Tim Head, the national executive director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, detailed the potential advantages and disadvantages that the two frontrunner candidates reportedly being eyed by Vice President Kamala Harris to be her running mate in the 2024 presidential election would bring to the table regarding voter turnout.
Harris, who has become the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee in the 2024 election following incumbent President Joe Biden’s exit from the race, is reportedly eyeing Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) or Arizona U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) as her running mate.
Head detailed how each vice presidential candidate if chosen by Harris, would possibly affect the election in regards to voter turnout in a positive or potentially negative way on Thursday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Noting Kelly’s background as a veteran and astronaut and how Shapiro is Jewish and is vocal about his pro-Israel stance, Head said, “[Kelly and Shapiro] are both pretty interesting candidates for different reasons…They both have interesting stories.”
Head added that both men would likely turn out the Democratic vote in their respective states.
“Part of the play is for Shapiro to solidify Pennsylvania, and part of the play with Kelly is to potentially nudge Arizona back into the blue side of the equation for this year,” Head explained.
Head also pointed out Kelly’s appeal to “moderate” Democrats and Shapiro’s appeal to pro-Israel Democrats as positive factors in turning out the vote within the Democratic Party.
However, Head also explained how Shapiro’s pro-Israel stance could be a disadvantage to the Democratic Party, noting how there is a large population – specifically in the swing state of Michigan – of Muslim voters who will not support a candidate who is empathetic to Israel’s retaliation against the terrorist group Hamas.
“This is precisely the reason why I believe that Mark Kelly is going to eventually be the pick. I know [Shapiro’s pro-Israel stance] has been a double edged sword…I actually think that may be a bridge too far for them because that Dearborn, Michigan community, just barely west of Detroit, is being overwhelmingly vocal and in solidarity that they are voting as a block,” Head said.
“There’s probably about 35,000 Muslims that have settled in that Dearborn community that are voting age, and there’s a lot of consternation that a Jewish vice president is not going to sit well with that community. It’s not that they’re going to vote for Trump in this case, but they, literally, could all vote or none of them could vote,” Head added.
Regarding Kelly’s and Shapiro’s demeanor, Head pointed out that neither candidate would compliment Harris as being her “attack dog.” However, she noted that it is not necessarily a necessity for the criteria as the “media can do that and will do that” for Harris and her running mate.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Josh Shapiro” by Josh Shapiro. Photo “Mark Kelly” by Mark Kelly.
