I’ve actually seen Mitt Romney suggested as VP. It would be an unexpected choice, certainly.
Kelly would be great on gun control, but might cause some problems with union support for Kamala.
What I’ve seen suggested is coming out and naming a few Republicans that Harris would include in her cabinet. I don’t know how many far left voters it would alienate, but I bet saying “I’m going to make Liz Cheney my Attorney General and Mitt Romney my Secretary of ______” would pull a lot of never Trumpers and undecideds.
Look, if anyone has a motove to use the AG office to get revenge on MAGA people, it is Liz Cheney. That would make every prosecution more suspect, not less.
We hate Trump for (nearly?) destroying our country. Shes gotta hate Trump for that, but also like you hate the sociopath that started dating your mom, stole her money, got her hooked on drugs, and convinced her to kick you out for being disrespectful.
Several posters are putting serious weight to being sure that a VP is young enough run for president after a hoped for eight year Harris run; I’m going to give a strong disagree.
In that hoped for future the VP is sure to be a contender, but this thread, and the alternate reality one speculating on if not Harris who, illustrate that there is a deep bench ready to run in eight years. There is no need to anoint one of them now by gracing them the VP mantle.
The criteria now are ability to take over if needed, to work well with Harris, and of course, to help win the election in the marginal manner a VP running mate helps. The last what we are most focused on!
the discussion on the shuttle this morning suggests that carville was thinking vp running in 8 years. that would put kelly at 68 and shapiro at 62.
The debacle that almost happened with Biden’s nomination should be all the reason needed for her to go young with her choice - AND any appointments if elected.
The Dems really have to work on developing and publicizing their bench, and gracefully escorting the old white folks to the exits. And I say that thinking of my senior senator - Dick Durbin (79) - one of the very few national politicians that I can recall never having disagreed with on a policy position.
That would make more sense. Romney has publicly said that he disagrees with most of Biden’s policies but would not vote for Trump because he’s a horrible person. You can’t have a running mate that doesn’t agree with your policies. Putting him in a cabinet position where those differences don’t matter makes more sense.
Mitt Romney could easily serve as a Secretary of State, though I don’t know if he would be willing to for Harris.
That might make some sense. Adam Kinzinger was IMO another quality R, who got steamrolled by MAGATs. Not sure which posts - and COULD be helping some Repubs’ longterm prospects. But might as well support the prospects of non-MAGA reasonable folk (with the right appts.)
If she appointed Kelly, Buttigieg and Kinzinger to various cabinet posts, she’d have an administration well-stocked with smart, young (mostly) folks with military experience. I’d hope that would bring along more voters who traditionally lean GOP because of the myth of “Republican = strong on defence” though I wouldn’t hold my breath.
I bet it wouldn’t. This just isn’t how things are done these days. There are plenty of Never Trumpers who also want a vigorously progressive agenda, and who would be appalled by putting an anti-choice, anti-progressive-tax, anti-clean-energy, anti-gun-control, pro-border-wall AG like Liz Cheney in power (cite), and who would oppose a Romney SoS for similar reasons (cite). Decreasing enthusiasm among Democratic voters seems much riskier than running on a solid, consistent platform. Playing “I’m Republican lite–choose me!” is just not a winning strategy, and there’s a good reason why Republicans don’t tend to appoint Democrats, and vice versa.
Edit: I just realized this might be off-topic, since we’re supposed to be focused on veep picks. A similar analysis applies to suggestions that she choose a Republican veep.
I’m not sure if this has been posted already, but there’s some online conversation around Shapiro’s handling of a harassment suit in his office.
Moderating:
Thank you for recognizing this.
To all, please stick to the topic at hand and save speculation re cabinet appointments for another thread.
Given how every pundit failed to predict the massive amount of excitement Harris would generate I would say none of them knows what they’re talking about.
Personally I want Kelly, for no other reason is he can tell Vance, “I might have been to space, but Senator, you are way out there!”
“I’ve been to space, but I’ve never met any scary aliens who wanted to destroy us.” Or something like that.
ABC News is reporting that Kelly is not a favorite among some labors leaders due to his unwillingness to support the PRO Act, legislation intended to help workers form unions and win labor contracts. Other labor leaders are more pragmatic, saying that his overall record regarding labor is good and that the most important item on their agenda is defeating Trump, which Kelly may very well assist in doing.
A Governor whose name has not been mentioned thus far as a VP contender is Tim Walz of Minnesota. We saw him interviewed on PBS News Hour last night and came away with a very good impression of him. He’s only 60, a good age match with Harris, very well spoken and has an impressive resume as a Congressman and Governor as well as a strong military background.
What am I missing?
Walz was interviewed on CNN Monday evening and was introduced as a Vice-Presidential contender (though he shrugged it off).
The only thing really missing with Walz is that he looks older than his age (posted this in another thread here recently):
Walz is, in fact, only six months older than Harris. Maybe he’ll get tabbed, anyway, and it won’t end up mattering so much.
If one believes that the VP choice could help with a battleground state (one of the factors which supporters here of Shapiro and Whitmer have cited), then Walz wouldn’t help much. In 2020, Biden beat Trump by 7 percentage points in Minnesota.
Do you mean Tim Walz? He does seem to have a solid resume, and in another time would be a good candidate.
From what I’ve seen reported, Kelly has not signed on to sponsor the PRO Act but says he agrees with the “overall goals” of the legislation yet has some unspecified “concerns.” It should be the easiest thing in the world for the sponsors to make some small tweaks and then Kelly can say his concerns have been addressed.