If you were Kamala Harris, who would you choose to be your VP

[jimmy olsen]

...Beto O'Rourke. Let's make Texas blue again!

Kind of kidding, but not? Like, Texas has gotten closer and closer every election the past 3 going from 16 point gap for Romney, 9 for Trump in 2016 and 6 for Trump in 2020. I wonder if it is close enough to the tipping point to go blue with the right veep option? I don't know if Beto the multi-time loser is a good option, but he checks some of the boxes for sure. 

Margin was 5.58% for Trump, so... I don't really think it's likely. Much better shot in 2028 if the trend continues.

North Carolina seems like a much more realistic target.

[Josquius]

Probably so.

Though there are a lot of Indians in Texas. How do they normally vote? Could Harris pull some over?

I can almost hear musk's scream were that to happen

A nice added bonus for sure! I wonder if him moving there might actually be a negative for Trump and the Republicans. A "coastal elite" carpetbagger coming to Texas to try to take over.

I read Tim's post before yours and my initial thinking was along the same lines.
With Musk moving to Texas and being Musk, destined to piss off a lot of people... he could well shift the needle positively a few years down the line.

[jimmy olsen]

https://x.com/admcrlsn/status/1815924702969262355

My opinion on this doesn't really matter at all, but here's where my head's at on the "big four" potential running mates for Harris, in order of who I want the most to least:

1) Gov. Roy Cooper (NC)

2) Sen. Mark Kelly (AZ)

3) Gov. Josh Shapiro (PA)

4) Gov. Andy Beshear (KY)

[grumbler]

Mark Kelly being a Senator from Arizona is actually a negative, in my opinion.  Krysten Sinema is not running again, and her seat is barely leaning Democratic right now.  Having both Arizona Senate seats up in the same year presents a significant danger that one will flip Republican.  With Manchin's seat predicted to go Republican the Senate would be evenly split (assuming Sinema's seat goes Democratic and all other incumbent parties hold).  I think it's too big a risk to pull Kelly away from that seat and possibly hand the Republicans slim majorities in both houses of Congress.

I think Shapiro is the best choice, assuming being a Jew doesn't become a lightning rod for certain elements of the left.  Pennsylvania is must-win for the Democrats.

This, except Copper rather than Shapiro.  Cooper is a brilliant campaigner (13-0 in elections despite being the underdog in four of those) and term-limited, so the Dems lose no seat with him running for VP.  He's not great on the stump but extremely good in personal settings.  Letting Cooper resign the governor's seat would unleash Mark Robinson, the lt governor, and that would wreck the Republicans' chances of winning the governor's race, because Robinson's political positions are poison to most North Carolinians (climate change denier, Holocaust denier, birther, wants to eliminate science and social studies education in grades K-5, on and on).

Allowing Robinson to poison the Republican Party in NC would pay dividends down the ticket there.

[viper37]

Gretchen Whitmer; we haven't had a vice president that spoke without an accent since the end of the Nixon era so I think we're due. 



 

Edit:  Also the VP debate would be the legendary rivalry: Michigan vs. Ohio.

Biden has an accent? Weird.  I don't notice it.



Anyway.

I'm not sure it should be two women, I'm not sure there should be a gay VP.

Yes, it shouldn't matter.  But it's the US.  The best candidate does not always win.

I think I'd go with Kelly.

Not that I know any of their policies, except that Withmer also seems the kind of woman that would not let herself be easily intimidated by Republicans and would counter-punch.

[viper37]

If they had done the decent thing they wouldn't still be a Republican, they'd be at a push an independent.

I honestly can't think of any benefit such a ticket would bring either during election cycle or during governance in the US.

John McCain died a Republican.

I'll play devil's advocate here:  some Republicans are trying to change things from the inside.  But they're being targeted so they stay quiet now. 

But I agree with you that a unity ticket would be a bad move and would piss off both sides.

It might work after the next Civil War though...

[Valmy]

I mean Lincoln put a Democrat on his ticket literally during a Civil War and that worked out great. Not one bad thing resulted from that move.

[The Minsky Moment]

I mean Lincoln put a Democrat on his ticket literally during a Civil War and that worked out great. Not one bad thing resulted from that move.

America lost its one shot at having a President Hannibal.

[jimmy olsen]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-vp-vetting/

Hmm...

Multiple sources tell CBS News that the list of candidates includes several governors: Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Tim Walz of Minnesota, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.

...
Members of the Biden administration, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are also being considered, along with Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, among others.

As a Rhode Ilsander, I say no to Raimondo, she's a component technocratic centrist and that's it

[Caliga]

Biden has an accent? Weird.  I don't notice it.

He does.  He has a slight, but noticeable, Philadelphia accent.

[Valmy]

Tim Walz of Minnesota would be pretty surprising choice, since he is rather Bernie-ish. But he is a Midwesterner so that would be cool.

[jimmy olsen]

Tim Walz of Minnesota would be pretty surprising choice, since he is rather Bernie-ish. But he is a Midwesterner so that would be cool.

[Savonarola]

Gretchen Whitmer; we haven't had a vice president that spoke without an accent since the end of the Nixon era so I think we're due. 



 

Edit:  Also the VP debate would be the legendary rivalry: Michigan vs. Ohio.

Biden has an accent? Weird.  I don't notice it.

The joke is that Whitmer (and Gerald Ford) are from Michigan and therefore, from my perspective, have no accent.  (Actually we all grew up in the same city, Grand Rapids, I'm just the under-achiever. )

[Norgy]

Tim Walz of Minnesota would be pretty surprising choice, since he is rather Bernie-ish. But he is a Midwesterner so that would be cool.

And there's "Fargo" season 7 sorted.

[The Minsky Moment]

The joke is that Whitmer (and Gerald Ford) are from Michigan and therefore, from my perspective, have no accent.  (Actually we all grew up in the same city, Grand Rapids, I'm just the under-achiever. )

I always think of GR as de Vos country, from my stay over in the Amway Grand Plaza.