Who's Your Veep?

[Frayed Knot]

Admiral McRaven has pulled his name from consideration. One down!

99 times out of 100 when someone publicly "pulls their name from consideration" for running mate, a cabinet appointment, an ambassadorship, etc it is because they already privately learned that they are not on the list :)

You mean like the time I pulled my name off the Scarlet Johanson dating list?

[Edgy MD]

Maybe true, but it saves other people the energy of backing them, and I'm just trying to whittle down the story here in this thread.

[MFS62]

I worried that adding Kelly as the VP running mate would mean he would resign from his Senate seat to run, and the GOP Governor of Arizona would replace him with a Republican. That would tilt the balance in the Senate to the GOP.

Later

[TransMonk]

Arizona has a Dem guv. Katie Hobbs. Remember, she beat wacko Kari Lake in 2022.

https://www.kjzz.org/kjzz-news/2024-07- ... enate-seat

After Kelly’s resignation, it’d fall to Gov. Katie Hobbs, a fellow Democrat, to replace his successor.

Hobbs’ appointee, by law, would also have to be a Democrat – the same political party as Kelly when he was elected to a full six-year term in 2022.

But that appointee could be temporary.

When there’s a U.S. Senate vacancy, state law also requires a special election be held during the next general election – that’d be in 2026 – to determine who gets to serve the remaining years of Kelly’s term, which expires in 2028.

Kelly was first elected to the Senate in a similar situation. In 2020, he won a special election to serve the remaining two years of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain’s term in office.

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, I think the concerns over senators running is more than a little overblown.

If X is the best person to help win the presidency, then they is the best.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I agree. Maybe that could serve as a tiebreaker if everything else is too close to call, but if they think Kelly is the best candidate, then they should go with him.

[Edgy MD]

The funny thing is that (1) Arizona, as noted, has a Democratic governor, (2) she'd be required by state law to appoint somebody from Kelly's party even if she wasn't a Democrat, and (3) what's not written above, but is there between the lines, is that, the appointee having to run for re-election in 2026 would be the same exact year that Senator Kelly's term would be up anyhow, and so he'd have to run in 2026 anyways.

Given a chance to bypass the party primaries and hand-designate a senator from among all the party members in Arizona, they don't have faith in themselves that they can choose somebody at least as re-electable as Senator Kelly?

Show some heart, Democratic Party.

[MFS62]

Send your used cat litter to:
J D Vance
37 West Broad Street
Room 300
Columbus, Ohio 43215

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

That's probably illegal. If you do this, don't include a return address!

[Lefty Specialist]

The funny thing is that (1) Arizona, as noted, has a Democratic governor, (2) she'd be required by state law to appoint somebody from Kelly's party even if she wasn't a Democrat, and (3) what's not written above, but is there between the lines, is that, the appointee having to run for re-election in 2026 would be the same exact year that Senator Kelly's term would be up anyhow, and so he'd have to run in 2026 anyways.

Given a chance to bypass the party primaries and hand-designate a senator from among all the party members in Arizona, they don't have faith in themselves that they can choose somebody at least as re-electable as Senator Kelly?

Show some heart, Democratic Party.

Not quite true. Kelly ran in a special election to fill the remainder of John McCain's term in 2020. He ran for his own full six-year term in 2022, maning he wouldn't face another election until 2028. Anyone replacing him would have to run in a special election in 2026, two years earlier than otherwise, and then run for the seat again in 2028.

[Edgy MD]

You got me there.

Still, I say, if he's your guy, he's your guy. Please don't weaken the presidential ticket because you don't believe you can appoint a good enough senator to defend that seat in two years. Now is the time.

[MFS62]

Tim Walz is on the radar:
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4806 ... democrats/

[kcmets]

There are seven people on the radar.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Shapiro seems to be getting the most speculation lately. Whether that means anything remains to be seen. I had my money (figuratively) on Kelly.

[kcmets]

I googled 'Vegas odds for Harris VP' on Wednesday and Shapiro was
the overwhelming favorite. Not really close, for whatever that's worth.

[Edgy MD]

Well, that, along with her choice of husbands, certainly won't help the former president's claim that Vice President Harris "doesn't like Jewish people."

I think she can do better, but what do I know?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Better VP? Or better husband?

[Edgy MD]

Good question. She probably can improve on both selections. In fact, I think she should marry Wilmer Flores and make him her running mate.

[Edgy MD]

My ever cynical wife this morning: "Whoever it is, it better be a white male from the midwest."

Check, check, and CHECK!!

Congratulations to Governor Tim Walz.

[metirish]

I'm excited, Walz seems to be a great person, and well liked

[Benjamin Grimm]

The problem is, he only recently decided to be white. Until a few weeks ago, I had no idea he was a white man.

[Lefty Specialist]

Walz is really good getting the message out in a friendly, folksy way. His 'weird' attack may have been what put him on the radar, but he's been a solid progressive as a governor. He's a genuine guy- a geography teacher, a high school football coach, a member of the National Guard for 24 years in addition to being a three-term Congressman and two-term governor.

And he's NOT a lawyer, which is unusual.

[rchurch314]

Walz is really good getting the message out in a friendly, folksy way. His 'weird' attack may have been what put him on the radar, but he's been a solid progressive as a governor. He's a genuine guy- a geography teacher, a high school football coach, a member of the National Guard for 24 years in addition to being a three-term Congressman and two-term governor.

And he's NOT a lawyer, which is unusual.

he seems to be making the weirdos and genociders mad, so that's a big thumbs up from me.

[MFS62]

https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/ ... tion=click

If Walz can survive after waking up with a horse's head in his bed, he's tough.
Oh. Wait!
Never mind.
Later

[Chad ochoseis]

I worry that he's got the Tim Kaine problem...lots of substance and no pizzazz. I'm not sure he was the best candidate on the list, but he'll probably make the best Vice President.

Which tells me that Kamala's team is feeling pretty confident. Rather than asking "Who can pull us the votes that we need?" they asked "Who will do the best job once we're elected?"