Mark Kelly Is a Different Kind of Democrat

Any discussion of Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, who is on Kamala Harris’s shortlist of vice-presidential picks, invariably includes the phrase “former NASA astronaut.” He flew four Space Shuttle missions — two as commander — the desideratum of a child’s imagining of a future career, and a killer résumé line for anyone running for public office.

For Ms. Harris, the spaceflight factor may be overestimated and underappreciated all at once: Mr. Kelly projects an image of masculinity and strength that could reassure any swing voters or others who may be reluctant to cast a vote for a female former senator from liberal California. Whether or not Mr. Kelly is the V.P. choice, the qualities he brings — sobriety, consistency and military experience — are welcome contributions to the future of Democratic politics.

Mr. Kelly’s strengths as a running mate and a potential governing partner go deeper than the NASA logo. What astronauts actually do on the job is more mundane than Han Solo derring-do, and serves as a better match for the tedious and often boring realities of governing than the passing florescence of politics.

“We looked for three main criteria,” said Chris Hadfield, a retired astronaut who helped write the selection guidelines at NASA. “Healthy life habits; the proven ability to learn complicated things quickly; and the ability to make good decisions of extremely high consequences.”

In his four years in the U.S. Senate, which he joined in 2020, Mr. Kelly has governed in the meticulous and quiet style that NASA favors. Though he has yet to score a major legislative accomplishment and has not sketched out a grand theory of governance, he consulted frequently with small-town mayors, learned the arcane protocols of military budgeting on the Armed Services Committee and helped save Tucson’s Davis-Monthan Air Force Base from decommissioning after the retirement of its signature A-10 aircraft.

Mindful of the shakiness of being a Democrat in traditionally red Arizona, Mr. Kelly also “ran to the right” whenever possible, according to the Republican consultant Stan Barnes, endorsing measures, for example, to bulk up dilapidated portions of the border fenceand conspicuously opposing President Biden’s choice to ease asylum requirements during the pandemic. Such gestures helped blunt the reality of his voting record, which put him on Mr. Biden’s side 95 percent of the time.