Fun fact:
Arizona law actually stipulates that special appointments like a vacant Senate seat must go to someone from the same party as the person who vacated the seat. So even if AZ had a Republican gov, the seat would still have to be appointed to a Democrat.
Well put. The best way for Harris to capitalize on her incredible momentum out of the starting gate is to advocate for herself as a candidate and for her policies.
Thank goodness the American voting public is just like you and isn’t swayed by irrelevant nonsense.
As I mentioned, taking Kelly away from the seat wouldn’t cost Democrats anything in the Senate.
But to go into a little more detail, It’s actually Arizona law that the person appointed by the governor must be from the same political party as the person leaving office. Kelly will be replaced by another Democrat, and since his term would have lasted longer than 150 days, Arizona law also stipulates that the replacement will serve out the rest of that term with no special election taking place. Republicans would have to wait until 2026 to get another shot at capturing that seat, which is two years for Kelly’s replacement to get a headstart on fundraising and campaigning over their eventual opponent.
deleted by creator
I think Harris/Kelly is the best political choice, especially for beating a Trump ticket.
Kelly is from an important swing state for Democrats. Although Arizona has been shifting blue in recent election cycles, it’s still far from a Democratic stronghold, so picking Kelly is smart electoral math.
Kelly is the husband of former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was the victim of an assassination attempt in 2011. Picking Kelly as VP will give the campaign a great excuse to talk about the issue of political violence while blunting Trump’s attempts to control the narrative in the wake of his own shooting. Who better than Giffords, who faced her near-death with courage and poise to make Trump look pathetic and weak for his response?
Kelly is well liked and well respected both in the Senate and on the national stage. People know who he is, and his poise and experience is going to stand in stark contrast to Vance who is a nobody in comparison.
Kelly vacating his Senate seat means another Democrat will be appointed to fill it, so no important Senate votes are lost. Unlike some of the other names that have been floated, Kelly would not cost Democrats and important governorship.
He’s a freaking astronaut, and Americans love voting for astronauts.
He’s a middle-aged white man, which sadly is going to matter to some voters. Kelly is palatable to just about anyone, and will somewhat blunt that “DEI” nonsense that the campaign is already going to be fighting against.
“The Squad” has already come out in support of Harris.
The Senate doesn’t require the approval of the House of Representatives when making rule changes that only affect the Senate. Removing the filibuster is something the Senate can do unilaterally with a simple majority.
If they wanna pass new abortion protections, however, they will of course need both chambers.
Pumped up kicks?
Sounds to me like Schiff himself is testing the waters as that alternate candidate. Which, frankly, wouldn’t be a bad choice. I can think of few other Democrats as uniquely qualified to run on the “Trump is an existential threat to our democracy” platform that the DNC seems content to put all it’s chips on.
Manchin and Sinema voted against abolishing the filibuster; Biden was in favor of removing he, he just didn’t have the votes.
Exactly. “Who doesn’t like Biden” also isn’t the same as “who won’t vote for Biden.” I think Joe is an incredibly weak candidate and wish he would step aside, but I’ll still vote for him in a heartbeat for the good of the republic.
While massive energy usage means a substantial environmental impact for these tech giants, it should be noted that Google and Microsoft also generate more money than many countries. Furthermore, companies like Intel, Google, and Microsoft lead renewable energy adoption within the industry.
So fucking what? That’s like excusing a mass-murderer because he’s rich and he promised to “not kill quite as many people in the future.”
What a useless and pandering thing to say.
Nah, we know Cheney can shoot a man in the head without missing.
Considering that Biden has done fuck-all to evangelize the good things his administration has done, anything a new candidate does to campaign in the next few months would be an improvement.
There have been plenty of presidential elections where the candidate wasn’t known until the nominating convention in August. This whole “12 month election cycle” bullshit is a pretty new phenomenon.
Anyway, the absolute media shitstorm that will ensue if Biden is dropped from the ticket will more than make up for the late start to a new candidate’s campaign — the new DNC nominee will dominate the news cycle for weeks without having to spend a dime.
Apparently he hasn’t had a full cabinet meeting since October 2023. Wouldn’t surprise me if his chief of staff is shielding him from the cabinet specifically over fears of them realizing just how compromised Biden is mentally.
AS GOD IS MY WITNESS, HE’S BROKEN IN HALF
So did Trump in 2020, that statement is meaningless.
Under Arizona law, the person appointed to Kelly’s vacant seat would serve out the remainder of his term. That means they’d have two years to ‘prove’ themselves to voters before having to run for the seat in 2026. I think that’s a reasonable amount of time, especially if governor chooses a strong replacement.