Ranking Harris's Potential Running Mates

[Heebie Jeebie]

If Harris were the nominee and had to choose a running mate, I'd rank them into the following tiers:

Red-State Governor
1.  Andy Beshear (KY)

Swing-State Governors (by size of state)
2.  Josh Shapiro (PA)
3.  Gretchen Whitmer (MI)
4.  Katie Hobbs (AZ)

Blue-State Governors (by size of state)
5.  Maura Healey (MA)
6.  Wes Moore (MD)
7.  Jared Polis (CO)
8.  Josh Green (HI)
9.  Gina Raimondo (RI)

Blue-State Senators (loosely by seniority)
10.  Chris Murphy (CT)
11.  Martin Heinrich (NM)
12.  Brian Schatz (HI)
13.  Cory Booker (NJ)
14.  Tammy Duckworth (IL)
15.  Ben Ray Lujan (NM)

Everyone listed would be no older than 56 on Election Day 2024.

Does this seem like a reasonable way to evaluate her potential running mates?

[Heebie Jeebie]

Roy Cooper would be an excellent pick, although he's older than Harris. Two-term swing state governor who brings in governing experience and balances the ticket on age, gender and geography. He's almost tailor-made.

I like Cooper, but he's going to be 67 on Election Day 2024.  Which means he would be 75 after Harris has hypothetically had her two runs at the White House.  The main responsibility of a veep is to assume leadership once the president has to step down.  Do Democrats really want to set themselves up for another geriatric standard-bearer down the road?

[Heebie Jeebie]

Roy Cooper would be an excellent pick, although he's older than Harris. Two-term swing state governor who brings in governing experience and balances the ticket on age, gender and geography. He's almost tailor-made.

I like Cooper, but he's going to be 67 on Election Day 2024.  Which means he would be 75 after Harris has hypothetically had her two runs at the White House.  The main responsibility of a veep is to assume leadership once the president has to step down.  Do Democrats really want to set themselves up for another geriatric standard-bearer down the road?

It's just a year older than Biden when he was vice president.

Yeah, and while I think Biden has been a good president so far, he was still a bad choice for running mate back in '08.  Obama picked someone who was widely viewed as too old to be next-in-line, and that opened the door for a needless, bitter primary contest in '16 and likely contributed to Democratic defeat.  Had Obama exercised more foresight and chosen a younger, electorally viable veep, we'd probably have avoided the Trump presidency altogether. 

[Heebie Jeebie]

Obama needed to beat McCain and he needed someone with foreign policy experience. Biden makes sense from the perspective.

If this were Obama's actual rationale, it was beyond foolish.  At the time of the veep selection, Iraq was far and away the most important issue in voters' minds, and McCain was the country's #1 cheerleader for doubling down on Iraq.  Obama didn't need "foreign policy experience" to give him an edge there.

[Heebie Jeebie]

Why the arbitrary age 56 cutoff?

Unlike a lot of folks here, I think the main job of a veep is to take over leadership of the party once the POTUS can no longer run.  Hence, I think it's important not to pick anybody who's too old to reliably run two presidential campaigns.  To be fair, though, I could probably push that age limit back to 60.

[Heebie Jeebie]

Roy Cooper would be an excellent pick, although he's older than Harris. Two-term swing state governor who brings in governing experience and balances the ticket on age, gender and geography. He's almost tailor-made.

I like Cooper, but he's going to be 67 on Election Day 2024.  Which means he would be 75 after Harris has hypothetically had her two runs at the White House.  The main responsibility of a veep is to assume leadership once the president has to step down.  Do Democrats really want to set themselves up for another geriatric standard-bearer down the road?

It's just a year older than Biden when he was vice president.

Yeah, and while I think Biden has been a good president so far, he was still a bad choice for running mate back in '08.  Obama picked someone who was widely viewed as too old to be next-in-line, and that opened the door for a needless, bitter primary contest in '16 and likely contributed to Democratic defeat.  Had Obama exercised more foresight and chosen a younger, electorally viable veep, we'd probably have avoided the Trump presidency altogether. 

Biden was an excellent pick in 2008 because he brought long experience in DC, foreign policy credentials and blue collar appeal to the table. Tim Kaine was initially Obama's "choice of heart" but he felt two young civil rights lawyers would be bad optics. Biden also proved to be an effective vice president.

I don't think the vice president always must be "next in line" after the sitting president is termed out or that picking a running mate should factor in the question whether this person is next in line after eight years. Biden even planned on running in 2016 and just didn't because of Beau. I don't think it would have changed much if he was five or ten years younger then. If you want to put blame on someone for Trump's victory, it's more on Hillary for not running a better campaign and possibly Obama who - as much as I like and admire him - owes some responsibility as well.

I don't think this accurately reflects the situation in 2016.  Biden wanted to run, but Obama was clearly signaling that he preferred Hillary.  Beau's death was both a genuine personal tragedy, and an opportunity to gracefully bow to institutional pressure.  Obama absolutely bears responsibility.  In 2008 he recognized that Hillary would be a huge electoral liability, but by 2016 he (and a lot of others) had convinced himself that was no longer true.  But I think we've all learned that someone who is a drag on the ticket one year is not going to be any better eight years on, no matter how competent a campaign she runs.

[Heebie Jeebie]

Warnock? Buttigieg?

Warnock wouldn’t be nominated for VP solely because of that senate seat. And Buttigieg appeals no almost nobody

Buttigieg would have the same amount of appeal as someone like Josh Green or Brian Schatz. It's not like the VP pick really makes or breaks anyone's vote anymore.

Warnock I understand the dilemma with his Senate seat but he would at least be considered. Three swing state Governors are included on OP's list, and I can only imagine the risk we'd be taking in Arizona or Pennsylvania by removing their newly-elected Democratic Governor this early into their term...

I don't think Green or Schatz have much appeal at all, which is why they're so low on my list.  Buttigieg would have even less.

Swing-state Senators should not get even a moment's consideration.  Chancing a governorship for a slight Electoral College bump isn't a decision to make rashly, but it still could be worth the risk.  Risking a Senate majority is a whole different proposition--almost certainly never worth it.  Governorships matter, but they're not worth even a fraction of what Congressional control is worth.

[Heebie Jeebie]

Why the arbitrary age 56 cutoff?

Unlike a lot of folks here, I think the main job of a veep is to take over leadership of the party once the POTUS can no longer run.  Hence, I think it's important not to pick anybody who's too old to reliably run two presidential campaigns.  To be fair, though, I could probably push that age limit back to 60.

Disagree. The main job of the Vice President is to be able to take over the presidency at a moments notice. Political considerations are secondary. I am not against a younger VP, lord knows we need younger leadership in this country, but an arbitrary cutoff line excludes many people who would be very good at the job.

I don't understand this.  The presidency is a political job.  How can you think about it without prioritizing "political considerations"?  That's like ignoring medical considerations when choosing a physician.