Harris Interviews Top VP Contenders
Harris Interviews Top VP Contenders
The Facts
US Vice Pres. Kamala Harris, who is expected to be formally nominated as Democratic presidential candidate on Monday, met with at least three top contenders to be her running mate in Washington, D.C., on Sunday.
She interviewed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona at her residence, after meeting with her vetting team on Saturday.
The Spin
If Harris really wants to win the White House and unite the country, Josh Shapiro is her best chance. The Pennsylvania governor is an experienced, pragmatic centrist that enjoys bipartisan favorability, meaning that he would surely convince undecided voters to support Harris.
Minnestoa's Tim Walz is the most obvious running mate for Harris, but it's yet to be seen whether the Democratic establishment will realize it. Let alone that he created the new attack strategy against Trump, Walz is a consensus-builder moderate from the rural Midwest who has the most progressive record of any elected Democrat nowadays.
Given that many undecided voters could be reluctant to vote for a woman from liberal California, Harris would be wise to include Mark Kelly on her ticket. If chosen, the former astronaut-turned-senator would project an image of strength and sobriety that Democrats need to win in November — and he would serve as a loyal vice president.
DAll that these top VP contendes can do is to boost to the campaign in their own home battleground state. And that's not without pitfalls. Shapiro faces the opposition of anti-Israel left-wing voters, Walz was disastrous in handling the pandemic and 2020 riots, and Kelly would leave a Senate seat up for grab in 2026. It doesn't matter who Harris picks, she will lose the election anyway.
