Kamala Harris' potential vice presidential nominees are (mostly) shy for now.
In recent days, Democrats — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, federal Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigeg, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper — have made the rounds on cable news to praise Harris and condemn Republicans like Donald Trump and his VP pick JD Vance.
But the candidates were also frequently asked whether they had interest and if they would accept the job if Harris offered it — and they generally tried with all their might to avoid giving a straight answer:
“I'm not going to engage in hypotheticals. This is a deeply personal decision,” Shapiro said during a news conference. “She needs to choose someone that she's prepared to govern with, campaign with, and someone that she feels most comfortable with.”
“Look, I love being the governor of the state of Illinois, and I've been out on the campaign trail fighting hard for Democrats,” Pritzker said on MSNBC.
“If she asked, are you saying you wouldn't say no?” MSNBC host Rachel Maddow asked Buttigeg.
“Sure. We're just not in that mode right now,” he responded after a pause.
But one Democrat, who is not considered to be in the running, gave a much clearer answer:
“Look, if they do the polling and it turns out that they need a 49-year-old, balding, gay Jew from Boulder, Colorado, they got my number,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said during a CNN interview.
