Kamala Harris’s running mate selection process is, to put it kindly, not going well. Two likely candidates, Govs. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) and Roy Cooper (D-N.C.), have taken themselves out of consideration. Two others, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.) and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), have been the targets of damaging leaks that may very well take them out of the running. This has me wondering if Pete Buttigieg is now rising up the list.
At first glance, choosing an openly homosexual man like Buttigieg seems like the perfect way to pander to the identity-obsessed left-wing base. His candidacy would represent a historic milestone for the left. However, after careful consideration, that’s pretty much all he brings to the table.
For one thing, Harris wouldn’t want a second historic candidacy to overshadow hers. Even if you ignore that, Buttigieg's homosexuality may not be the huge benefit for Democrats that they think. The base already has Harris’s identity as a woman of color to get them excited.
Having Buttigieg on the ticket could, however, energize certain groups against the ticket. I’m not just talking about Christian voters, but also Muslim voters who already have issues with the Biden-Harris administration’s position on the Israel-Hamas war.
Geopolitically, Buttigieg offers no strategic advantage. In her quest for a running mate, many believe she is likely to want to pick someone from a swing state, and Buttigieg hails from Indiana, a reliably red state. So there isn't much of a positive for her on that front.
Related: Kamala's Running Mate Selection Process Takes a Humiliating Turn
Buttigieg’s tenure as Joe Biden’s transportation secretary has been so disastrous that it's difficult to see him as anything but a liability on the ticket. He often makes headlines for the wrong reasons. For example, months into his tenure, he took paternity leave during the supply chain crisis.
“For the first four weeks, he was mostly offline except for major agency decisions and matters that could not be delegated,” a spokesperson explained at the time. “He has been ramping up activities since then.”
Things haven't exactly gone better for him since then, either. Critics widely mocked him for wanting to invest a billion dollars to address "racist" highways and bridges.
His frequent personal trips, the Southwest Airlines debacle, the FAA outage, and the Chinese spy balloon incident have also been huge debacles for him. Both Republicans and Democrats have criticized his performance, especially how he handled the environmental disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, after the derailment of train cars carrying toxic chemicals.
In the end, would Harris pick Buttigieg? I think it's unlikely. Like Harris, he lacks experience, and she needs an elder statesman to balance out her lack of credentials. Cooper seemed to fit that bill nicely, but he wanted no part of a Harris ticket.
The question is: who wants to be a part of the Harris ticket? Trump still leads in the polls and is the odds-on favorite to win. Harris's real challenge will be finding someone willing to join a ticket perceived to be the inevitable loser.
