There are two kinds of posts I usually try to avoid: unsolicited advice to candidates and Veepstakes speculation. I’m indulging in both today. Why? I think Arizona Senator Mark Kelly should be Kamala Harris’ running mate.
I don’t believe in the traditional boxes a Veep is supposed to check. The last Veep nominee to actually bring in a state was LBJ in 1960. Most nominations send a signal as to the presidential nominee’s intentions and character:
- Fritz Mondale was picked to reassure liberals.
- Joe Biden was picked for his foreign policy chops.
- Harry Truman was picked because the bosses hated Henry Wallace.
- J. Danforth Quayle was picked for his youth.
- Sarah Palin was picked because McCain was desperate.
- J.D. Vance was picked because Don Junior thought it would be cool.
Mark Kelly *is* a swing state moderate. Arizona has a Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs, so his selection won’t turn the seat over to the GOP. But the real reason I’m advocating for Senator Kelly is CHARACTER.
Kelly retired from the Navy in 2011 with the rank of Captain. He was an astronaut from 1996-2011. John Glenn never made the ticket and its high time for an astronaut to do so. Mark Kelly is the John Glenn of our era. I can’t think of higher praise than that.
His resume is NOT why I think Senator Kelly should join the ticket. The key year is 2011 when Kelly’s wife Rep. Gabby Giffords suffered near fatal gunshot wounds. Captain Kelly retired from NASA and the Navy to take care of his wounded wife and help nurse her back to health. The shooting also made Kelly and Giffords fierce advocates for gun safety laws.
Can you imagine Donald Trump giving up his career for his spouse? He’s creeped out by sick and disabled people. Mark Kelly is a caregiver; Donald Trump is a man who thinks his nephew should have let his disabled son die. I am not making this up.
The NRA is on the run, so it’s time to put gun control near the top of the Democratic agenda. Trump was shot at by an Arthur Bremer clone with an assault rifle. Republicans are willing to call for the head of the Secret Service to resign but are still against an assault weapons ban. Mark Kelly is the potential running mate with the credibility to lead the fight for sane federal gun laws.
I was a Gabby Giffords fan before the shooting. I thought she had the right stuff to be a senator and even president. Her hubby likes to joke that he’s standing in for Gabby in the Senate. She was that gifted a politician. So is her husband.
Mark Kelly is a living breathing refutation of everything that MAGA Republicans stand for. He’s kind, they’re cruel. He’s a coalition builder, they’re destroyers. He respects women, they’re misogynists.
During the Clinton impeachment mishigas, Republicans banged on about how character matters. 20 years later they nominated the Insult Comedian. Character *does* matter. That’s why I hope Vice President Harris will select Senator Mark Kelly as her running mate.
Repeat after me: Mark Kelly has the right stuff.
The last word goes to Bryan Ferry:
There is a surfeit of good choices out there, and Sen. Kelly is definitely one of them. My only concern for Kelly is vacating a Senate seat. Looking at how close the Gallego/Lake race is (and being baffled by same), an incumbent Senator is a valuable asset.
My personal preference would be for Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who has been on his own audition tour lately. I think Minnesota is suitably reliable as a Democratic state that Walz’s replacement would also be a Democrat, and that ever so slightly tips me in his favor.
But I’d be happy with the Senator or the Governor or the Transportation Secretary or some of the other possibles being bruited about.