Mark Kelly for Veep?

Kamala made her first campaign speech at a rally held yesterday in Milwaukee, and it was powerful:

Now, your Head Trucker has been reviewing potential VP picks for Kamala, just in case she phones and asks my advice.  And I want to say that Senator Mark Kelly stands very high on my short list.  He's a butch white man, for one thing, and that is no small consideration.  (Drop the PC sputtering, girls - we are talking reality here.)  For another, his life and career are exemplary.  And he's the kind of self-confident guy who is very comfortable supporting women's rights (with a wife and two daughters, he'd better be).

Kelly has been a senator from Arizona since 2020, but come to find out, he was born and raised in New Jersey, son of a mom and dad who were both police officers, so he is a working-class guy.  He graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, joined the Navy, and became a combat pilot who flew 39 missions over Iraq in the Gulf War.  Then he got picked by NASA to fly four space shuttle missions, commanding two of them.  A 25-year Navy veteran who earned lots of medals for service to his country, he's been a senator since 2020.

Kelly is also the husband of former U.S. Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was left permanently disabled after an assassination attempt and mass shooting in Tucson in 2011.  After Gabby partially recovered from her injuries, the couple founded a gun-control advocacy group now known as Giffords.

Kelly was born in the same month as Kamala Harris, October 1964.  He supports all the issues you'd expect a Democrat to support, and he sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.  He's not exactly telegenic, but he's a decent speaker, and his record of public service is unimpeachable.  What's not to like?  

Watch this short intro he made at the Democratic National Covention in 2016, when Hillary was the presidential nominee:

Kelly gives a victory speech after his re-election to the Senate in November 2022:

Now look and see if that damn copycat Trae Crowder don't repeat my words tomorry.

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Update, 8 a.m.:  Whoa, I just came across this short interview with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who is six months older than Kamala.  He's the current chair of the Democratic Governors Association.  A small-town guy, high-school teacher and football coach, 24-year Army National Guard vet, former Congressman - and he has the gift of gab, too.  I'll have to do more research and get back to y'all on this guy, fellas.

Listen to Walz talking about the joy, hope, and optimism Kamala has brought to the campaign:

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