My money is on Mark Kelly. You left Navy fighter pilot off his resume. Which in addition to being an astronaut basically makes him Captain America. Mark Kelly is literally who kids want to be when they grow up. A fighter pilot/ astronaut/ senator, m’dude IS career day. And we’d get the bonus of Gabby Giffords as Second Lady, who I’m sure will put her platform to good use.
Josh Shapiro called Pro-Palestinian protesters anti-semitic and urged universities, include U of Penn, to step on their first amendment rights. He is not someone that will turn the heat down on the Israel-Palestine issue for those concerned Dems are too comfortable with Palestinian genocide.
Shapiro came out hard and in favor of school vouchers, that is a HUGE no for me. As a school committee member running for reelection I have spent way too much time explaining why vouchers are bad and just hurt public education and the marginalized.
Shapiro brings Israel back into the news cycle. Kamala better pick the astronaut, these pundits don't know shit, everyone likes astronauts and people vote on personalties not facts. Mark Kelly has the best story ever, just let him tell it and she will coast to victory.
I read that there would have to be an election for the seat in 2026 but I can live with that. Kelly’s a more nationally well known figure than Shapiro, who has only been governor for 2 years. Just read that he could stay governor while he was running as VP candidate with Harris and then if elected,his Lt. governor (also a dem) would take over. I’m probably leaning Kelly at this point…
"If Kamala loses, she’s probably the 2028 frontrunner." Sorry, but if Kamala HARRIS loses we probably won't have a 2028 election. Given the points expressed here, I don't think it'll be Shapiro. I also think that Kelly wouldn't be a good choice now knowing his record on labor.
"Kelly openly stating that his opposition was motivated by the decisions Weil had made under the Obama administration. These decisions included extending overtime to more American workers, increasing the number of employers considered to be joint employers (and thus undermining a loophole enabling powerful corporations to avoid legal accountability for their labor practices), and limiting the ability of firms to label employees as “independent contractors.”"
Can you imagine? Both Biden and Harris have regular meetings with unions. Then you pick a VP who is anti-organizing. To me that's a lose-lose regardless of his veteran and astronaut status.
I don't know much about any of the others. I think Dustin is right about Pete. As far as Beshear, I know at least one big money donor wanted him as president. That dude also wanted Manchin as prez, so that tiny sample size suggests he would appeal to moderates and could pull some never Trumpers who also couldn't vote for Harris.
Mostly, I'm stoked about having THIS type of conversation. It's been a hard several weeks for everyone.
I think it's got to be Beshear or Kelly. Kelly would be my preferred but the opposition from labor really gives me pause. It could be overcome if Harris makes it a key part of the platform and Kelly does an about face on the issues but it might not be enough. I also like Beshear but we ain't winning Kentucky and he is the son of a political family and.....I just really want to have astronaut on the ticket. Could you imagine him as an ambassador for science the year we send someone back to the moon in (as of now) 2026?
Haha! Also does he do anything but golf, post his insane tweets to TS and meet with terrible world leaders? His joint interview with Vance was terrible the other day.
Let's be real, she's not choosing Buttigieg or Whitmer. To say nothing of their own potential runs in 28 if Harris doesn't win, A black woman and a gay dude? Two women??? Too many assholes will veto that. She's going to do what Obama did and choose a mid white dude (Sorry Biden!) to reassure the people who have an (un)conscious bias's against her race and gender.
And there's nothing wrong with that calculus (even though there is something wrong with that being the calculus).
That's fair. If it ends up being Beshear, it won't be because he'll win Kentucky's votes, it's about appealing to the independents and moderate Republicans being a governor of a deep red State.
For me, it's between him and Kelly provided Kelly can address his stance on labor.
The one area where Beshear might get hurt is he is against a ban on assault rifles. While there is no perfect candidate I not sure how I feel about not banning assault rifles.
Just one correction, Mark Kelly is the junior senator from Arizona, not the governor. If he is picked as the VP nominee, he will have to resign. In Arizona, the governor (who happens to be a Democrat) appoints a replacement, who must be from the same party as the Senator who vacated the seat. So while it wouldn't currently affect the number of Democrat senators, it will trigger a special election in 2026 which could affect the Senate balance of power. And then the same seat is up for reelection as that is when the term for the the Senate seat is up. So there is a potential downside to choosing Mark Kelly.
So I think it won’t be Shapiro based on the whole settle a sexual harassment claim he did last year. That’s going to be the whole news cycle then. And you can’t say this election is about women and do some mess like that.
I love Kelly but I don’t think he wins white women and men for Harris. I think with them adding Beshear last night they saw too many negatives with everyone they had looked at and I think it will be him. He would help with the youth vote and he skewered Vance so he would kick his ass at a debate. Beshear also has definitely showed he can get Republicans to vote for him in a red state so would potentially help with states like GA that may see the blue wave not withstand a red wave that polling is showing. I’m just only speaking about the GA polling that was released yesterday.
I'm from NY so I think I'm not representative of white women even though I've been one all my life, but Kelly absolutely gets me and my kind of NY white person to vote! And I hate to say this, but Beshear does not. I think the deep south Christian thing just makes my skin crawl, but again I'm most likely an outlier.
It’s honestly about the white Christian vote and her swinging over undecideds. Also good chemistry between her and her VP matters. We know she’s going to have a hard time with white voters but the youth vote may help cancel that out.
I get the urge to speculate and we can all talk about our favorites but while I'm certain there'll political calculations in the choice it'll most likely come down to who she's most comfortable with, and there really isn't anything wrong with that. After all it worked out for her and Biden.
Speaking of which, Major should be a part of the conversation. That doggo has been right on the money at every turn.
My understanding is that Kelly’s stance on the PRO act may sideline him. Mayor Pete is my guy but you have a good point - he may be better at Secretary of State or something.
Anyone smarter than me know the procedure for Trump to drop-kick Vance? I mean, I’m sure the firm backbones in the GOP would hold him to the letter of the law and all precedent, but just in case…
He really would. Some of my state friends are hoping he gets it. I think the Gaza situation soured some of them right now. But they still are doing their mission.
I saw an article headline claiming this the other day, but I decided I didn't care. I know I'd prefer someone who can competently make some changes for the Palestinians, but the situation is so mired up in shit I don't know who can actually manage it.
Anything is going to require a 3rd party peacekeeping police force, or at least with the current situation. But Hamas would murder them so they can keep getting everyone killed & Israeli politics considers a full genocide of Palestine a perfectly reasonable solution.
I still die laughing every time I remember him telling folks to wear their dang masks - if for no other reason than to vote against him in the next election - during the height of Covid. The man was so done.
But yeah, don't take our governor. We're getting shit done here in the Midwest.
Josh Shapiro not only compared student protesters to the KKK, but now there's talk that he has harassment problems, and his preferred target is women of color. If that's the future of the DFL then we really do need to establish a legitimate third party.
Yeah I’m disappointed but once I saw this story on threads getting broke I went well that’s a wrap on Shapiro. Reece Colbert, Feminstajones and others were talking about it. I’m embarrassed I didn’t know about it.
Yikes, had no idea about this either, although I didn't know almost anything about Shapiro (or why the post author hates Fetterman, actually). You've got to imagine that at least one or two of those candidates mentioned have already had the opposition research done on them and have been struck from the list for reasons we don't know about yet.
I keep realizing no major newspapers are bringing it up which is weird. I saw someone saying just pick a Castro brother and be done and laughed out loud so hard today!
Sorry nope to Shapiro - I'm from PA and having him on the ticket will not bring you anymore votes from PA than not having him on. He has only been in office 1 1/2 years and sorry but PA Republicans will not be swayed into supporting him. The only way Dems win PA is having a strong Philly area turnout - sorry, I wish I could count on the rest of the state to come through but it's rarely the case.
FWIW, of the socialists at Well There's Your Problem podcast, 2 are Philly boyz, and they essentially said the same thing. Philly and Pittsburgh will have to have HUGE Dem turnouts for the Ds to win.
That "these are weird people" clip makes me laugh and laugh. I love Tim Walz but I don't think he's the right choice. I also like Shapiro a whole lot as well and think someone well liked from a purple state like PA would be smart, also love Buttigieg and Kelly for the same reason. Basically there are a lot of really good and really exciting choices and I can't wait to see who gets picked. Plus the sooner they pick the sooner I can buy the sign!
I love Walz. Every once in a while, my state governor takes a shot at 'liberal Minnesota', and Walz so deftly deflects it the media forgets about the whole thing an hour later.
North Carolinian here and while I prefer Gov Cooper would run for Senate and get us a Dem Senator back in 2026, he’s been a great governor. He’s well-liked and managed to not piss too many people off during Covid. He also had harmless, jokester Dad vibes and has managed to do the best he can with a GOP supermajority (look up Tricia Cotham, fuck that bitch for forever) and state supreme court.
Former North Carolinian (current Californian) here and I agree, Roy is great! He'd be a good choice but apparently him running could open up the door for some more bullshit shenanigans from the NC legislature. Whenever he leaves the state the Lt. Governor takes over and with that currently being the odious Mark Robinson they could pull some shizz. This IG video explains it better than I:
Side note, please lord do not let Mark Robinson win. What's the feeling about him around the state? My family is mostly composed of Trump cult members so I avoid political discussions whenever possible so I can't tell if people will actually vote for him. And yes, fuck Tricia Cotham. What a cooze.
Roy running for Senate in 2026 would be AWESOME! Maybe Kamala will give him a position in her cabinet or he will run for Senate.
I'm in California right now!! (For Comic-Con.) I'm in Raleigh, but in Wake & Durham counties, there's not a ton of enthusiasm for Robinson, thankfully. I think even the non-uber religious Republicans know what a complete lunatic he is.
Anderson Clayton has been a fabulous burst of energy as chair that state Dems have really needed. She's everywhere, all of the time, bubby, smart, adorable, and sharp as hell on social media. She's made it her mission to get a Dem nominee for every position in every county, whether big or small.
Hi!!! Small world! I was just replying to your other comment haha. Does your husband have any insight about whether RC would consider a senate run? Cheri B loosing was heartbreaking.
Yes! That Senate run is what he wants for Roy to do as well. He said he “could be the most reliably Democrat candidate since Jim Hunt”. (Still so sad about Cheri B.)
FWIW Cooper running for Senate is my husbands preference too (Michael is very involved in local politics and NC born-and-bred, so I defer to him often.)
I realize the Republican leadership works on alternate brainwaves, but the Vance pick is so weird and dumb for an unusual number of reasons, how do they just allow Trump's pick on a last-minute whim? I've been thinking for a while now that much like before, Trump never wanted to be president, he just fell ass-into it. He just wants the constant press without the responsibility. The Vance pick seems like Trump knows it will look like a solid decision on the surface, but be just enough to cost him the election, which in turn helps him stay on TV. It's a solid bet Vance was not the top choice before the shooting, but the outpouring of media sympathy made him look to someone who could re-tip the scales against him, ever so slightly. I recognize the danger of the mob that wants to get Trump into office, and it's hard to even give Trump that much credit, but it sure seems like he's looking for additive ways to lose by an inch.
I just read an article it was that Vance was picked because Trump thought he could send him to the rust belt states and he would do well there, as they would see him as one of them and get the undecided voters. Talk about not knowing your audience. And it goes to show that Trump really does not like those states and doesn't want to have to campaign there.
In 2016, Pence was the type to get the moderates because of his demeanor relative to Trump, even though Pence had hardline conservative stances. Vance acts like he wants to be like Trump.
And he made sense as he was the opposite of Trump and was the "establishment republican" and could bring them along. Vance is Trump or wants to be Trump and brings no one new into the tent. His abortion stance is as extreme as it can be.
Vance is even more frightening than Pence or Trump to me because he is even more far right in his beliefs. He also started out as supposedly Democrat, so will either say or do anything to get ahead, or else was radicalized and genuinely believes what he’s saying. And he’s an election denier, so would actively help Trump stay in power.
Oh, I 100% believe Trump doesn't want to be president. I think his primary motivation is making sure he's not jailed (SCOUTUS anyone?). If not for the fact that there's a way to overturn this stuff if we win the Presidency, House and Senate, if Trump didn't need to appoint more Justices to lock up his safety, I truly believe he wouldn't have run. Even now, unless something is done about SCOUTUS, Trump still sorta win-wins. He still has the SCOUTUS (for now), AND he can bang on AGAIN about the election being stolen.
I do think you are vastly overestimating Trump's decision making strategies. I think Vance was palatable because of his ties to the billionaire donor class and because he's spent lots of time in recent months sucking up to Trump while also not being able to outshine him. I think that might be literally it.
My money is on Mark Kelly. You left Navy fighter pilot off his resume. Which in addition to being an astronaut basically makes him Captain America. Mark Kelly is literally who kids want to be when they grow up. A fighter pilot/ astronaut/ senator, m’dude IS career day. And we’d get the bonus of Gabby Giffords as Second Lady, who I’m sure will put her platform to good use.
Mark Kelly isn't a Governor.
Josh Shapiro called Pro-Palestinian protesters anti-semitic and urged universities, include U of Penn, to step on their first amendment rights. He is not someone that will turn the heat down on the Israel-Palestine issue for those concerned Dems are too comfortable with Palestinian genocide.
Shapiro came out hard and in favor of school vouchers, that is a HUGE no for me. As a school committee member running for reelection I have spent way too much time explaining why vouchers are bad and just hurt public education and the marginalized.
Vouchers?!? Fuck THAT.
Shapiro brings Israel back into the news cycle. Kamala better pick the astronaut, these pundits don't know shit, everyone likes astronauts and people vote on personalties not facts. Mark Kelly has the best story ever, just let him tell it and she will coast to victory.
That Arizona is a purple state is why I'd caution against removing a sitting senator but otherwise he'd be fine.
The Governor replaces a Senator in Arizona, and that's a dem, so in the near term it would be fine
And Arizona state law now requires that the replacement is of the same party as the departing Senator.
I read that there would have to be an election for the seat in 2026 but I can live with that. Kelly’s a more nationally well known figure than Shapiro, who has only been governor for 2 years. Just read that he could stay governor while he was running as VP candidate with Harris and then if elected,his Lt. governor (also a dem) would take over. I’m probably leaning Kelly at this point…
It causes a headache but it doesn’t mean it can’t be dealt with.
That being said, Kelly needs to address his stance on labor and come to a possible compromise.
Right? An astronaut AND a combat vet in the Democratic party? He's a unicorn. Pick him.
Good points.
"If Kamala loses, she’s probably the 2028 frontrunner." Sorry, but if Kamala HARRIS loses we probably won't have a 2028 election. Given the points expressed here, I don't think it'll be Shapiro. I also think that Kelly wouldn't be a good choice now knowing his record on labor.
"Kelly openly stating that his opposition was motivated by the decisions Weil had made under the Obama administration. These decisions included extending overtime to more American workers, increasing the number of employers considered to be joint employers (and thus undermining a loophole enabling powerful corporations to avoid legal accountability for their labor practices), and limiting the ability of firms to label employees as “independent contractors.”"
Can you imagine? Both Biden and Harris have regular meetings with unions. Then you pick a VP who is anti-organizing. To me that's a lose-lose regardless of his veteran and astronaut status.
I don't know much about any of the others. I think Dustin is right about Pete. As far as Beshear, I know at least one big money donor wanted him as president. That dude also wanted Manchin as prez, so that tiny sample size suggests he would appeal to moderates and could pull some never Trumpers who also couldn't vote for Harris.
Mostly, I'm stoked about having THIS type of conversation. It's been a hard several weeks for everyone.
I want to echo the 'nice to have THIS type of conversation' and that we have so many different good folks to choose from!
I think it's got to be Beshear or Kelly. Kelly would be my preferred but the opposition from labor really gives me pause. It could be overcome if Harris makes it a key part of the platform and Kelly does an about face on the issues but it might not be enough. I also like Beshear but we ain't winning Kentucky and he is the son of a political family and.....I just really want to have astronaut on the ticket. Could you imagine him as an ambassador for science the year we send someone back to the moon in (as of now) 2026?
Yeah I think they wanted Beshear so it’s a way to get some of the money train back since some of the billionaire boys club are still having a fit.
Oh my God, guys - check out this video of
Trump missing putt after putt (sorry for X).
Edit - I guess I can’t post it directly so here’s the NYMag story that includes the video. Trust me, it’s worth it.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/donald-trump-bryson-dechambeau-golf.html
I can see the ad now: “Donald Trump golfed one out of every four days of his presidency.”
(Miss, miss, miss, miss.)
“Practice does not necessarily make perfect. Donald Trump: bad at golf, bad at the presidency.”
Haha! Also does he do anything but golf, post his insane tweets to TS and meet with terrible world leaders? His joint interview with Vance was terrible the other day.
LOL. Thanks for sharing. I loved how he had to be coddled after every miss.
Let's be real, she's not choosing Buttigieg or Whitmer. To say nothing of their own potential runs in 28 if Harris doesn't win, A black woman and a gay dude? Two women??? Too many assholes will veto that. She's going to do what Obama did and choose a mid white dude (Sorry Biden!) to reassure the people who have an (un)conscious bias's against her race and gender.
And there's nothing wrong with that calculus (even though there is something wrong with that being the calculus).
Yep exactly. Why I think it will be Beshear.
That's fair. If it ends up being Beshear, it won't be because he'll win Kentucky's votes, it's about appealing to the independents and moderate Republicans being a governor of a deep red State.
For me, it's between him and Kelly provided Kelly can address his stance on labor.
Yeah. They do these weird calculations. I mean Kamala helped Biden with some of the negatives with his polling too when they ran in 2020.
The one area where Beshear might get hurt is he is against a ban on assault rifles. While there is no perfect candidate I not sure how I feel about not banning assault rifles.
Ugh I didn’t know that.
Just one correction, Mark Kelly is the junior senator from Arizona, not the governor. If he is picked as the VP nominee, he will have to resign. In Arizona, the governor (who happens to be a Democrat) appoints a replacement, who must be from the same party as the Senator who vacated the seat. So while it wouldn't currently affect the number of Democrat senators, it will trigger a special election in 2026 which could affect the Senate balance of power. And then the same seat is up for reelection as that is when the term for the the Senate seat is up. So there is a potential downside to choosing Mark Kelly.
So I think it won’t be Shapiro based on the whole settle a sexual harassment claim he did last year. That’s going to be the whole news cycle then. And you can’t say this election is about women and do some mess like that.
I love Kelly but I don’t think he wins white women and men for Harris. I think with them adding Beshear last night they saw too many negatives with everyone they had looked at and I think it will be him. He would help with the youth vote and he skewered Vance so he would kick his ass at a debate. Beshear also has definitely showed he can get Republicans to vote for him in a red state so would potentially help with states like GA that may see the blue wave not withstand a red wave that polling is showing. I’m just only speaking about the GA polling that was released yesterday.
I'm from NY so I think I'm not representative of white women even though I've been one all my life, but Kelly absolutely gets me and my kind of NY white person to vote! And I hate to say this, but Beshear does not. I think the deep south Christian thing just makes my skin crawl, but again I'm most likely an outlier.
It’s honestly about the white Christian vote and her swinging over undecideds. Also good chemistry between her and her VP matters. We know she’s going to have a hard time with white voters but the youth vote may help cancel that out.
Also the Bibi visit is going poorly. Good.
I get the urge to speculate and we can all talk about our favorites but while I'm certain there'll political calculations in the choice it'll most likely come down to who she's most comfortable with, and there really isn't anything wrong with that. After all it worked out for her and Biden.
Speaking of which, Major should be a part of the conversation. That doggo has been right on the money at every turn.
My understanding is that Kelly’s stance on the PRO act may sideline him. Mayor Pete is my guy but you have a good point - he may be better at Secretary of State or something.
Anyone smarter than me know the procedure for Trump to drop-kick Vance? I mean, I’m sure the firm backbones in the GOP would hold him to the letter of the law and all precedent, but just in case…
I want Pete as Secretary of State. I think Blinken is going to be out.
Pete would make an AMAZING Secretary of State!
He really would. Some of my state friends are hoping he gets it. I think the Gaza situation soured some of them right now. But they still are doing their mission.
I think so too. Plus give him the experience to run in the future
Pete as SOS is indeed perfect. Must be exhausting always literally being the smartest guy in the room all the time, but he makes it look easy.
He is. I think that helps him run in 2032.
I saw an article headline claiming this the other day, but I decided I didn't care. I know I'd prefer someone who can competently make some changes for the Palestinians, but the situation is so mired up in shit I don't know who can actually manage it.
Honestly we need to just tell them no more weapons and money to force them to get to a man ceasefire.
Anything is going to require a 3rd party peacekeeping police force, or at least with the current situation. But Hamas would murder them so they can keep getting everyone killed & Israeli politics considers a full genocide of Palestine a perfectly reasonable solution.
On the one hand, I will happily tell you how great Tim Walz is. On the other hand, don't take my governor.
I still die laughing every time I remember him telling folks to wear their dang masks - if for no other reason than to vote against him in the next election - during the height of Covid. The man was so done.
But yeah, don't take our governor. We're getting shit done here in the Midwest.
Josh Shapiro not only compared student protesters to the KKK, but now there's talk that he has harassment problems, and his preferred target is women of color. If that's the future of the DFL then we really do need to establish a legitimate third party.
Yeah I’m disappointed but once I saw this story on threads getting broke I went well that’s a wrap on Shapiro. Reece Colbert, Feminstajones and others were talking about it. I’m embarrassed I didn’t know about it.
Yikes, had no idea about this either, although I didn't know almost anything about Shapiro (or why the post author hates Fetterman, actually). You've got to imagine that at least one or two of those candidates mentioned have already had the opposition research done on them and have been struck from the list for reasons we don't know about yet.
I keep realizing no major newspapers are bringing it up which is weird. I saw someone saying just pick a Castro brother and be done and laughed out loud so hard today!
You must be from Minnesota. The Democratic Party is only the DFL (Democratic-Farmer-Labor) here.
You betcha!
Thanks, I didn't know what that meant!
Sorry nope to Shapiro - I'm from PA and having him on the ticket will not bring you anymore votes from PA than not having him on. He has only been in office 1 1/2 years and sorry but PA Republicans will not be swayed into supporting him. The only way Dems win PA is having a strong Philly area turnout - sorry, I wish I could count on the rest of the state to come through but it's rarely the case.
FWIW, of the socialists at Well There's Your Problem podcast, 2 are Philly boyz, and they essentially said the same thing. Philly and Pittsburgh will have to have HUGE Dem turnouts for the Ds to win.
That "these are weird people" clip makes me laugh and laugh. I love Tim Walz but I don't think he's the right choice. I also like Shapiro a whole lot as well and think someone well liked from a purple state like PA would be smart, also love Buttigieg and Kelly for the same reason. Basically there are a lot of really good and really exciting choices and I can't wait to see who gets picked. Plus the sooner they pick the sooner I can buy the sign!
Walz is hilarious.
I love Walz. Every once in a while, my state governor takes a shot at 'liberal Minnesota', and Walz so deftly deflects it the media forgets about the whole thing an hour later.
He’s really good! I was reading up on him today.
North Carolinian here and while I prefer Gov Cooper would run for Senate and get us a Dem Senator back in 2026, he’s been a great governor. He’s well-liked and managed to not piss too many people off during Covid. He also had harmless, jokester Dad vibes and has managed to do the best he can with a GOP supermajority (look up Tricia Cotham, fuck that bitch for forever) and state supreme court.
Former North Carolinian (current Californian) here and I agree, Roy is great! He'd be a good choice but apparently him running could open up the door for some more bullshit shenanigans from the NC legislature. Whenever he leaves the state the Lt. Governor takes over and with that currently being the odious Mark Robinson they could pull some shizz. This IG video explains it better than I:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9zWvoDtcoI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Side note, please lord do not let Mark Robinson win. What's the feeling about him around the state? My family is mostly composed of Trump cult members so I avoid political discussions whenever possible so I can't tell if people will actually vote for him. And yes, fuck Tricia Cotham. What a cooze.
Roy running for Senate in 2026 would be AWESOME! Maybe Kamala will give him a position in her cabinet or he will run for Senate.
I'm in California right now!! (For Comic-Con.) I'm in Raleigh, but in Wake & Durham counties, there's not a ton of enthusiasm for Robinson, thankfully. I think even the non-uber religious Republicans know what a complete lunatic he is.
Anderson Clayton has been a fabulous burst of energy as chair that state Dems have really needed. She's everywhere, all of the time, bubby, smart, adorable, and sharp as hell on social media. She's made it her mission to get a Dem nominee for every position in every county, whether big or small.
(I’m in Durham! Hello, fellow Triangle resident! 👋)
Hi!!! Small world! I was just replying to your other comment haha. Does your husband have any insight about whether RC would consider a senate run? Cheri B loosing was heartbreaking.
Yes! That Senate run is what he wants for Roy to do as well. He said he “could be the most reliably Democrat candidate since Jim Hunt”. (Still so sad about Cheri B.)
FWIW Cooper running for Senate is my husbands preference too (Michael is very involved in local politics and NC born-and-bred, so I defer to him often.)
I commented the same down thread!
(Also: TRICIA COTHAM 🤬)
With regards to the ridiculous lieutenant governor and rule, I wonder if Cooper can minimize his time out of state while campaigning ?! 😬
*has* not had dad energy. My phone won’t let me fix it!
I realize the Republican leadership works on alternate brainwaves, but the Vance pick is so weird and dumb for an unusual number of reasons, how do they just allow Trump's pick on a last-minute whim? I've been thinking for a while now that much like before, Trump never wanted to be president, he just fell ass-into it. He just wants the constant press without the responsibility. The Vance pick seems like Trump knows it will look like a solid decision on the surface, but be just enough to cost him the election, which in turn helps him stay on TV. It's a solid bet Vance was not the top choice before the shooting, but the outpouring of media sympathy made him look to someone who could re-tip the scales against him, ever so slightly. I recognize the danger of the mob that wants to get Trump into office, and it's hard to even give Trump that much credit, but it sure seems like he's looking for additive ways to lose by an inch.
I just read an article it was that Vance was picked because Trump thought he could send him to the rust belt states and he would do well there, as they would see him as one of them and get the undecided voters. Talk about not knowing your audience. And it goes to show that Trump really does not like those states and doesn't want to have to campaign there.
In 2016, Pence was the type to get the moderates because of his demeanor relative to Trump, even though Pence had hardline conservative stances. Vance acts like he wants to be like Trump.
And he made sense as he was the opposite of Trump and was the "establishment republican" and could bring them along. Vance is Trump or wants to be Trump and brings no one new into the tent. His abortion stance is as extreme as it can be.
Vance is even more frightening than Pence or Trump to me because he is even more far right in his beliefs. He also started out as supposedly Democrat, so will either say or do anything to get ahead, or else was radicalized and genuinely believes what he’s saying. And he’s an election denier, so would actively help Trump stay in power.
His sons and the billionaires like Thiel wanted him. That dude just wrecked his political career with agreeing to be his VP.
Oh, I 100% believe Trump doesn't want to be president. I think his primary motivation is making sure he's not jailed (SCOUTUS anyone?). If not for the fact that there's a way to overturn this stuff if we win the Presidency, House and Senate, if Trump didn't need to appoint more Justices to lock up his safety, I truly believe he wouldn't have run. Even now, unless something is done about SCOUTUS, Trump still sorta win-wins. He still has the SCOUTUS (for now), AND he can bang on AGAIN about the election being stolen.
Never underestimate Mr. "You're So Vain" and his 'visuals'. I think how Vance looked next to CFDT on TV was a major factor.
I do think you are vastly overestimating Trump's decision making strategies. I think Vance was palatable because of his ties to the billionaire donor class and because he's spent lots of time in recent months sucking up to Trump while also not being able to outshine him. I think that might be literally it.