To win the boring contest with Pence? I didn’t understand it at the time and I still don’t.
He was supposed to be some kind of reasonable consensus builder whom EVERYONE loved. He was just so disappointing. What a lousy choice (not that any other choice woulda yielded a different result.)
This Yahoo! article claims that Beshear and Buttigieg are off the list.
The people being vetted are “North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker” and one dark horse, “Cedric Richmond, a former congressman from Louisiana who served as a top aide in the Biden White House and on his campaign”
Good lord. I can just see her picking Cedric Richmond, whom no one has heard of, and giving the potential racists extra reason to vote against her. Please please PLEASE! And I thought Whitmer said she was out.
Sounds like the people of Kentucky need Beshear to counterbalance the GOP more than the nation needs him to balance the presidential ticket.
While I see the point of this argument, isn’t the Kentucky Lt Gov a Democrat? So that should still work, yes? Or is there an issue with Jaqueline Coleman I’m missing?
But I do prefer Kelly. He would likely help in AZ. Beshear would be my 2nd choice but I would have zero expectations picking him would get the Ds Kentucky.
Anybody who would be excited by a Jewish VP is already excited that we’ll have a Jewish First Gentleman. Go Doug!
Yes, she did say this. But sometimes people say things they don’t really mean, and sometimes people’s minds change.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Whitmer sticks to her guns and continues to turn down the opportunity. I also wouldn’t be surprised with an announcement like “I wanted to continue to serve the people of Michigan, but at such a critical time in history, I have decided that it is more important to serve the country.”
No, the playbook says, “I want to continue to serve the people of Michigan, and at such a critical time in history I have decided that I can best serve them, and the rest of our great nation, as VP.”
Just no. I mostly admire the job he’s done in Illinois, but (as others have pointed out) he brings nothing to the ticket.
The only thing I think of when I hear his name is the Far Side cartoon.
He’s also won two elections in Georgia, the last one against a legend of UGa. football, Herschel Walker.
Brian Kemp, the governor, wouldn’t necessarily pick a MAGA replacement, though. He got primaried by Trump in his last election, for refusing to commit election fraud on Trump’s behalf. In normal times, Kemp would be considered a deeply conservative Republican, but in the TOP (“Trump’s Own Party”), he’s one of the more reasonable voices.
There is functionally no difference between Warnock being replaced by a MAGA Republican and a more traditionally conservative Republican. Either all-but-assures that a Republican will be Majority Leader, and that leader will decide what comes to a vote in the Senate and under what conditions.
I really, truly believe that two women is less triggering for misogynists than a man playinf secnd fiddle to a woman, just in terms of the visuals. And its that vague disconfort that will keep misogynistic Democrats and independents home.
NOTE - this is a quote of Jared Polis speaking, that @DavidNRockies quoted, not DNR themselves.
Yeah, and as I mentioned in this or one of the other closely related threads, Polis has been very maybe-I-will-maybe-I-won’t about running in 2028 prior to Biden’s demurral. He’s young enough to wait out Harris (please FSM, let’s have 8 years of Harris to wait out 
) and in the meantime will continue to build on his existing track record and experience.
Of course, Whitmer is also in that exact category, but I’d love them as a joint ticket, and don’t honestly care which is Pres or VP.
Back to the focus of this thread though, I think Polis is better positioned to support Harris in 2024 as a Governor of a Bluish-purple state and to build enthusiasm than bringing anything special (by his own words as quoted above no less!) to the Harris ticket.
I agree 99.9% that figuring out what will move voters to get out and vote, discourage RWNJ from voting, or win over a few undecided (especially in swing states!) is really the biggest target - while I’d love a closely matched ideology to mine, greater competence and experience, and a laundry list of other things, doing almost (!) anything that prevents Trump from winning is the key to me.
(99.9 because I don’t want someone to pick a candidate that is nearly as bad as Trump, or a horrific individual in their own right in office, even if it appeals to some terrifying demographic)
You may be right, but there are plenty of people who have (stupid, ignorant) trepidation about women in leadership positions, people who would take comfort thinking a man in the wings could calm down any of the “inevitable rampant emotions.” Two women on the ticket? Oh noes!!! We’re doomed!
Yeah, that would be my psychology. I can’t see a woman-woman ticket being more popular among the misogynists than a woman-man ticket, regardless of who is first fiddle.
I read a link earlier that said there would be a special election, but that doesn’t appear to be the case; Coleman would fill out Beshear’s role until his term is up at the end of 2027/early 2028.
The LG is kind of a non-entity in KY, so it’s hard to know exactly how that would go. She would probably be fine, but it would be unknown territory. It’s also apparently murky about whether she’d be able to appoint an LG.
But I think the real concern is that whoever replaced Beshear might not have his talent for winning elections in Kentucky.
Mark Kelly.
The more I’ve read, the more convinced this is the best pick. Whitmer is amazing, but I think a regular white dude, especially one with his background, would be helpful the most.
Pete is great and if him joining would win Michigan, that’d be great. I don’t think most of us Michiganders even realize he set up residence here. Sadly, him being gay costs some votes, probably more than it gains. I do think that even though it is 2024.