Josh Shapiro, Tim Walz or Pete Buttigieg? Here is Kamala Harris' best pick for VP, campaign expert says

[Wicked Blue]

Updated: Jul. 30, 2024, 10:30 a.m.|Published: Jul. 30, 2024, 8:03 a.m.

By Kevin Manahan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Republican political consultant Mike Murphy chuckled when he watched a clip of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro delivering a rousing speech for Vice President Kamala Harris during a rally in his home state on Monday.

“Now, I don’t think Shapiro would be a bad choice, but I think he’s overrated. The conventional wisdom is a myth that, frankly, isn’t that true in the world of campaigns anymore.”

...

Murphy says Harris should pick the young, gay and politically brilliant Buttigieg — the Secretary of Transportation, former naval officer and ex-mayor of South Bend, Ind. Buttigieg is 42.

“I think the smart choice is [Pete] Buttigieg, because of two reasons,” Murphy said. “It doubles down on what the election should be about if Kamala Harris wants to win, which is generational change, vs. somebody whose ideas are locked in 1955. And second, Buttigieg is by far the best political athlete in the Democratic Party, and that’s a weapon I’d want to deploy.”

https://www.nj.com/politics/2024/07/josh-shapiro-tim-waltz-or-pete-buttigieg-here-is-kamala-harris-best-pick-for-vp-campaign-expert-says.html

(paywall)

For whatever it's worth

[LakeArenal]

1. Pete or Walz for me. 🇺🇸

[liberalgunwilltravel]

57. A bad idea

It's a bad idea to take advice from Republican consultants. I love Pete and he is the best communicator the Democrats have. And he will continue to be in whatever role he plays. I'd prefer him as SoS or SecDef. His time will come.

[birdographer]

69. I agree with all of this

Not time for Pete yet. And taking advice from anything republican is not a good idea, sort of like the Schumer trick of saying Vance should go, in order to make Donny keep him just to not take Schumer's advice. I do like the idea of a young VP but not at the cost of the ticket.

[democratsruletheday]

77. I agree...

Murphy is a snake in the grass. He wants Pete so they can box Dems in with Homophobic rhetoric which sadly many boomers lap UP. But he's right about on thing: Pete IS brilliant

[LakeArenal]

81. Pretty broad brush you use.

Box in Dems with Homophobic rhetoric?

How could any Dem be boxed in for standing for equality and acceptance?

Homophobic, mysoginist or racists people probably won’t vote Democratic anyway.

[Gaytano70]

2. A dream of mine times two!

A woman POTUS, and a fellow lgbtq+ on the ticket (and eventually a POTUS)

[phoenix_rising]

7. This! 🙌🙌🙌

[phoenix_rising]

3. Yesss! Pete is the best choice by far!!

Pete for VP now, and President in 8 years!!

[GreenWave]

27. Pete and Re-Pete, a young JFK in the making.

[Ocelot II]

4. I'll be happy whoever it is. They're all good.

Of course my favorite is my awesome governor Tim Walz, but if he isn't chosen we get to keep him so it's all good. I'm just waiting for the announcement so I can order my lawn sign.

[rso]

5. RSO

Unfortunately, not convinced that this Country is ready to vote for a gay VP.
I think Kelly would give us the best chance.

[WarGamer]

8. people said the same about Obama

[rso]

16. RSO

Not the same thing, being gay is still unfortunately a major stigma in our society.

[LakeArenal]

21. Huh? I don't think so. I think it's Pete's time in history as much as it Harris's.

[Celerity]

39. One of the more problematic statements I have seen here lately. Do you really think that tens upon tens of millions

of Americans do not ALSO stigmatise us black folk to major levels, from every angle, in our daily lives?

For the record, I am mixed race black, I am queer, and I am cis-gendered female, so I claim a fair amount of agency to ask that question.

[liberalgunwilltravel]

60. Unfortunately

Unfortunately, I believe you are correct. That is especially true in many Black and Hispanic communities. Kamala is doing a great job re-energizing Black males to support Democrats. Pete is great and his time will come, but I don't think that time is now. How I wish I were wrong.

[LeftInTX]

38. Pete didn't win the primary. He's only won local elections.

[Buckeyeblue]

11. People who wouldn't vote for a gay candidate aren't going to vote for a democratic candidate

Most people, including a lot of Republicans, don't really care if someone is gay. I don't think it's an issue.

A ticket of Kamala and Pete looks a lot like America.

[rso]

17. RSO

There are unfortunately people in the very small group that will decide the election who will be resistant to vote for a gay VP.

[LakeArenal]

22. You are entitled to you stigma position

Just keep doubling down.

[rso]

30. RSO

I desperately want to defeat Trump, and I am thus advocating for the best way to defeat him.

[Kaleva]

34. And Pete could actually help bring out the base

More then compensating for the loss of the homophobic demographic.

[quaint]

73. Republican politicians do not reflect the views of regular, registered Republicans, IMHO.

[HUAJIAO]

64. "People who wouldn't vote for a gay candidate aren't going to vote for a democratic candidate"

Exactly right..

[LakeArenal]

82. Homophobs, misogynists and racists don't vote Democratic.

I doubt there are very few that are only one of those categories above. If you hate one group I’m guessing you hate many.

[SKKY]

19. And he doesn't do well, at all, with a certain demographic we absolutely must have to win this election...

...and I'm not convinced they will overlook their hangups about a gay man even with Kamala at the top of the ticket. Having said that, Pete is a generational talent and I'm a huge, huge fan of his. I'm also a fan of Democracy and I haven't seen anything to convince me that would be our strongest ticket. I'm leaning toward either Shapiro or Walz.

[JI7]

20. Which demographic are you talking about ?

[LakeArenal]

24. Their own I guess.

[SKKY]

26. African-American men are not receptive to a homosexual male candidate....

...and until they overcome that, I'm not convinced Pete would help seal the deal for us.

[crimycarny]

32. True--even Obama took awhile to solidify his position on gay marriage

Obama waffled a bit between domestic partnerships and marriage.

Article from Time:

https://time.com/3816952/obama-gay-lesbian-transgender-lgbt-rights/

In his memoir The Audacity of Hope, Obama recounts a story of how a lesbian supporter called him up after he had said he opposed same-sex marriage in radio interview, citing his “religious traditions” as part of the reason. She had been hurt, feeling he suggested that she and people like here were “bad people.”

He wrote: “And I was reminded that it is my obligation, not only as an elected official in a pluralistic society but also as a Christian, to remain open to the possibility that my unwillingness to support gay marriage is misguided … that Jesus’ call to love one another might demand a different conclusion.”

[SKKY]

78. I'm not blaming Black folks for everything. All I'm saying is Black men have yet to come around to fully...

....accepting homosexuality as a norm. And that's why Pete wouldn't be, in my estimation, the strongest VP regardless of how exceptionally talented he is.

[Doodley]

56. Agreed. The only thing that matters right now is winning this election. Pete is my personal favorite, but

we have to attract as many votes as possible. It was the same kind of argument about Biden stepping down. It was not about who loved Joe or not, but about attracting votes, and it certainly has boosted our chances of winning.

[LakeArenal]

83. Got any real statistics on that?

Again. Pretty broad brush.

[HUAJIAO]

66. Who's ever heard of either of those two?

[LakeArenal]

85. Lots of people. More every day.

[LisaM]

36. I have a friend in Arizona who doesn't want to lose him as a Senator.

She said it was hard enough electing a Democratic senator and it would be a disaster if he left.

She is still smarting over the Janet Napolitano debacle and I don't blame her.

[Torchlight]

43. It does not follow.

I was unctuously lectured to in 2008 that this country was not ready to vote for an African-American for president. And given what the electorate did to John Kerry's record of service, I'm not convinced another White Male Veteran is quite the magic bullet or insurance for success that's being it's advertised as.

Guess I'm lucky, I think all the potential candidates have strengths. I also know that regardless of the choice, someone, somewhere will tell me "we're not ready for this..." just like 2008.

[Celerity]

45. Kelly has labour issues, which could present real problems with our base as well, so you obviously are willing to accept

risk to some level on another front.

On Ali Velshi, Sara Nelson, President of the Association of Flight Attendants, said Mark Kelly is a non-starter for VP.

She said Walz would be great.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219251859

[HUAJIAO]

59. Are YOU ready to vote for a gay VP?

[pinkstarburst]

63. Kelly brings no excitement to the ticket

We're not going after the bigot vote anyway. We already lost the bigot vote the moment we put a black woman at the top of the ticket, so there's no point crawling on our knees trying to beg them to vote for our ticket. Anyone too bigoted to vote for a gay man as VP is not going to magically turn around and vote for a black woman as president just because you slap a white astronaut on the ticket as VP. We're kidding ourselves if we think otherwise. We need to go after OUR voters and get them out there and energized.

[MustLoveBeagles]

70. If we waited till people were ready

Change would never happen. I personally favor Kelly and Walz but Pete would also be a fine choice.

[WarGamer]

6. agree 100% Be bold... be brave

[crazylikafox]

9. Don't think we should take advice from a Republican

[Stuckinthebush]

28. Didn't he pick Palin?

If so that isn't a good look.

But I do agree with him about Pete

[Jarqui]

10. I wanted Pete in 2020 but still love Joe

I'm pumped for Kamala.

There is part of me that would love Pete to get the nod.

But the most important thing is beating Trump.
If Pete is the best VP candidate to do that, by all means, bring him on.
If he isn't, bring on the person who is.

Only their internal polling, etc can tell them so I'm not going to try to second guess.
They've done such a good job rolling out Kamala, it is pretty hard to question their decision.

Beat Trump badly whatever way they can.

[jujubeets]

12. Shapiro

Shapiro, otherwise cheeto will flip PA red, according to polls and betting markets

[Ocelot II]

13. The last time a running mate delivered a state that couldn't be won otherwise was in 1960,

when JFK chose LBJ because the southern Democrats had supported him going into the convention. It was a very close election that JFK would have lost without TX and the other southern states. Since then there has been no instance where a running mate has brought a state that wouldn't have been won without them. It's conventional wisdom but it's wrong. Ryan couldn't even deliver WI as Romney's running mate. This isn't a dis on Shapiro, who'd be a fine running mate, but considering that PA elected him and Fetterman, a Harris/Anybody ticket should be just as able to win that state.

[bif]

29. I totally agree

That kind of thinking is so yesterday. Pick the best candidate, regardless of what state he's from.

[Sugarcoated]

41. Without Scranton Joe, Harris would do well to pick a vp

who's very popular who can raise those red counties up a few percentage points.

[pinkstarburst]

65. VP choice just doesn't have that much pull on bringing a state with them

We need to pick the best person for the job.

[TheFarseer]

14. Don't take advice from a republican

Think: What is his agenda? I assume it is to water down our agenda or cause us to lose to Trump. Shapiro supports school vouchers so he is a no for me right away. I love Buttigieg for how he goes after the Republicans but I don’t see him as someone who is going to enact a bold agenda to help working and middle class people. Walt hits the Republicans hard and you can count on him to enact change that helps the middle class, helps public schools, fights climate change and stands up to billionaires. Walz is my guy.

[elocs]

15. The experts. Weren't they all predicting that SCOTUS would not rule to give Trump immunity?

They're never wrong except when they are.
I don't see Kamala picking Pete as her running mate because it's too big of a risk no matter what the experts say or DU for that matter. If she does, and loses, how many decades might it be before we see another openly gay person on a presidential ticket? Because Pete will get the blame even if he is the smartest person in any room he is in.

People must really think this election is going to be a blowout for Harris and she can do or say whatever she pleases. Like the little kid in the back of the car on a long trip, we are not there yet. Reality may suck, but it is what it is. Having a woman of color as a candidate for president is enough to have on our plate at one time and as he promises, if Trump wins we won't need to worry about voting again because he will fix it.

[Kaleva]

35. They also gave Biden immunity

[Nimble_Idea]

18. I go to repub sources for all my financial and health advice

[Owl]

23. Walz!

[wildflowergardener]

25. Pete

Who would be your choice if Pete was not gay? I think it should be Pete. I don’t think we as democrats discount the best person just because he is gay. I think it is hypocritical to support gay rights except when choosing a candidate. Pete is smart, charismatic quick on his feet, ex military.

[Zoomie1986]

44. He wouldn't be my choice if he were straight

Because his resume is so thin that it does nothing for the ticket.

He has never won anything but a small town mayor's office and a couple of primaries in small, racially homogenous states. He couldn't carry over his appeal to bigger states with more diverse voters, and that's beyond concerning in a party that relies on appealing to diverse voters to win.

He has zero foreign policy experience.

He's never served in a legislature, and certainly not at the federal level, when one of the most important jobs of a VP is wheeling and dealing with Capitol Hill. Every VP all the way back to Truman has served in the Senate, to capitalize on those valuable experiences and tap into the network they build from serving there.

He's never been a governor or even lt governor, only a cabinet member or a mayor. This is important because being a governor gives him experience at making decisions about a broader range of issues that are far more complex than what a mayor or cabinet member faces.

You know who he is?

The gay Anglo version of Julian Castro, but without the rags to riches back story. Their resumes are freakishly similar and they're not far apart in age, so why isn't anyone pushing for Castro as VP, when he could bring in not only the youth vote, but also wake up that sleeping giant known as the Hispanic demographic, which could throw a spanner into the GOP's complacency about Texas? I don't think he'd turn the state blue, because, well, Texas, plus Anglos aren't as enamored of him as the Hispanics...

But he might scare the pants off the GOP with how much Hispanic turnout he could generate in the state. He could very well generate enough to put Colin Allred over the top for his Senate bid against the loathsome Ted Cruz (or Red Ooze as my mother calls him).

So why not push for Castro, when he has a similar resume to Buttigieg, was mayor of a far larger city (at least 10X as large as South Bend during his tenure), whose job as San Antonio mayor meant regularly engaging with Latin America (at least some foreign policy experience), and who loses us nothing with the youth vote but could tap into an even bigger demographic?

When looked at objectively, the reason Buttigieg is not a good fit for VP is why Castro isn't: Neither is ready for prime time yet, and won't be until they win a statewide office, get elected to Congress or the Senate, wrangle a major foreign policy position at the federal level--something--anything--that shores up those thin resumes.

I hope you do not think that these criticisms mean that I don't like the man when I do, very much. I think he's super-intelligent and quick on his feet in interviews. I think his future is as bright as he is--he's going places, if he plays his cards right and gets some more experience under his belt. We all know it.

But none of that is enough for the job at hand right now.

[wildflowergardener]

79. Vp

Well I must admit I haven’t dug too deep into his resume, I just like him due to his appearances on tv and personality.

[JohnSJ]

31. A republican political consultant?

[Emile]

33. I like Tim Walz.

[patphil]

37. Being a Republican Political Consultant, he's saying who he thinks would be the easiest to beat.

[yliza]

40. Imagine the VP debate!

Mayor Pete would eviscerate Vance, it would be glorious to watch.

[Warpy]

42. Not Pete, unfortunately

but someone in here yesterday described him as a snake charmer for his appearances on Pox News. The State Department might be his destination. Imagine him charming snakes like Orban or Modi or even Putin.

I think it might come down to Walz or Beshear. While Beshear would provide a nod to the south now that Cooper has dropped out, I'm afraid my own VP-o-meter is more in favor of Walz, who has turned into a firebrand since he's been auditioning for the job. Harris has engaged voters' brains, Walz would go for their guts.

It could work.

[pinkstarburst]

68. I worry Walz doesn't appeal to young voters

He may be the same age as Kamala, but he looks much older.

[Warpy]

74. I know, but that could be an asset

Harris looks so much younger than she is. A lot of old goats out there (and I live in old folks' housing) would think he is older than she is and would be there with wise counsel, a steadying male "daddy" presence. They'd be shocked to find out how old Harris is but I'm not about to tell them, are you?

[TBF]

46. You would have us believe that we should listen to a republican consultant?

lol - whatever.

[Demsrule86]

47. Absolutely not...we win in the rustbelt.

[IronLionZion]

48. And we wouldn't have to give up a governor or senate seat

I would support a Harris-Buttigieg ticket.

[Persondem]

49. Of course the GOP consultant says Buttigieg

They want to run against him. FFS.

[yorkster]

50. Walz is fantastic.

I wish someone would do a Venn diagram of his skills and interests. A pleasantly feisty, highly informed, passionate fighter with a quick wit and much experience of real note.

[Demsrule86]

51. I don't take advice from Republicans...Mike Murphy is exactly that.

I don't even know why this is posted...any advice is to make sure we lose.

[James48]

52. Go PETE!

I am in awe of Pete’s abilities to express a point, and stay on target.

He’s the one I would pick for VP, but then again, I am a Wes Clarke, Bernie Sanders, Barravk Obama kind of guy.

[Demsrule86]

54. You should change the title to Republican expert.

[spanone]

55. Mike Murphy? Bwahahahahahaaaa

Don't trust a republicon to pick our Veep, they all lie.

[pinkstarburst]

58. Pete for the win! He has all the energy with young voters!

[Susan Calvin]

61. I adore Pete and I'm not discounting him, but

I have no interest in what a Republican consultant has to say. Why should I?

[Doodley]

62. Is there a particular reason why we are listening to a Republican political consultant who wants Trump to win?

[GainesT1958]

71. Andy Bashear works, as well...

He would appeal to Southern voters (even if he wouldn't bring Kentucky around) which matters particularly in at least three states: North Carolina, Georgia and quite possibly, Florida...

[GainesT1958]

72. Andy Bashear would be a smart choice...

He's young, and he would appeal to Southern voters (even if he wouldn't bring Kentucky around) which matters particularly in at least three states: North Carolina, Georgia and quite possibly, Florida...🤔

[Tarheel_Dem]

75. Well, I didn't get a say so in who Chump chose as his running mate, so if you don't mind, I'd rather we not take....

advice from a GOP operative as to who Kamala should choose as hers.

[AllaN01Bear]

76. my crystal ball and gaydar have been broke for years , then there is my spidy sense.

[valleyrogue]

80. LOL!!!!!!!!

Forget about it.

[Stinky The Clown]

84. ???