The Harris Shortlist

[lees1975]

13. There are those who think two women on a ticket isn't viable but I think that's a guaranteed winner!

And the combination of Kamala Harris and Gretchen Whitmer, I think, might be unbeatable.

I like Shapiro. I lived in PA when he was attorney general, and met him a couple of times. He's the kind of guy that everyone can trust, and knows how to make politics work. I know a few Republicans in the Pennsylvania legislature who might not admit it in public, but they are relieved he's in there, and not Mastriano. He won election in 2022 56-42, way outside what the polls predicted. If he's on the ticket, Democrats carry Pennsylvania and that may make a dent in neighboring Ohio.

Mark Kelly is a personal favorite. I grew up in Arizona District 8, which his wife, Gabby Giffords, represented until an attempted assassination. Kelly is very popular in Arizona, which is just emerging into purple state status. It's looking good for Ruben Gallego to win Sinema's old senate seat, and this would be a one-two punch from a state that had only one Democrat in the senate in over five decades.

Roy Cooper is popular enough in North Carolina to swing the one or two percent of the vote necessary to turn its electoral votes blue. So it may be a question of which guy has the potential to bring the most in terms of electoral power. Pennsylvania has 19, North Carolina 16, Arizona 11. Kelly's popularity may extend next door, to Nevada, which has 6, giving that western combo 17. Michigan has 15.

I like Walz a lot. He's got it together, and he'd be a great VP. But in terms of helping gather electoral votes, although there's been some erosion claimed in Minnesota, which I doubt, it's a strong democratic state.