Much of the speculation about Vice President Kamala Harris' possible running mate has involved Democratic governors like Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro. But some commentators say she should take the big step of picking a former astronaut. The case for picking Sen. Mark Kelly is "shiny, authentic, and persuasive," Marvin Kalb and Garrett Mitchell write at Time. The former commander of the Space Shuttle Endeavor is also a Navy pilot with combat experience who will bring "extensive military experience" to the ticket, they write.
After four years in the Senate, Kelly "is highly regarded by colleagues on both sides of the aisle," Kalb and Mitchell write. He has also gained a "reputation for loyalty and kindness" with his devotion to the recovery of his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, after she was shot in a 2011 assassination attempt. "That he almost certainly puts Arizona's 11 electoral votes in the Democratic column is a clincher for Harris-Kelly and a coup de grâce for Trump-Vance," they write. (Click for the full piece.)
Phil Boas at the Arizona Republic agrees that serving as a Navy fighter pilot and a NASA astronaut "are extraordinary things to have done in one's life, and they bulk up his profile and make him a legitimate contender for the vice-president spot." But what could make Kelly the "greatest weapon" against Donald Trump in an election likely to focus on law and order, he writes, is the fact that both Kelly's parents were police officers. "When the Trump-Vance campaign accuses Harris of hating cops, Kelly could stand up and say, 'I'm the son of cops, don't educate Americans on something you know nothing about,'" Boas writes. (Click for the full piece.)
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