If you really want to win…

     Right off the bat let’s dispense with the media horsesh!t.  The media over the last few days has been highlighting ONLY governors to fill the VP spot and, from their reporting, it’s obvious they have a favorite.  Not sure why that is but we can dispense with that narrative when looking at some historical data:

President	Vice	Vice President Position
Harry Truman	Alden Barkley	Senator
John Kennedy	Lyndon Johnson	Senator
Lyndon Johnson	Hubert Humphrey	Senator
Richard Nixon	Spiro Agnew	Governor
Gerald Ford	Nelson Rockefeller	Governor
Jimmy Carter	Walter Mondale	Senator
Ronald Regan	George Bush	Various Admin. Positions
George Bush	Dan Quayle	Senator
Bill Clinton	Al Gore	Senator
George Bush	Dick Cheyney	Various Admin. Positions
Barack Obama	Joe Biden	Senator
Donald Trump	Mike Pence	Governor
Joe Biden	Kamala Harris	Senator

Over the last 65 years Democratic success has been with a senator in the VP position.  So where on earth does the idea come from that the VP MUST be a sitting governor?  The idea for Democrats needing a governor on the ticket as VP has no recent historical relevance.  Enough said.

Media Favorite

If anyone has been watching the 3 major networks, MSNBC, and other media outlets, they coalesced around Josh Shapiro in the days after Biden dropped out.  It made no sense to us, except that they were pushing their agenda.  Shapiro is currently popular in Pennsylvania but has no national name recognition.  He swamped a guy in his election bid who basically was to the right of Attila The Hun.  So let’s get right to the point.

Nothing Personal, Just Business

So, is Josh Shapiro doing a good job as governor?  Yes he is.  Does he have a future in national democratic politics?  Yes he does but not now and not as someone’s VP.  Here’s my thinking:

• Harris doesn’t need Shapiro on the ticket to win PA.  She can probably get Obama-like numbers out of Philly and the bedroom communities surrounding Philly.  If she does she will be very hard to beat. If she doesn’t she’s done.
• Shapiro’s job, as governor, is to use his power in the state to get out the vote.  He needs to focus on PA and not be traveling around the country. If you look at the above grid you’ll see that there was practical logic in choosing a senator over a governor for successful democratic presidents.
• Shapiro does nothing for Harris in Michigan, Arizona, North Carolina or Wisconsin.
• As a strong supporter of Israel he will allay Jewish fears over US support but the other side of the coin is he will hurt in certain communities, especially in Michigan.
• Shapiro has no national name recognition.

So who then?  The answer has always been right of front of anyone who’s been in politics for any length of time:  Sen. Mark Kelly.

Here’s my thinking here:

• He does more national name recognition
• He defeated a sitting Republican Senator
• He is a former astronaut that is close to hero status
• He won over a Peter Thiel-supported candidate, the same Peter Thiel who created J.D. Vance so he has the playbook.
• He helps in an all-important border state where immigration will be the top issue.
• He helps more in states like Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.
• He is a moderate senator who, like Biden, knows how to work the Senate to get things done.  People forget how instrumental Biden was in working the Senate for Obama Care.
• He frees up the democratic governors to focus on turnout in their states.

So, if the goal is to WIN and not just to get a  favorite of any group,  the choice is clear:

Sen. Mark Kelly.