if i had to rank it right now in terms of my preference
walz - has an awesome track record in MN, has the folksy grandpa vibe that won't scare away older more moderate voters, and is very good on messaging. doesnt seem to have any baggage, was a high school principal, etc.
beshear - red state dem with a good track record. hes essentially the anti-jd vance, as in, hes actually from appalachia and actually understands the people in the region. very popular in a state that trump won by 20+ pts, could help in purple states. only concern is he might not have the national name recognition to move the needle
mark kelly - hes pretty popular on the whole and is from a purple state that dems really need to win. his biggest strike against is that hes weak on labor issues, and that could cause problems, especially as republicans are making more of an effort (disingenuous as it is) to appeal to labor unions.
buttigieg - hes fine. im not sure he moves the needle in any one area. also, his ability to go on fox news and talk about how weird republicans are isnt really going to swing votes. no one who watches fox news is considering voting for kamala harris
shapiro - id have been all in here, given hes the governor of my state, has very high popularity ratings here, and is young/a good communicator. but his handling of the israel stuff has been outright problematic. i think alienating people who support the self determination of palestinians could be costly, especially in states like michigan and minnesota.
whitmer - she took herself out of the running, which is okay, shes hugely important to winning michigan and i think if harris does not win in 2024, she'll be the front runner in 2028, so this will keep her clean for now. she'd have been my top choice if she wanted the nom.
