The political world is in uncharted territory after President Joe Biden announced Sunday he is pulling out of the 2024 race. Now all eyes are on his vice president, Kamala Harris.
But there’s also the question of who would be her running mate. And that’s where Arizonans might sit up and listen. Arizona’s U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly is on the VP watch list, and Arizona Republic editorial page editor Elvia Díaz wasted no time getting behind him.
She joined The Show as she does every Monday to talk more about it.
Full conversation
LAUREN GILGER: You wrote an op-ed within just a couple of hours of President Biden’s monumental announcement yesterday, outlining why you think Mark Kelly would be a perfect VP pick for a Kamala Harris ticket. That is, if she ends up being the nominee, which it looks like she may be at this point, at least. Tell us why.
ELVIA DÍAZ: Mark Kelly has been, as you mentioned there in the intro on the watch list. And actually, the New York Times and other and other newspapers have him as a potential presidential contender. I don’t see that. So that’s why I immediately thought about VP, and especially right after all the outpouring of support for Kamala Harris. So it’s unlikely that some credible person is going to challenge her.
So I think the question now is who’s going to be her VP? And Mark Kelly has been on that watch list. So it’s not out of thin air. People have been talking about it for weeks. And I’m pretty sure they’re already vetting him, because there’s not a lot of time to select a vice president. Kamala Harris doesn’t have the luxury anymore, so she will have to make a decision fairly quick.
GILGER: Mark Kelly released a statement immediately, not just praising Joe Biden and his record, but endorsing Harris, which is not something we saw from all Democrats yesterday.
DÍAZ: It is very telling that he immediately threw his support. And you are correct. At the top of mind, it was former President Barack Obama and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi who I don’t believe they still haven’t endorsed Kamala Harris. So very telling for Kelly to do it.
I was actually expecting him to do it sooner. I think he waited a little longer, and that’s why I was making phone calls and talking to people, like waiting and waiting. What’s Kelly going to say?
But then we saw the announcement. And you know what? He does have a compelling story. And he is credible, again. It’s not out of thin air. (Vice President Harris), from my point of view, has to pick a VP from some of the most competitive states, the ones that are going to make or break her campaign. And those are Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Arizona. And Mark Kelly checks all those boxes that she needs.
GILGER: There’s a measure of electability here, right? The politics side of this. You call Kelly a serious senator. He is a moderate. We’re looking at sort of suburban women voters, independents, voters of color — groups that a Democratic nominee would really have to win.
DÍAZ: Yeah. And those are exactly the votes that Harris is going to be looking for. And Kelly, when I say and when others say that he’s serious — I mean, he’s an astronaut for goodness sake. Who doesn’t love an astronaut, right, to begin with? What a compelling story, right?
He’s a tough guy, and he’s been married. He’s been no-drama. He’s been very focused on policy. He’s polite. He’s smart, really smart. And he’s young. I mean, he’s only 60.
And then he has his personal story. He’s married to the former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who we all know was shot in the head. And since then, he picked up the mantle of gun control. So he has all those attributes. And I do believe he has the crossover appeal that you mention, from minorities to white women and to rural voters.
So we’ll see. I do think he is being considered very seriously.
GILGER: Let me ask you about his wife, about former congresswoman from Tucson Gabby Giffords. She was the first politician in that family. Her story is so cemented in American history at this point. How does that play into this, you think?
DÍAZ: That humanizes everything, right? She survived that shooting, but many others did not. And that is incredibly unfortunate. I mean, the country knows her name and by default knows Mark Kelly’s name as a result of that. He has been by her side ever since. A love story, I would call it.
Any ordinary Arizonan, any ordinary American would identify with something like that. So of course that would play huge into any campaign. And if he is picked and if he accepts, I’m pretty sure she’s going to play a significant role.
GILGER: Let me ask you lastly here, Elvia, to back up and talk about just how unprecedented this all is. This moment, even this conversation we’re having — Democrats, even the country has never been in this position before, where a president, an incumbent has dropped out of a race so late in the game and everything’s kind of up in the air.
I wonder, as someone on the left, do you see this as an opportunity for the Democratic Party heading into a very consequential election, or are you kind of worried about the upheaval of all of this?
DÍAZ: Not at this point. It’s a huge opportunity for Democrats to redefine themselves. Up until two days ago, it seemed pretty uncertain and pretty chaotic. Democrats haven’t had an open convention since 1968, and that did not go well. So a lot of people, a lot of Democrats, a lot of independents were incredibly nervous.
And then, especially coming out of the assassination attempt of (former) President Donald Trump, he just finished his convention, and it seemed that the campaign was over, at least from their point of view.
So now this is a huge opportunity. And just seeing how the party and Democrats are coalescing behind Harris is very telling that they want to unify. They do see it as an opportunity to win. And it gives a chance to throw the Trump campaign off balance.
So right now they don’t know whom they are running against. I mean, they had prepared everything to run against Joe Biden. And they wanted him to stay. And now that’s not going to be the case.
And even this morning, the possible contenders that could have challenged Harris at the convention are already supporting her. So yeah, they are unifying. And that's why I think that VP selection is going to be incredibly important, especially if it is someone that can bring in other voters who are kind of second-guessing the VP.
