It would appear that Kamala Harris has her list of VP candidates whittled down to just a handful.
Several reports have broken regarding the finalists, but I believe four are atop her list, so we will take a quick look at them.
Talking Points…
- The Final Four
- Who is likely to be picked
- Analysis
Harris has no choice but to move quickly on this because the DNC's virtual roll call will be held in less than two weeks. The ticket has to be finalized by August 7, or the Democratic Party will fail to meet the ballot deadline for several states. I am sure that would be litigated, but with the shenanigans the Democrats pulled to get Kamala at the top of the ticket, I doubt Democrats want any legal problems.
To that point, Harris has reportedly gotten her list down to just a handful of names that are being considered, and our earlier reports were dialed in rather nicely on that front. According to the latest reports, the final four people that Harris is considering are:
When the Trump campaign was asked about the possible VP picks, Trump campaign spokesperson Steve Cheung did not seem to be worried about any of the potential choices, stating:
"There is a short list of governors and senators. They are all interchangeable."
I believe this race is down to two people: Senator Kelly and Governor Shapiro. We have to look at this from the perspective of who can bring a state home for Harris that she currently does not have in her pocket. Both Arizona and PA are battleground states where Biden was trailing before he dropped out of the race, and once things settle down, I have to believe Harris will still be behind in polling.
In the most recent Emerson College poll, Trump was ahead of Harris 46-44% in Pennsylvania, a few points better than Biden was doing, and clearly within reach for Harris if the number holds. In the same poll, Harris trailed Trump by eight points in Arizona, which has me leaning toward Shapiro simply because she has a far better chance of flipping PA, and PA is far more important in terms of Harris having a path to 270.
The question then becomes how Democrat voters, especially on the far left, would respond to Harris having a Jewish VP. The far left in the party despises Israel, which is a point that was brought up recently on CNN when commentator John King stated:
"He's Jewish. There could be some risks with putting him on the ticket."
This week, Harris burned both ends of the candle regarding Israel. She reportedly met with PM Netanyahu after his appearance before Congress, and both parties came out of the meeting with a positive outlook, then Harris started talking smack, saying that she told Netanyahu to get the cease fire deal done ASAP to stop the "needless" suffering in Gaza. She is no friend to Israel, but how would her supporters feel about a pro-Israel VP? If Harris can figure out a way to spin this, I think Shapiro is her guy. I don't see anyone else who can contribute as much to her ticket in delivering votes as Shapiro. And let's not forget that he not only impacts PA but also Michigan, so Shapiro could help Harris win two key Blue Wall states, which would appear to be her only path to 270.
