Ranking Harris's Potential Running Mates

[Heebie Jeebie]

I know Biden is likely to be the nominee again in 2024.  But supposing he's unable to run for re-election and Harris gets the nomination, who would be the best running mate for her?  My rankings:

1.  Andy Beshear - This presupposes he wins re-election in 2023 of course, a factor I'm bullish on.  The national economy is going to be humming, and he's a talented politician.  The thing that really makes him compelling, though, is that once his governorship is over, there's really nowhere else for him to go except into the next Democratic administration--he's certainly not going to be the next Senator from Kentucky.  But on the presidential ticket, he's the perfect "balance" candidate for Harris--an overt appeal to the Midwest/Upper South and exurban constituencies. 

2.  Jon Ossoff - This presupposes Stacey Abrams wins the governorship in 2022, a development I'm not overly confident in.  Regardless, running mates typically don't have much impact on election results, but it's not crazy to think that Ossoff could help push Harris over the edge in a tight race in Georgia, a very big state. 

3.  Jared Polis - As a governor, he brings a DC-outsider appeal, but he also has experience as a multi-term Congressional Rep.  He's gay, but I doubt that would have any impact on the race besides prompting positive cable news coverage for a couple of cycles before disappearing as an issue.  It certainly didn't hurt him in Colorado, a fairly moderate state.

4.  Martin Heinrich - New Mexico is a pretty small state and Heinrich isn't exactly a major player in the Senate, but he looks the part of VP and wouldn't really offend anybody either.  Boring but safe.

5.  Chris Murphy - Similar to Heinrich, but his ties to Connecticut's financial industry could make some lefties nervous.  He's a solid progressive, though, so there shouldn't be too much complaint.  Another boring but safe choice.

Wild Cards:  Brian Schatz, Mark Kelly, Tim Walz, Michael Bennet, J.B. Pritzker

Any thoughts?

[Suburbia]

The criteria in the Democratic Party now is that there must not be another Clinton-Gore/Kerry-Edwards pairing again, two white men, or another Clinton-Kaine, two white people.

It really has to be demographic balance.......

There may be a possibility that she may be a ticket reinforcer, like Clinton-Gore 1992 and pick a fellow minority VP like Abrams or Castro or someone like that.....

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Beshear isn't running until 2028, he always said he wanted to fill two terms as Gov due to Covid

[Heebie Jeebie]

Beshear isn't running until 2028, he always said he wanted to fill two terms as Gov due to Covid

If Harris offered him the veep position, there's no way in hell he'd say no.

[Suburbia]

Beshear isn't running until 2028, he always said he wanted to fill two terms as Gov due to Covid

If Harris offered him the veep position, there's no way in hell he'd say no.

What does he bring to the ticket? Why not Walz or Heinrich, or even a wild card, NBA player Kyle Korver, who would be 43 by 2024, he'll be retired by then....

[This user has not been convicted of 34 felonies]

Ossoff > Sherrod Brown > Josh Shapiro (if he wins PA Gov, though I'm skeptical that he would accept) > Beshear > Jared Polis > Martin Heinrich > Brian Schatz > Pete Buttigieg

[Heebie Jeebie]

Ossoff > Sherrod Brown > Josh Shapiro (if he wins PA Gov, though I'm skeptical that he would accept) > Beshear > Jared Polis > Martin Heinrich > Brian Schatz > Pete Buttigieg

Sherrod Brown is both too old and more useful as an incumbent Senator.  Shapiro is great but you don't go from little more than a year as governor to running for vice president.  You're right that Buttigieg is bottom of the heap, though.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Ossoff > Sherrod Brown > Josh Shapiro (if he wins PA Gov, though I'm skeptical that he would accept) > Beshear > Jared Polis > Martin Heinrich > Brian Schatz > Pete Buttigieg

Sherrod Brown is both too old and more useful as an incumbent Senator.  Shapiro is great but you don't go from little more than a year as governor to running for vice president.  You're right that Buttigieg is bottom of the heap, though.

If Ryan loses in 2022, Brown can go for Veep and run for Brown seat in 2024 or run for Gov in 2026

Brown isn't too old when you have Harris

[brucejoel99]

Any list that fails to include Buttigieg is an incorrect list. Regardless of whether or not there are merits to picking him, his relatively meteoric rise & presence in the Biden administration practically render his not being considered an impossibility.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

The criteria in the Democratic Party now is that there must not be another Clinton-Gore/Kerry-Edwards pairing again, two white men, or another Clinton-Kaine, two white people.

It really has to be demographic balance.......

There may be a possibility that she may be a ticket reinforcer, like Clinton-Gore 1992 and pick a fellow minority VP like Abrams or Castro or someone like that.....

How would Harris - Abrams be a ticket of demographic balance?

[Suburbia]

Won't Ossoff be too young, too charismatic? Harris may be jealous of him....

[CookieDamage]

Buttigieg and Roy Cooper are definitely on that list.

[Suburbia]

Buttigieg and Roy Cooper are definitely on that list.

Cooper is too old....let him be AG or some other cabinet position.

[Heebie Jeebie]

Buttigieg and Roy Cooper are definitely on that list.

Now that he's sold his house in South Bend, Buttigieg needs to move to Arlington so he can run for governor of Virginia in 2025.  It's a little thin for a vice presidential resume, but three years as governor could be enough to make him a credible running mate in 2028. 

[kwabbit]

Buttigieg and Roy Cooper are definitely on that list.

Now that he's sold his house in South Bend, Buttigieg needs to move to Arlington so he can run for governor of Virginia in 2025.  It's a little thin for a vice presidential resume, but three years as governor could be enough to make him a credible running mate in 2028. 

I don't think Buttigieg would be viewed as inexperienced necessarily, even if he didn't run governor. By 2024, he will have been one of the most visible Democrats in the country for five years. By 2028, nine years. Regardless of his actual political experience, voters will be completely familiar with him and won't view him as a new/inexperienced. Mitt Romney, for example, was only governor for four years. Despite having a relatively slim resume in public service, no one questioned Romney's experience when he was the nominee in 2012. Buttigieg will have been mayor, secretary of Transportation, and will have universal name recognition.

[Heebie Jeebie]

Buttigieg and Roy Cooper are definitely on that list.

Now that he's sold his house in South Bend, Buttigieg needs to move to Arlington so he can run for governor of Virginia in 2025.  It's a little thin for a vice presidential resume, but three years as governor could be enough to make him a credible running mate in 2028. 

I don't think Buttigieg would be viewed as inexperienced necessarily, even if he didn't run governor. By 2024, he will have been one of the most visible Democrats in the country for five years. By 2028, nine years. Regardless of his actual political experience, voters will be completely familiar with him and won't view him as a new/inexperienced. Mitt Romney, for example, was only governor for four years. Despite having a relatively slim resume in public service, no one questioned Romney's experience when he was the nominee in 2012. Buttigieg will have been mayor, secretary of Transportation, and will have universal name recognition.

You make some good points, but I don't think the Romney comparison really holds up.  For one, a Republican winning the governorship of a liberal state like Massachusetts is really impressive.  (It's impressive that Charlie Baker did it, too.)  For two, Democratic voters just have different expectations of their candidates than Republican voters do.  When's the last time the Democratic ticket featured someone who hadn't won a vice presidential, gubernatorial, or Senate race?  1984, I think?  And we know how that went over.  Shriver in '72?  Again, look how well that went.  The Democratic base (particularly the black community) values a demonstrable ability to run a successful statewide election.  Buttigieg has many talents, but winning elections isn't really one of them (so far). 

[Real Texan Politics]

The criteria in the Democratic Party now is that there must not be another Clinton-Gore/Kerry-Edwards pairing again, two white men, or another Clinton-Kaine, two white people.

It really has to be demographic balance.......

There may be a possibility that she may be a ticket reinforcer, like Clinton-Gore 1992 and pick a fellow minority VP like Abrams or Castro or someone like that.....

How would Harris - Abrams be a ticket of demographic balance?

Probably more along the lines of that it's "making history" having two women (and especially two women of color) on the same ticket. I've still got a gut feeling that Harris will choose a woman as her VP if she's the nominee; maybe Whitmer?

[TDAS04]

Tim Walz would be good.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

The criteria in the Democratic Party now is that there must not be another Clinton-Gore/Kerry-Edwards pairing again, two white men, or another Clinton-Kaine, two white people.

It really has to be demographic balance.......

There may be a possibility that she may be a ticket reinforcer, like Clinton-Gore 1992 and pick a fellow minority VP like Abrams or Castro or someone like that.....

How would Harris - Abrams be a ticket of demographic balance?

Probably more along the lines of that it's "making history" having two women (and especially two women of color) on the same ticket. I've still got a gut feeling that Harris will choose a woman as her VP if she's the nominee; maybe Whitmer?

Yes probably and she probably will, but it seems a bit hypocrite.

I mean she would be picked because of her colour and gender too (in case of Abrams) in the first place, because it would be an asset, and because the ticket will be considered historic. But the kind of "narrative" is starting to be like: "we need to cancel all white males out of existence".

I have no issue with which gender or whatever people of colour are in power or do whatever, but it seems like artificially selecting on balance, erasing the past, and stuff like that.

I mean why don't we do that for hair colour, disabled people, mentally ill people, young people (vs older people), native Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanics, state of origin, immigrants, Puerto Ricans, religion (or non-religious people), ideology, arguably in this administration LGBTQ people too. It's still not really balanced.

No meaningful things however are being done to truly change lives for Afro-Americans and women though, just symbolic things. Equal pay between whites and AA's, not a thing. Equal job opportunities, equal chance of studying, equal healthcare rights. Not in practice all. Same for females, because there's no equal wage too and IIRC this is in the case every nation on this planet.

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

Kamala is very lucky in that she has a ton of good options for a running mate.

Personally, I prefer: Andy Beshear>Tim Walz>Martin Heinrich>Mark Kelly>Josh Shapiro>Jon Ossoff> Roy Cooper>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Pete Buttigieg.

[Frodo]

I know Biden is likely to be the nominee again in 2024.  But supposing he's unable to run for re-election and Harris gets the nomination, who would be the best running mate for her?  My rankings:

1.  Andy Beshear - This presupposes he wins re-election in 2023 of course, a factor I'm bullish on.  The national economy is going to be humming, and he's a talented politician.  The thing that really makes him compelling, though, is that once his governorship is over, there's really nowhere else for him to go except into the next Democratic administration--he's certainly not going to be the next Senator from Kentucky.  But on the presidential ticket, he's the perfect "balance" candidate for Harris--an overt appeal to the Midwest/Upper South and exurban constituencies.

In the event of his re-election, wouldn't he be better suited for a 2028 ticket?  I am not comfortable nominating someone who just won an election to a separate electoral office.    

[Heebie Jeebie]

I know Biden is likely to be the nominee again in 2024.  But supposing he's unable to run for re-election and Harris gets the nomination, who would be the best running mate for her?  My rankings:

1.  Andy Beshear - This presupposes he wins re-election in 2023 of course, a factor I'm bullish on.  The national economy is going to be humming, and he's a talented politician.  The thing that really makes him compelling, though, is that once his governorship is over, there's really nowhere else for him to go except into the next Democratic administration--he's certainly not going to be the next Senator from Kentucky.  But on the presidential ticket, he's the perfect "balance" candidate for Harris--an overt appeal to the Midwest/Upper South and exurban constituencies.

In the event of his re-election, wouldn't he be better suited for a 2028 ticket?  I am not comfortable nominating someone who just won an election to a separate electoral office.    

I don't think so.  In this scenario, Beshear wins re-election in 2023, then joins the national ticket in 2024.  If Harris loses, he goes back to being governor, finishes his term, and runs for the presidential nomination in 2028.  If Harris wins, Jacqueline Coleman serves as Kentucky governor for three years and gets to run in 2027 as an incumbent.  It's win-win.

[Heebie Jeebie]

Tim Walz would be good.

He'd be a good pick for 2024, but after that he becomes too old to really be a good choice.

[Hope For A New Era]

And this is where I wish even more that Jason Kander had won in 2016. I mean, really, could you imagine a more perfect running mate for Harris?

Regardless, glad to see that most of the forum seems to have come around and realized that Beshear is superior to Cooper.

[Not Me, Us]

And this is where I wish even more that Jason Kander had won in 2016. I mean, really, could you imagine a more perfect running mate for Harris?

Regardless, glad to see that most of the forum seems to have come around and realized that Beshear is superior to Cooper.

I agree, but that is entirely predicated on him winning reelection, which he is nowhere near favored to do.