Washington, Aug 4 (EFE).- U.S. Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris held a round of interviews on Sunday to choose her running mate, a decision she will make against the clock before appearing publicly on Tuesday alongside her number two.
The Naval Observatory in Washington, Harris’s official residence, hosted the meetings between the candidate and three Democratic politicians who aspire to be the next vice president of the United States: the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro; the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz; and the senator of Arizona, Mark Kelly, which places them as favorites.
A thorough search
Harris launched her campaign just two weeks ago and her team has had to analyze the profiles of several candidates in record time, even looking for hidden scandals that could blow up the campaign if they came to light.
Democrats have no time to waste in the electoral battle with Republican Donald Trump and next week they will undertake a tour of the most competitive states in the country that will start on Tuesday in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), where Harris will appear in public for the first time alongside her running mate.
Traditionally, the vice president’s profile complements that of the president to create a winning coalition, so the number two usually appeals to a specific group of voters, serves as an ideological counterweight or helps win in a key state.
Barack Obama chose Joe Biden, almost 20 years his senior, in 2008 to project a more experienced image to his campaign; Trump appointed Mike Pence in 2016 to secure the vote of evangelicals who distrusted him; and Biden was joined by Harris in 2020 in a nod to women and African Americans.
Analysts have assumed from the start that Harris, a 59-year-old black woman from California, would choose a white man, likely from a key state.
The Harris List
The fact that the first joint rally will be in Pennsylvania, a swing state where Democrats need to win to reach the White House, has placed the local governor as the big favorite.
Josh Shapiro, 51, has been a rising star in the Democratic Party since winning the 2022 gubernatorial election by more than 14 points over his Republican rival.
Shapiro is very popular in his homeland and could hold the key to the coveted 19 electoral votes that Pennsylvania provides, but he is a practicing Jew and the more progressive and pro-Palestinian wing of the Democrats is wary of his stances on the Gaza war.
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly’s resume is not that of just another politician. He was a Navy aviator and astronaut who entered politics in pursuit of tighter gun control after his wife, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was seriously injured in a shooting in 2011.
Kelly, 60, has twice demonstrated he can win in Arizona, a state on the Mexican border where migration will be the focus of the campaign, but his aspirations could clash with fears that his departure from the Senate could upset the narrow Democratic majority in the House.
Harris could end up with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, 60, who was not in the early polls but emerged strongly after several public appearances, including one in which he called Republican rivals “weird.”
Walz is arguably the most progressive candidate, positioned to Harris’ left and could appeal to working-class voters in the Midwest’s rust belt, but has been criticized for delaying the deployment of the National Guard during racial protests following the killing of George Floyd in 2020.
There has also been talk in recent weeks of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who would become the first openly gay vice president, and Governors Andy Beshear of Kentucky and JB Pritzker of Illinois.
Harris will carefully choose a name that will not dampen the enthusiasm her candidacy has generated: in July she raised $310 million in donations and a CBS poll on Sunday placed her one point ahead of Trump in voting intention.
