Democrats are still brimming with excitement over Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential candidacy. Enthusiasm is off the charts. The money is rolling in. Harris is putting the right people around her. Elected Democrats quickly lined up behind her and they’re ready to ride her coattails in down-ballot races. One of the biggest items on VP Harris’s to-do lists is “choose a running mate.” As soon as people understood that VP Harris is The One, we quickly understood that she would choose the least scandalous white man she could find. We need someone who is a good public speaker, someone between the age of 45-65, someone who already has a political base, and hopefully someone who can help out in swing states. The NY Times compiled their list of contenders:

ANDY BESHEAR
Governor of Kentucky, 46
Mr. Beshear is a two-term Democratic governor from Kentucky, a solidly Republican state. When he first won in 2019, his victory was regarded as a fluke; Mr. Trump won the state by about 30 percentage points three years earlier. But last year, he easily won re-election. He has emphasized the “common good,” working with Republicans on legislation, including medical marijuana, and often talks about his Christian faith. It’s a message that could be particularly appealing for Democrats now, as they try to win over moderate white voters in the suburbs.

ROY COOPER
Governor of North Carolina, 67
Mr. Cooper is the governor of what might at best be called a swing-ish state — Barack Obama won there in 2008. Picking Mr. Cooper might put it in play, or at the least, press the Trump campaign to invest money in a state it would otherwise not have to worry about. In 2020, when Mr. Trump won the state by 1.3 percentage points, Mr. Cooper was elected by 4 points. But he is term-limited, so he cannot run again. And if Mr. Cooper gets the nod, every time he leaves the state to campaign, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a very conservative Republican who is running for governor, becomes the acting governor.

MARK KELLY
U.S. Senator from Arizona, 60
The Arizona senator rose to national prominence after his wife, Representative Gabby Giffords, survived an assassination attempt in 2011. Mr. Kelly, a veteran of the Navy and a former astronaut, began campaigning for stricter gun control. He won his Senate seat in 2020. He has carved out an image as a moderate in Arizona, building a coalition that relied on white women in the suburbs as well as young Latino voters who were crucial in delivering the state to Mr. Biden in 2020.

JB PRITZKER
Governor of Illinois, 59
Mr. Pritzker has been the governor of Illinois since 2019. That is not a battleground state, but he is a billionaire, and could help finance the campaign. That’s no small matter as Mr. Trump has seen an avalanche of financial support since Mr. Biden’s poor debate appearance in June. Mr. Pritzker – who would be the second Jewish running mate on a major-party ticket in history if he were picked – has drawn Democratic attention with his attacks on Mr. Trump. “Do they really want a president who is a felon who faces jail time?” Mr. Pritzker said in June.

JOSH SHAPIRO
Governor of Pennsylvania, 51
Mr. Shapiro was elected as governor in 2022 after serving as the state’s attorney general. Pennsylvania is a must-win state for Democrats, and Mr. Shapiro’s stock among Democrats rose after he swamped his Republican opponent in 2022, Doug Mastriano, winning 56 percent of the vote. As demonstrations against Israel spread across campuses this fall, Mr. Shapiro — who is also Jewish — denounced the rise in antisemitism after the attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7. He also won praise for overseeing quick repairs after a messy bridge collapse on I-95 last year.

[From The NY Times]

The Times also listed “less likely contenders” for VP: Wes Moore (governor of Maryland), Tim Walz (governor of Minnesota), Pete Buttigieg and Gina Raimondo. I agree that none of those people will be chosen as a running mate. I also think Gov. Shapiro won’t be chosen, even if Pennsylvania is a battleground state. Shapiro comes with too much “baggage” politically. I also think Gov. Pritzker is at the bottom of the shortlist, just because he doesn’t bring much to the table politically or demographically.

So, yeah, I think the VP race is between Beshear, Kelly and Cooper. I’ve seen a lot of North Carolinians advocating for Cooper – he’s enormously popular in NC, he’s scandal-free, he’s a decent family man and he’s unlikely to have many political ambitions outside of being VP. With Cooper on the ticket, it’s very likely Harris will win NC, which would be a huge deal. But I think senior Democrats are really pushing for Mark Kelly. They were actually pushing for Kelly at the top of the ticket when they were trying to force President Biden out of the race. Kelly brings a lot to the table too – he’s a veteran and astronaut and a “man’s man” who supports women’s rights. But here’s the thing… that would be two “Western Democrats” on the ticket together. We need some regional balance, which both Beshear and Cooper bring.

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