Make The Vice President A Spaceman

Make The Vice President A Spaceman

By

Leonard Zwelling

As always, the moment a new presidential candidate is anointed, the press is anxious to find out who he or she will choose as a running mate.

Ms. Harris is going to choose someone and will do it pretty soon.

What is she looking for in a partner?

The outline of candidates has been reiterated a great deal since Sunday. The stable of pretenders to the throne are many and talented, but despite there being many choices, I think one stands out.

Mark Kelly is one of the senators from Arizona and is widely popular in his home state. He is also the husband of wounded victim of gun violence former House member Gabby Giffords. He is also a NASA astronaut. He’s a centrist Democrat from a critically important state that is clearly in play in the election.

The second best choice is probably Josh Shapiro the governor of Pennsylvania, the most critical state of all. If he were the choice, he would be the second Jewish nominee for the vice presidency after Joe Lieberman in 2000. But, I’m going to bet that Shapiro likes his current job and probably has his eyes set on a presidential run sometime in the future, particularly if Harris loses this year. Even if she wins, he would be young enough to run in 2032 should she serve for eight years.

A number of other names have been batted around like J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, and Andy Beshear of Kentucky who would be an interesting debate partner for ex-hillbilly J.D. Vance. Despite each of these people being great choices, I think you always go with the astronaut.

Astronauts have magic and this one cared for his wife who was desperately injured and has been an exemplary senator from all I can tell.

This race between Trump and Harris will be a very close one. The 13 Lichtner Keys still point to a Harris victory which would probably be insured if Biden successfully concluded a Gaza deal and then stepped down, making Kamala the first woman president and an incumbent. Could that really happen? Some people think so. I do not. I think Biden likes the plane too much.

Either way, the Trump team needs to reframe its plan, but my guess is that it won’t change much. He’ll just say that Harris was the worst vice president ever for the worst president ever and call them both names.

Despite what he says, Mr. Trump cannot fix the Ukraine or Gaza problem in a week. Leaving NATO or extorting our allies to spend more on defense is not as easy as he makes it sound. Deporting the immigrants currently working in the country may help no one particularly given who is cleaning up after Hurricane Beryl. Adding tariffs to all Chinese goods is a terrible idea as Americans will have to pay that freight and that is inflationary. Deporting immigrants may be inflationary, too if workers become hard to find in key industries like agriculture. Costs will rise and with the costs rising, prices will follow.

The country needs to cool down. If Ms. Harris and her running mate can exude calm in the face of Trump’s bombast and J.D. Vance’s right-wing extremism, she has a chance.

But first, pick the spaceman.