Mark Penn Explains Why Kamala Harris Should Not Choose Mark Kelly To Be Her Vice President

2 months ago

On "Forbes Newsroom," Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO of Stagwell Inc., discussed vice presidential candidates for Vice President Kamala Harris.

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Transcript

00:00Let's talk about that vice presidential pick here.

00:03Just how important is it this time around given the historic nature of this race

00:08and who do voters want to see as her running mate?

00:12We always think during this period that the vice presidential choice is the most important choice

00:19because we've got nothing else to do but speculate on who's going to be the VP.

00:24And in the end, unless it's disastrous, it really doesn't tend to make much difference

00:30or it might underscore some themes.

00:33I think Trump intended to cement his capture of the Midwest with J.D. Vance

00:41and how that's spinning out I think has been the success of the Democratic oppo.

00:46I think when we asked the voters who they wanted to see for Harris's VP choice,

00:51they didn't really have a pick.

00:53You know, Josh Shapiro and Mark Kelly were at the top,

00:56but that's because I think they're the ones most mentioned in the media.

01:00And even they had well under 20 percent in terms of interest,

01:04and 41 percent of the voters said they don't know.

01:07So I think it's going to be up to Harris here to kind of shape the choice

01:12and then up to Democrats and Republicans to go after whoever the choice is and support them.

01:19But I don't think at the end of the day it's more or less important than the normal.

01:25We've long been saying that this race is going to be coming down to the battleground states.

01:30And the top two names you mentioned, Senator Mark Kelly,

01:33he would give a win through the Sun Belt or attempt to.

01:37And then Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro would be more that traditional blue wall.

01:42What strategy for her do you think is better?

01:45I personally think the blue wall strategy is the more effective one.

01:51I don't think Kelly, you know, right now, you know, if you're Harris,

01:56you're a California progressive, you don't really have any connection

02:00into the blue wall Midwest personally.

02:04Even if things look good overall in the polls,

02:07that doesn't mean that you're going to connect to those working class voters.

02:11I'm not sure Kelly is going to do it, you know, more so, you know,

02:16than someone like Fetterman, who's not really a possible VP choice,

02:21but who really connects with those kinds of voters.

02:26And so I think it would be better to pursue that strategy,

02:31because I think that's where the race is ultimately decided.

02:35And I don't think Kelly would have as many advantages.

02:38I don't think Kelly would have as many advantages.

Mark Penn Explains Why Kamala Harris Should Not Choose Mark Kelly To Be Her Vice President

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