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Vice President Kamala Harris is set to announce her running mate on Tuesday, but amid all the hullabaloo over who she’ll tap, one mantra remains the unbreakable rule for any vice presidential search: do no harm.
Parlor talk is rampant over the three men rumored to be in the veepstakes’ top tier: Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Tim Walz of Minnesota and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly. The search’s calculus likely takes into account their varying appeals, backgrounds, personal baggage and where on the electoral map they can improve Harris’ standing.
But it’s unclear exactly how much a running mate helps the candidate at the top of the ticket — and the downside of picking someone not ready for the bright lights of a national campaign are severe, possibly making the lack of negatives superior to any possible positives a contender brings.
“At the end of the day, the most practical thing is, do no harm”, said former Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., a Harris ally.
“Who’s the governor of which state? Who’s the senator from, what state? What do they bring? There’s all this public record about the other factors that you would include. But the vetting . is where you really have to do the deep dive to make sure that somebody meets the other criteria, but that can at best bring value, at worst, be neutral, because you sure don’t want someone to bring the ticket down”, he added.
Those in contention to be Harris’ pick have been auditioning for days, appearing across various media outlets, singing the vice president’s praises and going after former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance his running mate. Last weekend, some were interviewed in person at Harris’ residence in Washington.
Of Shapiro, Walz and Kelly, each brings his own benefits.
Shapiro is a rising star and popular governor of the nation’s marquee swing state. Walz brings a progressive record and the folksy appeal of a white-haired Midwesterner, along with an extensive record in Washington, the military and public education. Kelly boasts a sterling resume as a combat veteran and former astronaut from a swing state who is married to a survivor of political violence.
