OK Everyone! It’s time to rise out of our despair! It’s been 24 days of mourning since the debate debacle sunk all of us into believing this election was over, that we were going to be abused by Trump for another four years. A sick, sick feeling. But in one shining moment, at 1:46pm this afternoon, President Biden, in a true profile in courage, a selfless act for which he will be honored and remembered for years to come, put his country ahead of himself.
I think Harris/Kelly is the best political choice, especially for beating a Trump ticket.
Kelly is from an important swing state for Democrats. Although Arizona has been shifting blue in recent election cycles, it’s still far from a Democratic stronghold, so picking Kelly is smart electoral math.
Kelly is the husband of former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was the victim of an assassination attempt in 2011. Picking Kelly as VP will give the campaign a great excuse to talk about the issue of political violence while blunting Trump’s attempts to control the narrative in the wake of his own shooting. Who better than Giffords, who faced her near-death with courage and poise to make Trump look pathetic and weak for his response?
Kelly is well liked and well respected both in the Senate and on the national stage. People know who he is, and his poise and experience is going to stand in stark contrast to Vance who is a nobody in comparison.
Kelly vacating his Senate seat means another Democrat will be appointed to fill it, so no important Senate votes are lost. Unlike some of the other names that have been floated, Kelly would not cost Democrats and important governorship.
He’s a freaking astronaut, and Americans love voting for astronauts.
He’s a middle-aged white man, which sadly is going to matter to some voters. Kelly is palatable to just about anyone, and will somewhat blunt that “DEI” nonsense that the campaign is already going to be fighting against.
You cannot choose a Senator from a Swing State. Far too costly. Also, Dems need to focus squarely on PA, Mi, Wi.
As I mentioned, taking Kelly away from the seat wouldn’t cost Democrats anything in the Senate.
But to go into a little more detail, It’s actually Arizona law that the person appointed by the governor must be from the same political party as the person leaving office. Kelly will be replaced by another Democrat, and since his term would have lasted longer than 150 days, Arizona law also stipulates that the replacement will serve out the rest of that term with no special election taking place. Republicans would have to wait until 2026 to get another shot at capturing that seat, which is two years for Kelly’s replacement to get a headstart on fundraising and campaigning over their eventual opponent.