Dem
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GOP
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When Reporters asked Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) if he was being vetted for veep, he quipped that apparently Harris was not in the market for a 49-year-old balding gay Jew from Boulder. This is a riff on former congressman Barney Frank's oft-repeated remark "As a left-handed gay Jew, I am used to being in the minority." Someone even wrote a biography about him entitled Barney Frank: the Story of America's Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman.
But although Polis will not be vice president, he just got another important job. He was elected chair of the National Governors' Association. The fact that he was elected to run a bipartisan group to which all the governors, both Democratic and Republican, belong, speaks to his ability to work across the aisle. He is definitely someone to watch and could well be a presidential candidate in 2028 or 2032.
Polis has always done well in rural areas. For example, Polis carried the district that elected Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) last time. That means there were many Boebert-Polis voters. He undoubtedly will be talking to Tim Walz, who will also be aiming at rural voters. Maybe Walz can learn things about rural voters in other states. One thing that Polis will surely emphasize is Woody Allen's remark that 80% of success is just showing up. One of the reasons that Democrats do so poorly in rural areas is that they simply don't show up. The voters there (quite reasonably) interpret this as meaning the Democrats don't care about them. Polis will argue that showing up and listening really helps.
Some of the issues that Polis has dealt with are likely to surface in the national campaign as well. One of them is housing. Polis focused on removing barriers to home construction, which increased the housing supply. Housing is an issue everywhere, so the lessons from Colorado could help Harris and Walz. One of the lessons is making sure high-density housing can built near transit, for example. This required going after local zoning laws.
Another of Polis' issues is education. Colorado now has universal free pre-school for all 4-year-olds. This is enormously popular in Colorado and his advice could help the national ticket. Another issue Polis has worked on is gun control. Unlike senators, governors actually have to run something, so Polis may have other useful advice for the ticket.
While we are on the subject of governors, Walz also was a leading governor. He was chair of the Democratic Governors' Association. The day Harris picked him as her running mate, he resigned and was quickly replaced by Gov. Laura Kelly (D-KS), the vice chair. She is from a state even more rural than Colorado and can also no doubt give some insight to the ticket how to approach rural voters, since she was twice elected in a heavily Republican state. There is plenty of advice available. All Harris and Walz need to do is listen carefully. (V)