LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to pick her running mate by Tuesday. With a little more than 72 hours until then, speculation is swirling about who will make the Democratic ticket.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear remains one of the top contenders for the role.
"I'm the guy that's going to help Vice President Harris win the presidency and beat Donald Trump this November," he told a crowd of Democrats in Oklahoma on Thursday, before going off the grid through the weekend.
One moment in particular from Beshear's speech had some people turning their heads.
"Yes, while I run as a proud Democrat, the moment I win, I take that hat off and I serve every single citizen of Kentucky," the two-term governor said. "And maybe, just maybe, every citizen of the United States of America."
Former Louisville congressman Mike Ward said Beshear was likely just having fun.
"It was on the minds of everyone in that room, so why not say something like that?" he said. "There's nothing crazier than not talking about the big elephant in the room."
Beshear pulled out of a visit to western Kentucky on Friday, and it appears he doesn't have any scheduled events for Saturday and Sunday. The governor's team wouldn't say why, but it's been known that the Harris campaign is vetting Beshear.
Harris is expected to begin formal interview with her potential running mates this weekend ahead of a campaign blitz across several states next week.
"I don't think she's made her mind up yet," Ward said.
During an exclusive interview with WHAS11 in Iowa, Beshear was asked whether some of the credentials Harris is reportedly seeking in a running mate -- including someone with executive experience who can balance the ticket and be a governing partner -- matches what he brings to the table.
"That certainly describes a governor," he said on July 27. "It certainly describes a governor in a state where you have to reach across the aisle to get things done."
Stephan Voss, a politic science professor at the University of Kentucky, said a candidate like Beshear who's "playing well with white working class labor voters is key."
"The part of the Democratic coalition that's been slipping away the most heavily over the last decade has been the white working class," Voss added.
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