He would be better than Newsom, but worse than Khanna or AOC. I don't like his lib-brained gun control perspective though.
this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2026
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Heads must roll for what the trump regime has done already and the billionaires and corporations that allowed and backed it. So any candidate must be the driving force of implementing those consequences, or get out of the way.
Personally, what I am hoping for is a ticket with AOC as president, and Mark Kelly as vice. He can help AOC with military issues, while she can guide the nation towards some flavor of Democratic Socialism.
I think we will see a civil war, so we definitely need a military expert in a major role. Kelly should do nicely.
Personally, what I am hoping for is a ticket with AOC as president, and Mark Kelly as vice.
I'd rather AOC take over the Senate and replace Schumer as majority (minority for now, but majority forever) leader. She'd have more influence for longer than just being a president.
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He seems ready to fight, and seems fearless. He has my vote if he starts demanding trials, convictions, and jail time for the traitors and pedophiles.
Not in the Epstein files.
Won't trigger misogynists.
Won't trigger racists.
Astronaut,
Only worth about 20 mill, might resonate with middle class.
They'll try to rail him for telling the military not to follow illegal orders, It would be an interesting run.
He's a super safe pick, that's pretty clear. Safer than Gavin Newsom, imo.
However, I'd like to see what his platform is before I make up my mind about him. Amnesty for the fascists is a complete non-starter for me. Trump and his cronies must be punished. He needs to be clear about that on the campaign trail, and not weasel his way around it like Biden did.
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He's one of the most right wing Democrats though, and he has voted for Republican budgets and frequently for Trump appointees. More so than Fetterman.
I'd vote for him in the general, but he's not a good pick in the primary at all.
I was not aware, thanks for that info. Ill have to reconsider my position on him.
And I will seriously consider voting for just about anyone else left of him in the primary. No offense to him, he seems like a very solid dude, but the time for half-measures, centrists, and people that believe institutions will save us is well beyond over.
You nailed it on the head. If AOC runs, I’m absolutely voting for her. If not, Kelly seems a lot better than Newsom.
Yeah Kelley seems to be a centrist with a soul. I don't want another fucking centrist but I really must insist on a candidate with a soul
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Kelly is quite a bit more right wing than Newsom. Kelly's voting record is pretty terrible for Dems.
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I’d vote vote for anyone (Mark Kelly) over anyone who protects pedophiles. Plain. Simple. Straightforward.
Honestly, I'm just happy if theres an alternative to Newsome. Kelly isnt a progressive, but hes not a full blown corpo shill that the DNC would happily shove down our throats if unopposed.
Yeah I intended to write a very similar comment. I think Kelly is respected as someone who is both honest and who cares about the country, so while I’d nominally prefer a progressive, Kelly would be a huge alternative to Newsom’s slicked-back car salesman energy.
ITT: People placing their hopes on a presidential race when they don't even know if they are even going to be able to have a legitimate rollover on the midterms.
I myself am quite worried there will be no election this fall. I am preparing for potential mass civil unrest this summer. But we can't let these psychos win in advance. They want to live in an autocratic country. It's important to keep the flame alive
Have you seen how other Republicans are frequently defying Trump? (Mandatory "fuck them anyway" disclaimer, but still.) I'm sure he'll try, but I don't think he has the political capital to pull of a coup, and I don't think there's any route for him to build that capital before the deadline.
Yes, all bark, no bite.
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So if he wins he will be at retirement age when he is starting? Are you sure he is old enough for American voters?
He's not nearly senile enough
i like mark kelly and gabby would be a fantastic first lady but please not right now; we need a radical to clean up the mess.
We need a Warrior, who will go after MAGA's crimes likes it's personal. I don't care who it is, old, young, man, woman, black, white, anybody, everything else is on the back burner. We can't get this country on any kind of a track until we ruthlessly crush MAGA, purge it from our government and our country, and harshly punish them for their crimes. Only then, can we start to make plans to redeem our Nation in the eyes of our citizens, the world, and history
I'll vote for anybody who pledges to make that their primary priority as POTUS.
Remember MAGA chanting "lock her up"? We need that energy now for the Democrats, lock Trump up ... imprison all of these corrupt pieces of filth and seize their grifted assets.
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Either the next president will be a Democratic Socialist, or it will be a fascist. Democrats need to get back 20% of their base, plus the margin they need to pick up in the places they need to make up the differences they'll need to win the big house.
Ask yourself this without looking at this announcement: Can a corporate Democrat do that?
I'm telling you now, either the next president will be a Democratic Socialist, or the Republicans win. No amount of glazing liberals is going to make them capable of winning an election.
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I am hard pressed to think of a democrat I would vote for in a primary over him.
A lot of lefties going to complain about his support for israel, even if modest. But honestly I cannot see another viable candidate in the wings. We have a couple years still but things are getting scary in terms of actual prospects and we're going to have to throw our hats in with someone (other than Newsom) so Kelly is probably going to be a great bet, he appeals to the largest swath of moderate America who are tuned out and just want to hear that someone strong and professional will keep them in their comforts, and he has enough established clout with the legislative branch that he already has political capital, they won't be afraid of working with him.
And he's seen Earth from space, and had to be a caregiver for a wife who was the victim of a political assassination attempt, I imagine that builds all the best kind of character and empathy.
A lot of lefties going to complain about his support for israel, even if modest.
Really depends on who he is running against and how he positions himself along the way. If he's out saying "Israel is our oldest and dearest friend, they just made a few mistakes" or god forbid "Anyone critical is anti-Semitic" he's DOA. If he's out there saying "We spend billions of dollars so Israel can have clean potable water and top tier health care, so it's time to bring those amenities back to the US", he can probably hurdle that criticism well enough.
he appeals to the largest swath of moderate America who are tuned out and just want to hear that someone strong and professional will keep them in their comforts
I mean, Biden appealed to these same voters by adopting half of Bernie Sanders's platform and half of Hillary Clinton's. Then he spent four years yelling at people for using TikTok and arguing the need to kill more brown people.
Kelly's fine on paper, but if he opens his mouth and sounds like another "moderate Dem"... I think he's going to have the same kind of trouble Cuomo did.
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I'd vote for him. Back when Biden was dropping out, I posted the question of peoples preferred democratic candidate, and Kelly was suggested by several people.
I think he could have won the '24 election had he been the candidate, and I think he could win the next election also.
The fact that (as he said in the video) he "Doesn't consider himself a politician" is a huge plus.
It's a bit sad that he's starting to get old though. 60 seemed perfectly okay, 65 is a bit on the high end.
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He might have to clarify a lot of his stances to get widespread support. For examples,
he opposed the Republicans tax bill giving cuts to the rich, but he has no comments on Kamala's proposed unrealized gains tax for the rich
he has a 100% scorecard from reproductive freedom advocates, but exactly how far he supports bodily autonomy and by extension trans rights is unknown
Sadly one thing he has been clear and consistent on is when the war in gaza began several years ago, he supported aiding Israel and moving a carrier group to threaten Iran and Houthis into deescelating. He still as recent as January promises to continue "aiding" Israel despite acknowledging the carnage.
Honestly, I don't like the idea. But he's a little better than Newsom and he's 10,000x better than Trump.
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