When the veepstakes were still going strong in Kamala-land and Mark Kelly was in serious contention, there came a cable-news feed that showed a Washington press scrum converging on the Arizona senator.

He was striding through the U.S. Capitol as reporters peppered him with questions about the vice presidency.

He no doubt understood he was auditioning for a role on the Democratic ticket, but he was not acing the test.

It wasn’t that Kelly looked nervous. He had spent enough time under spotlights to manage pressure like that. He just looked uncomfortable — eyes shifting back and forth, head mostly down, answers cautious to a fault.

Would you accept the nomination?

“This is not about me,” said Kelly. “This is about the future of the country.”

Pablum.

The country hardly knew Mark Kelly, so it was watching these first glimpses of him along with footage of the other contenders — Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Tim Walz of Minnesota.

All governors.

The contrast was striking.

The governors owned the microphone and the room. They looked comfortable with reporters.

Kelly did not.

And joining a presidential ticket in full stride would have been a tough place to develop those skills.

Governors are routinely confronting the media in their job as chief executive of the state, but Kelly has managed to lay low for years as Arizona’s junior senator.

I don’t fault him for that.

His first foray into politics........

© Arizona Republic