As of Sunday, the Democratic party has been brought back to life with the news that President Joe Biden would be stepping away from the presidential race, officially endorsing his VP Kamala Harris to take over his campaign. Already, the Harris campaign has raised over $81 million, secured significant endorsements from top democratic leaders and caucuses, and even gained enough delegates to be the presumptive Democratic nominee.
The energy felt inside the party is truly inspiring for the first time in years, but we must not get ahead of ourselves. Harris may have been the easiest choice to go forward with, but an important task lies ahead. The choice of Harris’s running mate will make or break this ticket.
The Democrats need to be strategic here. Donald Trump and the Republicans have already begun to label Harris as some far-left radical, which could alienate some of the older generational independent voters that may have swung for Biden. While I would love to see a truly diverse ticket, possibly with two women (Shoutout Big Gretch), doubling down might not be the best option due to the high stakes of this election.
To be clear: I hate that this is how we have to resonate about politics in 2024. I wish America was at a point where we could put two highly qualified women up on the ticket and not have them face substantial amounts of misogyny, but we have already seen it happening with only one woman on the ballot. This doesn’t mean that I don’t believe that a Harris-Whitmer ticket could win, but I think it would provide a bit of a challenge, sadly, as not everyone in this country holds decent morals.
As hard as it is for me to say, Harris needs to pull an Obama.
Freshman Senator Barack Obama chose Biden back in 2008 as his running mate due to his experience levels and the obvious fact that he was a white male who could balance out the ticket after Obama faced the issue of whether America would elect a Black President. Thankfully, they did. Hopefully, the first Black woman and woman in general will be elected too, this November.
The Democratic party overall has an issue with attracting white, non-college-educated, and/or older voters. Being selective in the VP pick could possibly bring those types of voters back into play in swing states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, whilst still keeping the younger BIPOC voters.
Many names have been floated around on who could fit the role: Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. All of whom fill the mold of what Harris’s campaign is looking for.
If I was on the Harris campaign, my VP candidate would be Beshear with a dose of Kelly as a backup option.
Beshear provides a southern Democrat charm from a deeply red state and actually stands up to the GOP - something the Democrats need to start doing more of. He is very strong in his pro-reproductive rights and pro-LGBTQ+ messaging, which would align with the Harris campaign beautifully. Additionally, Beshear focuses heavily on “kitchen table issues” that older rural voters care about strongly, and has even worked on bipartisan bills within his legislature in Kentucky after natural disasters. He would be a welcome alternative to JD Vance, who isn’t even popular with the people.
However, Beshear does not come from a swing state and would not help flip Kentucky’s electoral votes for Harris. Therefore, sadly, I don’t think the pick will go to him.
So, who will end up getting the pick?
Josh Shapiro, and I’m dreading that.
I don’t think Shapiro is necessarily a bad option. I get why he is so high on the list: the 19 electoral college votes he could provide, being a leader of a swing state, and presenting as a moderate Democrat. However, he comes with drawbacks that plagued Biden and that Harris needs to get away from.
Shapiro is a staunch supporter of Israel, which is a very controversial topic within the Democratic party at the moment. He has condemned college protests, claimed he would sign a bill withholding state aid from schools that divested from Israel, and spoken out strongly on America’s need to work with Israel after October 7th. As more and more liberals become frustrated and enraged with America’s participation in the aiding of Israel’s occupation of Palestine, he can be a serious pitfall for this ticket, with voters who were against Biden turning around and not voting at all. I don’t disagree that Trump will be far worse in his management of the Israel-Gaza situation, but many young voters will not vote, period, if Shapiro’s name ends up next to Harris’.
Another downfall that actually might be worse is the fact that Shapiro supports school vouchers for private schools. This is a controversial decision, especially considering the Democratic party is usually highly pro-union and Shapiro’s stance goes directly against many teacher unions' wishes. Harris’s first endorsement from any sort of union was through The American Federation of Teachers (and the largest teacher union in the country), so this would be a bad look for the ticket. Furthermore, Biden is one of the most pro-union/labor presidents we have had in decades, and Harris can piggyback on that, but not if she selects Shapiro.
As you can tell, a lot of thought has to go into this selection. I truly hope that, after the Democratic campaign got a second chance at life this past week, they will vet these candidates wisely and choose the best possible option to defeat Trump and Vance in November.
There is so much on the line, and I hope we aren’t let down again.
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