Why pull a popular senator from a western purple state who isn’t term limited when there’s a popular governor (Roy Cooper) from an eastern purple state who is?
Any Arizona Democrat can warm a seat in the Senate. Kelly can do much more for the Democratic party at the national level than at the Arizona level. His background is too appealing to leave him at the state.
Not a terrible idea, but he’s got the same sort of background and national recognition, and could be put to better work at the federal level.
I’d put Scott in the cabinet. He’s qualified to serve as Secretary of Interior (the department that NASA falls under) or Sec Def. Or, we could signal that instead of eliminating Education like the GOP wants, President Kelly deems it so important that he wants his twin brother to look after it when he can’t.
Or, if we don’t want to give him a department, Chief of Staff: he can run the day to day operations of Mark’s White House.
I really like him, but I think she’d do much better naming a younger VP. He is exceptionally qualified, but he’s probably going to quell some of the enthusiasm young voters are showing for Harris.
he’s probably going to quell some of the enthusiasm young voters are showing for Harris.
There are a lot of younger voters who fondly remember all of the amazing science outreach that Scott Kelly (Mark’s twin brother who is also an astronaut) did during his year long mission on the ISS. If anything, I’d wager that younger voters are more aware of the Kelly’s than older voters — and are more likely to get excited about a NASA astronaut than some Midwestern governor they’ve only vaguely heard of.
Kelly’s “True American Hero” angle will resonate with Never-Trump Republicans, without offending Democratic sensibilities. The worst thing anyone has said about him is he opposes Medicare for all, but his explanation for that opposition is not unreasonable, and does not preclude either universal healthcare or the ACA.
(His argument is that Medicare offers mediocre coverage, and people should not be forced from an employer-sponsored plan with excellent coverage into a plan that offers less.)
Mark Kelly would be a pretty exceptionally qualified old white guy.
Why pull a popular senator from a western purple state who isn’t term limited when there’s a popular governor (Roy Cooper) from an eastern purple state who is?
Any Arizona Democrat can warm a seat in the Senate. Kelly can do much more for the Democratic party at the national level than at the Arizona level. His background is too appealing to leave him at the state.
What’s his brother doing now? Put him in the Senate seat
Not a terrible idea, but he’s got the same sort of background and national recognition, and could be put to better work at the federal level.
I’d put Scott in the cabinet. He’s qualified to serve as Secretary of Interior (the department that NASA falls under) or Sec Def. Or, we could signal that instead of eliminating Education like the GOP wants, President Kelly deems it so important that he wants his twin brother to look after it when he can’t.
Or, if we don’t want to give him a department, Chief of Staff: he can run the day to day operations of Mark’s White House.
I really like him, but I think she’d do much better naming a younger VP. He is exceptionally qualified, but he’s probably going to quell some of the enthusiasm young voters are showing for Harris.
There are a lot of younger voters who fondly remember all of the amazing science outreach that Scott Kelly (Mark’s twin brother who is also an astronaut) did during his year long mission on the ISS. If anything, I’d wager that younger voters are more aware of the Kelly’s than older voters — and are more likely to get excited about a NASA astronaut than some Midwestern governor they’ve only vaguely heard of.
Kelly’s “True American Hero” angle will resonate with Never-Trump Republicans, without offending Democratic sensibilities. The worst thing anyone has said about him is he opposes Medicare for all, but his explanation for that opposition is not unreasonable, and does not preclude either universal healthcare or the ACA.
(His argument is that Medicare offers mediocre coverage, and people should not be forced from an employer-sponsored plan with excellent coverage into a plan that offers less.)
I partially agree, but there needs to be things that appeal to older and conservative voters willing to bridge the gap.
Plus an elder statesman that can keep the House under control will make Harris’ job infinitely easier.