I have no qualms about this – I’m living for all of the political gossip these days, and Kamala Harris’s Veepstakes was full of drama. It’s all coming out now that Harris has chosen Tim Walz as her running mate too. The shortlist was culled down to three men: Walz, Josh Shapiro and Mark Kelly. In my opinion, the push to get Joe Biden off of the Democratic ticket was linked to Kelly, in that a lot of those Democrats publicly bashing Biden post-debate wanted to dump Kamala Harris and install Mark Kelly as the nominee. When Kamala quickly became the consensus nominee, those same people then argued that Harris MUST choose Kelly as her running mate. While Kelly made her shortlist, and she did personally interview Kelly this past weekend, Harris decided against Kelly for an interesting reason. Some highlights from NBC News’ coverage:
Walz’s likeability: Harris did not know any of the candidates very well just three weeks ago. But after she whittled down her final list to Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and held in-person interviews with them Sunday, Harris concluded she had the best personal rapport with Walz and was convinced that he would have her back and not let his personal ambitions get in the way. “You also have to ask yourself at some point: Is this someone you would want to have lunch with every week for four years?” a White House official said.
Face-to-face meetings: By last Thursday, Holder and Remus had compiled their findings for a meeting Friday with a panel of trusted confidants who conducted the first interviews. They included Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and former Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, a top Biden adviser who has remained on the Harris campaign. By Saturday, the team had whittled the list down to three names — Walz, Shapiro and Kelly — who were told to prepare for face-to-face meetings with Harris.
The in-person meetings: Walz left his meeting feeling confident. Shapiro did not. “He wrestled with it Sunday,” said a person close to Shapiro, because he “loves his job” and, only two years in, has more he wants to do. “[He’s] all in for her, no matter where he sits,” the source added.
Why Kelly wasn’t chosen: Kelly had the most impressive résumé of any candidate, but many Democrats see him as an underwhelming speaker and personally cool. Some Harris allies also felt he was not loyal enough to Biden in the trying weeks after his poor debate performance and believed he had not done enough to defend the administration’s border policies, according to a person familiar with the process.
“Some Harris allies also felt he was not loyal enough to Biden in the trying weeks after his poor debate performance.” A subtle confirmation, to me, that the Bidens and the Harris-Emhoffs quietly noted every single Democrat who took part in the very public intraparty coup. While the Bidens and VP Harris are not doing anything about it right now in the last stretch of the campaign cycle, make no mistake, there was a list compiled. Those people will be dealt with in time. Not now, not in September, but eventually. Of course, I also think Kelly probably bombed his interview, just like Shapiro. Notice they’re not saying anything about that. Kamala Harris is a former prosecutor – those one-on-one meetings were make or break and only Walz really held up. I bet Walz was the only one who made her laugh too.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.