Kamala Harris Interviews Top Running Mate Contenders
Kamala Harris Interviews Top Running Mate Contenders
The Facts
Vice Pres. Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, interviewed at least three top contenders to be her running mate — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly — at her residence in Washington, D.C., on Sunday.Vice Pres. Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, interviewed at least three top contenders to be her running mate — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly — at her residence in Washington, D.C., on Sunday.
According to the Associated Press, sources familiar with the Harris campaign said that Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg were also interviewed over the weekend.
The Spin
If Harris wants to win the White House and unite the country, Josh Shapiro is her best chance. The Pennsylvania governor is an experienced, pragmatic centrist who enjoys bipartisan favorability, meaning that he would surely convince undecided voters to support Harris.
Tim Walz is Harris' most obvious running mate. Let alone the fact that he created the new attack strategy against Trump, Walz is a consensus-builder moderate from the rural Midwest with the most progressive record of any elected Democrat nowadays.
Since 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.
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 grabs in 2026. Who Harris picks doesn't matter; she will lose the election anyway.
