democrats gain nothing with increased voter enthusiasm, the state is already in the electoral bag. Better to hold it in Detroit, Atlanta, Las Vegas, or Phoenix to increase voter turnout in critical swing states.
Now Harris will have a second chance to make up that lost ground. The object is to pick a running mate from a critical swing state in order to haul in enough voters to tip the swing state in your column. There are already a couple of front line contenders for that spot based on their locale;
- Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. At first glance Kelly is a natural. He’s in Arizona, a still purple state, and not up for reelection this year. He has a stellar pedigree. A combat decorated fighter pilot, career astronaut with multiple tours commanding shuttle flights in space, and a wife who is a former congresswoman who survived an assassination attempt herself. My only issue with that choice is that Democratic House representative Ruben Gallego is running for Kyrsten Sinema’s seat, and polling shows him up 6-8 points over wingnut Kari Lake. A popular Kamala Harris who puts time into Arizona should be able to bring the state home herself
- Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Shapiro is a natural. A popular first term Democratic Governor who stomped his MAGA opponent in the last election, who has an acronym on his office wall, GTS, Get Sh*t Done. Shapiro is a state hero for miraculously managing to repoen a collapsed interstate highway bridge in just 24 days. Trump reportedly thinks/thought that PA was up for grabs, and Shapiro could help to cement PA in the Democratic side of the till
Both of those are logical choices that could help the Democrats to potentially assure that those critical states stay blue. But there are still other candidates out there that, while they may not help to flip individual critical states, can help to inflame and energize certain core base Democratic constituencies that could make a critical difference on the electoral map. Just a couple of my personal favorites;
- Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. A former Democratic mayor of South Bend, Indiana, despite being openly gay in a staunchly Evangelical state, Buttigieg has the nuts and bolts experience in running a city government. And as Transportation Secretary, he now has extensive experience on the inner workings of a major governmental bureaucracy. And what could be more foreward looking and progressive than a black Asian woman and an openly gay man topping a ticket? My only worry with Buttigieg on the ticket would be an increased anti black, anti gay backlash among Trump voters, bringing out depressed voters that might be considering skipping the election
- NJ senator Cory Booker. Booker is a popular, true blue Democrat with plenty of Senate experience, along with being a former mayor of Newark, New Jersey. His friendship with Kamala Harris goes all the way back to their Senate days. Also, Booker isn’t up for reelection this cycle, so if he got elected, Democratic Governor would appoint a Democratic caretaker until the next election cycle. My only worry about a Harris-Booker ticket is the ever toxic white backlash in the GOP that could motivate depressed GOP voters
As you can see, unlike the GOP, the Democrats suffer from an embarrassment of riches when it comes to picking a running mate. Throw in progressive Governor Jay Inslee from Washington state, Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper, and Georgia Senator Rafael warnock. My only worry with Warnock, who isn’t up for reelection this cycle is that, if he were elected, GOP Governor Brian Kemp would choose a GOP caretaker for his seat until the next election in 2026.
There ya go, gang! Maybe we can make a new drinking game out of it. As long as we’re on this roller coaster ride, we may as well have some fun with it. Please feel free to join in in the comments, with your preffered pick, and your reasons why they would add to the Democratic ticket. I look forward to reading them.
I thank you for the privilege of your time.
no senators, so no to Kelly or Booker hickenlooper or Warnock. maybe beshear from Kentucky. won in a Red State or Cooper from North Carolina. swing state. also brings east coast to Harris West Coast. let’s face it Harris is a not white woman. she has an uphill battle already. so tbh no to Shapiro and buttigieg. my dos centavos
A governor in a red state is not going to bring that state over to the dem column. KY is a red state, maybe not blood red but not even close to purple, and there is no way they will vote for a woman and especially not a woman of color. The point of choosing a v.p. is to choose one that will bring a slate of voters, some states, etc. over to your side. Beshear isn’t going to do that. It’d be different if KY was edging toward at least lavender but it isn’t. Pence brought over con xtians for von shitzinpants and firmly hammered them in as magats-but let’s face it, they really, really like racist, misogynist, bigots so the hammering was only a light tapping. President Biden chose V.P. Harris as a call out to different constituencies-women, people of color, younger voters. One can argue a Beshear V.P. could bring over the magats who no longer are but that is a pretty small crowd. The “Never Trumpers” are either going to stay home or they are voting dem regardless but they were never an issue nor a particularly large voter constituency.
IF the party of f*ck-wads want to continue on their course of saying the elderly aren’t worth a pot of piss, which is what they did going after President Biden, they had better choose some snot-nosed piece of sh*t pol no older than maybe 50.
I for one am done with the f*ck-wad party of f*ck-wits. This might be the very first election I have ever not cast a ballot-I’ll see if there are any initiatives, etc. on the Nov. ballot. It’s a damned shame the New Alliance Party is no more–I would at least have a P/VP ticket to vote for. As thing stand now–f*ck ’em, hard, with a long pole, sideways.
“I for one am done . . . .” and yet you continue to blather on here, expressing your entirely UNWANTED and UNWARRANTED opinions.
If you live in a blood-red state whose electors would NEVER be going for the Democrats, then fine: Don’t vote. Sit on your fat ass and continue to whine away and stew and fret about how “unfair” life is. BUT, if you live in any other state, and you don’t vote, then you’re basically voting FOR the mango menace, Donald Trump. Don’t tell us your “no voting” stance is anything but that.
I live in Alabama which gave its electoral votes to the Democratic ticket back in 1976 (and, before that, it was 1956; the 60s elections were nightmares with the Democratic electors being split in 1960 between JFK and Harry Byrd and the state’s electoral vote going to Barry Goldwater in 1964 and, of course, Wallace got the state’s votes in 1968). But the state has been solid red in Presidential terms since 1980 (Trump even got a larger percentage of the popular vote both times than Reagan did in either of his elections and only Dubya got a larger share of the popular vote in 2004 than Trump did in 2016 or 2020).
Everyone I have spoken to is on the Mark Kelly bandwagon…..sitting and productive US Senator, decorated combat veteran, Space Shuttle pilot and commander, proven leader, name recognition, vetted through a long resume in the military as well as locally, AND he will put Arizona in the Dem column.
…..and everyone agreed, he checks all of the boxes.
Beto O’Rourke of deep-red Texas would be a great choice if he hadn’t lost to two of the most pathetic politicians in history, Ted Cruz in the 2018 Senate race, and Greg Abbott in 2022 (governor). In the former race, Beto actually campaigned in all 254 counties of the state. Maybe he can get appointed to a cabinet position in a Harris administration, if he still has hopes for a career in politics.
Sen. Mark Kelly seems like a natural fit for the VP spot. His pre-politics resume is a hell of a lot more impressive than those of Trump and Vance.
every one in Texas has Beto fatigue. he made a good run at Cruz, but never won even statewide.
While I love the thought of Kelly what concerns me is there’s still lots of batshit insanity in AZ and who the hell knows what would happen with a special election to fill out the remainder of his term? (Someone from AZ should walk us all through that state’s process)
Also, you left off a name that I think is on the list of possibles. NC has been close the past three cycles. It’s evenly split between Democrats, Republicans and Independents. It’s been one of if not THE most vicioiusly gerrymandered states in the country and the GOP has supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature. They’ve used this to great advantage when it comes to voting/elections. However, hard as they tried and even though Trump carried the state in 2016 and 2020 Democrat Roy Cooper won the Governor’s Mansion. He’s popular and many Independents saw right through what the GOP did to take away or limit Governor’s powers. That’s part of why he got a second term.
However, he’s term limited. His AG Josh Stein is running against that crazy-ass GOP Lt. Gov. and between him being black and batshit insane the racism that will come out in the GOP over Harris will drive Independents to the polls to vote Democratic more than they might have. Gov. Cooper is liked and respected as I said and if there’s scandal somewhere or skeletons in his closest I’m pretty sure the GOP would have uncovered and used it against him in 2020.
He’s an affable white guy, I guess in his early sixties. He knows policy cold, was all in for Biden and making progress on Biden’s behalf here in NC. When he was saying even in recent weeks President Biden had a shot here I don’t think he was blowing smoke. That’s just not his style. He comes across as genuine because I’m pretty sure he is. Also, type military bases into your search engine. We’ve got a Marine Division at Camp LeJeune and an Air Wing at Cherry point. We’ve got Ft. Liberty, once known as Bragg which is HUGE. We’ve got a port that accomodates Naval ships as well as civilian cargo. So yes, when it comes to the military and national security he’s got chops.
He’s not dynamic, but as I said affable on the trail and in front of crowds giving speeches. He could deliver NC to Democrats and also help carry other statewide offices and if not turn over legislative control then bust the supermajorities. Which would lead to the fairer House maps we had for a short while. I see a lot of upside with him and at this point little downside.
my daughter is a low level burrocrat in North Carolina. she met Cooper at a conference. seems like a good guy. won in a swing state. another name to throw out there is bel Edwards from Louisiana. he won two terms there. expanded Medicare . won in a deep red state.
bel edwards also had no problem with tightening abortion restrictions.
“As you can see, unlike the GOP, the Democrats suffer from an embarrassment of riches when it comes to picking a running mate. Throw in progressive Governor Jay Inslee from Washington state, Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper, and Georgia Senator Rafael warnock.”
The only real problem I see with those names is that, with Warnock, you have the same problem with Cory Booker (“My only worry about a Harris-Booker ticket is the ever toxic white backlash in the GOP that could motivate depressed GOP voters”) and with Inslee, there’s a “Left Coast” problem (with Harris being from California and Inslee being from Washington, you’ll have the “west coast liberals” attack coming from right-wing media and that’s certain to “upset” the “culture warriors”). As for Hickenlooper, I really don’t know enough about him to say whether he’d have baggage that could cause problems for the ticket or not.
Why would a choice of a sitting Senator help? Wouldn’t that take one Senator away from a fragile majority, unless the replacement could be a guaranteed Democratic member?