KEPW contributors suggest Kamala running mates

KEPW News contributors weigh in on potential running mates for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris:

Rep. Rashida Tlaib

Todd Boyle: I’m scratching my head, trying to recall any Democrat who stands against the U.S. military complex and overseas wars. So Rep. Rashida Tlaib would be somebody I could trust. Kamala Harris should select her for two reasons. First, because she would create great enthusiasm among intellectual left and thought leaders who actually influence the direction of politics over the long term. And secondly, Tlaib would satisfy one of the most important criteria in the last six or eight elections, being a sort of insurance against assassination of Harris. Recall the absolutely goofy VP selections such as Dan Quayle and Sarah Palin. Recalling the Kennedy assassination, G.H.W. Bush was particularly keen to avoid a person like Lyndon Johnson as his VP. So the likely assassins of Kamala Harris of course would be deranged ideologues, racists, or religious fanatics. They would know the consequences of their action would be: President Rashida Tlaib.

Sen. Mark Kelly or Adm. Bill McRaven

Marty Wilde: The Vice President and presumptive Democratic nominee certainly isn’t calling me for advice on her selection, but I am happy to see two candidates with military experience and significant foreign policy experience on the list: Sen. Mark Kelly and retired Adm. Bill McRaven.

The first President Bush (1989-93) was the last one with combat experience, and I believe that we haven’t had a president or vice president with any military experience since the second President Bush (2001-09).

I’m not among those who believe that combat experience should be a mandatory qualification, but it is heartening to see at least some possible nominees who have an idea of what the military is—and is not—good for.

And yes, I do appreciate that Sen. JD Vance served, although I do not support his candidacy.

NOT Gov. Josh Shapiro

Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon: Kamala Harris has gained strong support as the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate. Putting Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on the ticket would likely fracture that support.

Overall, Josh Shapiro is liberal and sometimes progressive on domestic issues (though notably not on fracking or tax subsidies for private schools). But on the contentious issue of Israel’s relentless war against Palestinian civilians in Gaza, Shapiro sounds much less bothered by the lethal violence than by U.S. ceasefire activists, many of whom he has demonized. Here’s a bit of the history:

In 2021, after Ben & Jerry’s (a company founded and led by Jewish Americans) refused to sell its products in Israel’s illegal settlements, then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro threatened the company by urging Pennsylvania state agencies to enforce a constitutionally suspect law targeting advocates of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel over its discriminatory policies. Shapiro smeared such advocates by claiming that “BDS is rooted in antisemitism” – although the effort has wide support globally, including from many Jews, as a thoroughly nonviolent tactic in advancing Palestinian rights.

After the horrific Hamas attack of October 7, several dozen Pennsylvania-based Muslim groups wrote a letter protesting Gov. Shapiro’s one-sided comments: “Not only did you fail to recognize the structural root causes of the conflict, you chose to intentionally ignore the civilian loss of life in Gaza.” Responding to the letter after Israeli bombs and missiles had killed more civilians in Gaza than had been killed by Hamas in Israel on October 7, the governor’s spokesman said: “We all must speak with moral clarity and support Israel’s right to defend itself.”

Last December, after he amplified the Capitol Hill demagoguery of MAGA Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, Gov. Shapiro contributed to the firing of the University of Pennsylvania president. Referring to UPenn’s president, Shapiro said: “I thought her comments were absolutely shameful. It should not be hard to condemn genocide.” By then, after two months of Israeli bombing, more than 17,000 Gazans had been killed, mostly women and children – and later that month, Israel was charged with violations of the Genocide Convention in South Africa’s filing at the International Court of Justice.

In early April, after Democratic governors in other states had called for a ceasefire in Gaza, Muslim leaders in Philadelphia criticized Shapiro for his refusal to do so.

Beginning in late April, Gov. Shapiro and his office repeatedly prodded campuses to “restore order” and take action against student encampments, including the University of Pennsylvania Gaza Solidarity Encampment which called on the college administration to provide greater transparency on university investments, divest from Israel, and reinstate the banned student group Penn Students Against the Occupation.

On May 9, Shapiro invoked student “safety” in demanding the encampment be shut down. Police shut it down the next day, arresting 33. In two different interviews, Shapiro seemed to compare campus ceasefire activists, many of whom are Jewish or students of color, to “white supremacists camped out and yelling racial slurs” and “people dressed up in KKK outfits or KKK regalia making comments about people who’re African American.”

In May, as activism continued to grow over Israel’s lethal violence against civilians in Gaza, Gov. Shapiro issued an order aimed at Israel’s critics that revised his administration’s code of conduct to bar state employees from “scandalous or disgraceful” conduct – a vague and subjective directive criticized by the legal director of Pennsylvania’s ACLU as a possible violation of free speech protections.

In a July 23 tweet on X, progressive leader and former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner wrote: “Choosing Gov. Josh Shapiro for Vice President would be a mistake. Gov. Shapiro compared pro-peace protesters to the KKK. That’s simply unacceptable & would stifle the momentum VP Harris has. Hopefully she is looking to build a broad coalition to beat Trump.”

Hillary!

Sam Broadway: Hillary!