Can a low-key Democrat win in 2028? (with Sen. Mark Kelly)

Dasha Burns (0:00)

Presented by AHIP.

SPEAKER_2 (0:02)

Health plans work every day to shield Americans from high and rising costs by negotiating lower prices from providers and drug makers and protecting consumers against unexpected medical bills. Learn more at ahip.org.

Mark Kelly (0:15)

It's not that the American people love the Democrats, and that's why we won this election. It's that they're really not happy with the Republicans.

Dasha Burns (0:31)

Hello, hello, and welcome to The Conversation. I'm Dasha Burns, and every week on this show, I talk to some of the most compelling and sometimes unexpected power players in Washington and beyond, and this week I sat down with Senator Mark Kelly. Now, Kelly has worn a lot of hats in his lifetime, and while he's currently the Democratic Senator from Arizona, he's also a retired NASA astronaut and a former Naval officer. We spoke on Veterans Day in San Diego, where he was walking in a parade in front of the USS Midway, a ship where he's actually flown combat missions from during the Persian Gulf War.

With his firsthand deeply personal experience in the military, Kelly was the perfect guest to talk to about this moment in the Iran War and the attempted impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Beyond military issues, there was so much to talk about with the new Democratic-led Congress coming in, 2028 looming and of course Mark Kelly has been talked about as a potential 2028 contender. He has not yet officially announced anything, but I did ask him all about it. Folks, thank you so much for supporting our show. Please make sure that you are subscribed wherever you are listening or watching us and make sure that you download POLITICO's brand new app. You can find us there too. Now, here's my conversation with Mark Kelly.

Senator Mark Kelly, thank you so much for joining The Conversation.

Mark Kelly (1:48)

Good to be here, Dasha.

Dasha Burns (1:49)

And happy Veterans Day.

Mark Kelly (1:50)

Thank you.

Dasha Burns (1:51)

We are here in San Diego, which is also my hometown.

Mark Kelly (1:54)

And a great Navy town.

Dasha Burns (1:56)

A great Navy town where you just walked in a Veterans Day Parade with the USS Midway. You flew 39 combat missions in the Gulf War, many of them off the Midway.

Mark Kelly (2:07)

All of them.

SPEAKER_2 (2:08)

All of them off the Midway.

Dasha Burns (2:09)

You said 199

Mark Kelly (2:11)

No, I said 299 carrier landings.

Dasha Burns (2:15)

299 carrier landings.

Mark Kelly (2:16)

375 carrier landings on like 6 or 7 different ships, but 299 of them are on the Midway.

Dasha Burns (2:23)

You just, just one short.

Mark Kelly (2:25)

I was one short of 300 And you know, there's, I don't have it on this jacket. I have it on another jacket. There's like patches for each hundred. So I have the 200 carrier landing patch.

Dasha Burns (2:33)

But not the 300 one?

Mark Kelly (2:34)

I don't have the 300 one.

Dasha Burns (2:35)

Oh, that must keep you up at night.

Mark Kelly (2:37)

No, not anymore. It did, it did for a while. But the operations officer during the time of Operation Desert Storm and when I was in the squadron, he's the CEO of the USS Midway Museum. His name is Terry Craft. He's a retired admiral. And we were talking about that. He said, well, why didn't you tell me that you needed one more landing? I said, well, I told our skipper, you know, the squadron commander. And he was like, he wasn't that sympathetic.

He said, well, you should have told me.

Dasha Burns (3:07)

Well, look, I think this is an important moment to have someone with your experience talk about the moment that we're in. 35 years later, the US is entangled in another war in the Middle East.

And voters in this election resoundly rejected the war and its impact on their lives here at home. But you know, as I talk to experts of all kinds on this, there doesn't seem to be a simple solution here. You can argue about how we got here, right? But we are here, and there are a lot of theories about how to get out, but no one seems to have that clear answer. What is the right next step for the United States in this conflict?

Mark Kelly (3:49)

Well, can I back up and talk about the difference between the war in the Gulf, the first Gulf War in 1991, and what we're in today?

Dasha Burns (3:59)

Okay, but not a very long history lesson because we have a lot to get into.

Mark Kelly (4:01)