Why Kamala Harris Will Pick Mark Kelly as Her Running Mate

Any political commentator who has made a series of predictions during the current election cycle most likely got at least one of them wrong. In order to “run the table”, you would had to have correctly predicted that Donald Trump would obliterate the GOP field on his way to the Republican nomination and then accurately surmised that Joe Biden would crash and burn during his debate on June 27th. Not only that, but you would had to have guessed that Joe would keep Kamala on the ticket despite her approval rating being lower than his… and that he would eventually cave into pressure from the party elite and their mega donors, dropping out of the race while endorsing Kamala.

Even if you were 5 for 5 in those predictions, you still have a few remaining ones to get right in order to maintain a perfect score. Next up is what will happen at the Democratic Convention next month in Chicago. Will they even have a convention and if so, will it be an open one or simply a coronation of Queen Kamala? Will there be violent anti-Israel protests and who will Kamala pick as her vice-presidential running mate?

Well, I am willing to risk my nearly perfect record as a political prognosticator by going out on the following limb: Kamala will choose (or have chosen for her) Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona as her running mate and here is why…

1. The most obvious reason is that Kelly is from Arizona, a pivotal swing state that the Democrats need to win in November. Kelly is popular there, having won a special election to fill Sen. John McCain’s seat in 2020 and his re-election bid in 2022. If Kelly can help the Dems win AZ – and hold onto New Mexico – he will have done his job. Kelly may even have a spillover effect in neighboring Nevada, which Joe Biden narrowly won in 2020 but where Trump is currently leading in the polls by as much as 9%.

2. Kelly is a decorated war veteran, having been twice deployed to the Persian Gulf where he flew 39 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm. He logged more than 5,000 hours in more than 50 different aircraft and had over 375 carrier landings on the USS Midway. Kelly also received 17 different medals for his meritorious military service. No matter how you slice it, that’s extremely impressive and may earn the Democratic ticket more than a few veteran votes. Kelly’s military record also serves to counter that of J.D. Vance, who served as a combat correspondent with the Marines in Iraq and was – in his own words – “lucky to escape any real fighting".

3. There is cool, and then there is over-the-top, “slap my face and shut my mouth” cool. Having joined NASA after his naval career was over, Kelly piloted two space shuttle missions and commanded two others. That is cool to the max… and voters like cool.

4. Kelly is married to former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in 2011. Not only did Kelly support his wife through her long recuperation, but together they launched Americans for Responsible Solutions, a PAC designed to reduce gun violence and enact red flag rules. Abortion is the Dems #1 issue, but gun violence and climate change are #2 and #3, respectively. Just imagine the optics of Kelly standing on stage at the DNC holding Gabby’s hand. You’d have to be a very cold and insensitive voter not to get an oversized lump in your throat.

5. Kelly is well-respected on Capitol Hill where he is known as a moderate, although his voting record proves otherwise. To date, Kelly has supported President Biden’s position 94.5% of the time. That being said, his committee assignments (Armed Services, Energy and Natural Resources, and Environment and Public Works) are all definite pluses and bring gravitas to a ticket – with Kamala Harris at the top – that sorely needs it.