Sen. Mark Kelly Emerges As Unexpected VP Candidate For Kamala Harris

I'm Canadian so I don't really get a say in this, but he seems like a decent guy. Most astronauts are hard working, smart, and know to rely on other smart people to get tasks accomplished. His wife ain't no pushover either, nobody can question that couple's commitment to America.

He does not support Medicare for all, and also does not support the green new deal, according to his wiki. He also supported increased oil drilling.

So he's pretty moderate right IMO, which sucks. I hope he's not her choice.

From wikipedia:

Kelly ran as a moderate in 2020 and voiced support for bipartisanship.[79][80][81] Since joining the Senate, he supported abolishing the filibuster in order to pass voting rights legislation[82] and a federal minimum wage increase to $15 per hour. He has criticized Joe Biden's approach to border security.[83][84] As of October 2022, Kelly has voted in line with Biden's stated position 94.5% of the time.[85]

Abortion

As a candidate in 2020, Kelly said he was "pro-choice" and was endorsed by Planned Parenthood.[86] He supports codifying Roe v. Wade into federal law.[87] He has said that late-stage abortions should be legally protected.[88]

Climate and environment

Kelly has voiced support for climate action, but said he "does not favor" the Green New Deal.[89] The League of Conservation Voters gave him a 97% score in 2021.[90] In 2022, Kelly also advocated for an expansion of oil drilling in the wake of rising gas prices.[91][92]

Guns

Kelly became an outspoken advocate for gun control following the attempted assassination of his wife, former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords, at the 2011 Tucson shooting.[93]

Kelly voted for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in response to the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas.[94][95]

Health care

Kelly supports building on the Affordable Care Act to include a public health insurance option.[93][96] He opposes Medicare for All.[97]

Immigration

Of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Kelly has said, "Dreamers are as American as anyone", and has expressed support for it.[98][86]

Trump administration

In February 2021, Kelly voted to convict Trump for incitement of insurrection in his second impeachment trial,[66] and has been outspoken in his disdain for him.[99]

Sure. He's white, straight, and male, to balance out the ticket for racists/sexists/homophobes. Package him, ship him out, and let's defeat Trump and Project 2025!

Not a fan of him teaming up with Manchin to promote more oil drilling.

Anecdote time: last week a 30 year old woman I work with stated with confidence she wouldn't be voting this year. Earlier today she told me she would be voting for Harris and asked who the vp would be. I said Shapiro, beshear, or Kelly. She looked up each of them on Wikipedia and immediately said something to the effect of, "why have I never heard of Kelly? I'd vote for this guy at the top of the ticket. I hope she picks him."

The guy's bio speaks for itself. Plus we'd get fun twins hijinks at the naval observatory and I think we as a nation need that.

I like him, but PLEASE don't vacate a Senate seat right now..! The balance is too tenuous at the moment. The Rs just lost a seat with Vance that could be filled with someone that isn't batshit crazy; let's not pull the same stunt in AZ.

E: I'm hearing that the way it works in AZ is that the person leaving their seat gets to assign the new member. If that's the case, then i withdraw my complaint.

I'm still shocked no one is taking seriously the "Democrats should pick Romney as Presidential choice because reasons" that has seriously been floated.

I wonder: how many times has someone given a big platform to someone so they can suggest that the Republicans should select a Democrat as their choice? Probably never? Why is it that people always say - with a straight face and very, very seriously - that it is Democrats that should run Republicans on their tickets, because something something unity and tone.

I would love to see Mark Kelly as VP and then campaign for president.

Not a fan, and I don’t like his relative lack of political experience. However, his status as a white male veteran who is the husband of Gabby Gifford could win some points.

Hate that it comes to that, but this is what we get. Fuck, I just want out of this shithole.

Unexpected

HuffPo be huffing something hard.

I'd like it to be mayor Pete. Young, smart, well spoken, Rhodes scholar, veteran. Plus it would set him up for a serious run at the presidency in the future.

I don't hate him, but he's already 60. That means that if Harris goes 1 term and loses, or goes 2 terms and can't run again, Kelly is 68 before he can run himself, which he will inevitably do. If he's 68 when he starts, then he is running the country in his 70s and we have made 0 progress on this age problem that seems to plague presidential candidates. Beshear is 46, which keeps him in his 50s for most of his terms.

It's pretty odd to me that people feel like they really need to shore up the "moderate" lane. Boosting the AZ chances makes perfectly fine sense, but Harris isn't expected to be particularly progressive. She's a middle of the road Democrat, so unless she's going to come out fighting for big progressive change, just run her as a solidly competent Democrat. No need to find a new Joe Lieberman.

Plus, for the love of god, don't give up an iffy senate seat.

Let's see what you folks missed...

Navy combat pilot. Would be the first of those in the administration since HW.

Arizona would be a nice get electoral wise.

Unexpected? He and Josh Shapiro were the immediate go-tos for basically all the news outlets after Harris emerges as the frontrunner for the nomination. Not sure what this headline is about.

That being said, I'd love to see either Kelly or Shapiro on the ticket as VP. Could get some great things done.

HELL YES

Hey guys! I've got a great story!

Lots of randos on Reddit, Mastadon, and Lemmy are saying "Kelly" should be the VP.

GFY Huff....

I'd say it's likely either him or Beshear, with Beshear having a slight edge.

He is center enough to balance her ticket. Problem is we’ll stave off fascism for one more cycle but we won’t get important changes pushed. It’ll be a don’t rock the boat presidency.

I want this because in addition to Kelly being a great choice, I want Gabby Giffords as 2nd lady. We need a gun reformer close to the highest office, especially given the recent potshot at the gop candidate.

Can you imagine a VP debate between an actual fucking astronaut and Peter Thiel's former blood boy?

he'd be great for sure. if we could get gallego and another dem senator to replace him it would be even better. plus katie hobbs being gov would ensure republicans can't just name whatsherfacenewslady

Not that he would be a bad choice for VP but I want him to stay in the Senate. He can do more good there.

YES

I don't like him.

Politically, it's a very smart move.

Cause I'm still voting D here, even not liking him. They're trying to pull all the undecideds they can.

We probably lose his seat in the Senate then. Though we aren't going to keep the Senate so maybe that doesn't mattet

Jeff Jackson from NC would be my vote. Dude has been pretty great for communicating with constituents, seems to genuinely give a shit, and is pretty progressive.

I'd be so down for an astronaut with a military career as a VP candidate. Sounds like a slam dunk inside a slam dunk.

Hell yes.

Fucking sold

Permanently Deleted

So, we'd swap out a too-old guy for a younger person with a too-old guy as her backup? Sigh…

Bawww, some people in this magazine are funny.

Cwy to the modewators, shitheads. lol

Lol, not reading responses, just insta-blocking. Don't care. Good bye.

I hope trump wins out of spite against the snowflakes who're overly sensitive and don't understand the implications of how weak of a VP Mark Kelly is.

I fucking hate this reality right now.

Like okay, the chances of Harris winning at all is slim enough if barely. Having this prick from what I gathered, will not improve anything.

"WE D-D-DID GERD JERB! WE PROUDS DAT WE MADE SUMEONE PROFILE KARMA IN NEGATIVE LIKE DAT MATTERS AT ALL! WE DID DONE GEHD GAIS! HRUHRURHURURHHRURHURHRURUH"