According to ABC News, Vice President Kamala Harris met Sunday with at least three contenders for running mate.
DALLAS — According to ABC News, Vice President Kamala Harris met Sunday with at least three politicians she’s considering as her running mate.
“Picking a vice-presidential candidate doesn’t help you, but picking a bad vice-presidential candidate can hurt you,” TCU Political Scient Professor Jim Riddlesperger told WFAA.
Riddlesperger said vice presidential candidates don’t make big differences in elections, but they still carry some weight.
“It’s an important decision because it’s the first major decision that VP Harris will make, and so in a way it will bring into play the question of her judgment.”
Sources tell ABC News Harris met with at least three leading contenders Sunday, including popular first-term Pennsylvania governor and former prosecutor Josh Shapiro, Arizona Senator and retired astronaut Mark Kelly, who is also Gabby Gifford’s husband, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a retired schoolteacher and former congressman.
Also under consideration, according to sources, is Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.
“[The VP pick] doesn’t matter enormously, but it can help at the margins,” SMU political science professor Matthew Wilson told WFAA.
“Of course, our recent elections have been very close, so even a marginal amount of help could make a difference in a tight election.”
Wilson said Harris is looking for someone who will make a good campaign surrogate, who won’t make big mistakes, and who can help balance out her ticket. For example, he said, a Democrat who is viewed as more moderate than she is.
“And demographically someone who has different racial and gender characteristics, so likely a white male, and likely from a critical state.”