Andy Beshear is the great antidote to Trump's venomous propaganda. He's the VP we need.

It remains unclear if Gov. Andy Beshear is among the individuals Vice President Kamala Harris, now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, is considering for the second slot on the ticket. It would be surprising if Beshear wasn't considered. He would offer a lot to the campaign.

The choices Kamala Harris has for Vice President

• Although Gov. Gavin Newsome of California has national recognition, the ticket won’t look national with both top candidates being from the same state.

• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan can deliver a swing state, but only if America is fine with two women on the top of the ticket. I don’t think America is ready for that. They both know that.

• Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will raise a similar question: Is America ready for so much diversity that it will accept a non-white woman as president and a gay man as VP? I don’t think so. For the same reason, Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado won’t be a good choice, either. The nutcase ideologues are blaming DEI for the Secret Service’s failure to preempt the July 13 assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump. Yes, the agency failed, but not because of DEI. But don’t tell that to those whose can only blow dog-whistles.

• Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina is coming to the end of his second term. That should make it relatively easy for him to make a national-level commitment. His state is a sort of swing state. It generally goes red. But he did win there, twice. Therefore, he can possibly deliver North Carolina. But he is 67. He will be juxtaposed with JD Vance, 39. The age-related benefit that Democrats have gained from President Joe Biden’s decision to give up his candidacy would have somewhat evaporated.

• Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, 51, can deliver a swing state. But the party’s progressive wing does not like him. That will complicate Harris’ job at unifying the party. That’s a thankless endeavor even in normal circumstances. Having to do it at this juncture will complicate her efforts to beat Trump, who would love to see her in that predicament.

• Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) could have been a great choice. He wins in Arizona, a swing state. Almost certainly, he will deliver Arizona. But that means if he becomes vice president, he will give up his Senate seat, which may then go to a Republican. The party may not like to take that chance.

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Kentucky is booming thanks to Andy Beshear

That brings us to Gov. Andy Beshear. He was reelected less than a year ago. He may feel hesitation in leaving the mandate Kentuckians just gave him. But when the country comes calling, one summons the proclivity toward answering the call. Kentuckians will understand.

Beshear is 46, but his fit physique makes him look younger than Vance. If/when they debate, Beshear will win on sheer optics. But he is also a smart man, and an effective administrator, with a great record. He grabbed the Covid bull by the horn and wrestled it to the ground, while Trump was hallucinating and fretting over the attention his health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci was receiving. All that can and should come up during the presidential campaign.

Beshear’s daily Covid reports and his obvious pain at announcing daily Covid deaths, during the pandemic, established his commitment to serving and protecting the people. Kentucky’s economy is booming. He has achieved that, despite constant obstruction by Kentucky’s GOP-dominated legislature. If he is on the ticket, bringing up those obstructions in the election campaign will help expose the standard anti-people antics of a certain segment of the Republican Party. America’s working-class people are sick of those antics that are based on an absurd avarice-ridden ideology.

There is one more benefit Beshear will bring to the ticket. Kentucky is a somewhat midwestern and a somewhat southern state. Even if he cannot deliver Kentucky, a deep-red state in terms of federal politics, he may bring-in a few other states, as the people of the Midwest and the South will feel solidarity with what Beshear will have to say.

That will constitute a great antidote to the venomous propaganda that Trump and his cohort are certain to launch against Harris, because she is from California, a liberal state. The chief custodian and producer of that venom, of course, is Sen. Mitch McConnell, whose lack of leadership qualities caused him to compensate himself by pitting Americans of one state against another. He often referred to politicians from California and New York with derision, as if they were not Americans, but enemies of America.

When citizens of various parts of America see Beshear speak, on the national platform, of unity, cohesion and bipartisanship, their perceptions of Kentucky will change, helping the ticket win. Beshear’s dignified demeanor will go a long way in reassuring Americans of the efficacy of a possible Harris-Beshear administration.

I may be somewhat biased toward the governor of my state, but I firmly believe Beshear will make a great vice-presidential candidate and a great VP. Trump is already shocked at Biden’s decision. Let’s add to that shock.  Let’s neutralize the Trump cult, once and forever. We owe it to America.

I hope Harris will give Beshear a robust consideration for the job she currently holds.

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Siddique Malik is an observer of sociopolitical affairs. He has made occasional op-ed contributions to the Courier Journal, for the past two decades. Find him @TheSummerOf1787.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Andy Beshear deserves robust consideration for Vice President