Tim Walz of Minnesota is Kamala’s running mate
With this choice, it seems that Harris is giving up the pretense – at least for the moment – of tacking to the middle. The bland-looking Walz (who is only 60 but appears older to me) is one of the most leftist governors in the US and perhaps the most leftist.
Actually, though, even “moderate” Democrats tend to be very far to the left these days, and the ones who aren’t have left the party like Tulsi Gabbard. But Walz was the most leftist of the serious contenders for the role of VP to Harris.
So why was he chosen? One obvious reason is to placate the base. But isn’t Harris herself already enough of a leftist to placate that base? Perhaps not. And perhaps nothing short of Ilhan Omar as a running mate would placate that base.
As for Shapiro, who would seem to have been the perfect candidate – relatively moderate, popular governor of swing state Pennsylvania – as I wrote a few days ago:
Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania, makes some sense because the Democrats need Pennsylvania. But Shapiro has a big negative in terms of this particular race by this particular Democrat Party: he’s Jewish. …
… Would the costs of a Shapiro as VP candidate be greater than the benefits? That’s the calculus Harris and her advisors must weigh. She may end up avoiding the problem by choosing someone else, but it must be tempting to go with Shapiro because he would almost certainly deliver Pennsylvania.
Harris and/or those advising/controlling her must have decided the costs of Shapiro the Jew as running mate were too high. Then again, there’s at least a small chance that it was Shapiro who ultimately said “no” because the price of being a yes-man to whatever Harris did as president was too high for him.
And what of Kelly of Arizona? We didn’t hear too much about the process of that courtship and rejection, and probably won’t hear more about it.
I never quite got why Harris was thinking about Walz in the first place, because he brings so little to the ticket. He’s popular in Minnesota – I guess – but he doesn’t seem the least bit compelling to outsiders, and he’s not telegenic. He can easily be correctly labeled as quite far to the left, and his role in the riots of 2020 was abominable [written by John Hinderaker]:
As an American, I am horrified at Walz’s selection. He is small-minded, mean-spirited man. In one way, he will fit in with the Harris ticket: he ran a basement campaign for re-election in 2022, refusing to show up for debates with Republican Scott Jensen after the first one went badly. So Jensen was left debating an empty chair.
Walz’s character defects are considerable, but let’s leave it at this: he was largely responsible for the George Floyd riots that devastated Minneapolis and other cities, because he dithered for days rather than calling out the National Guard. By his own admission, he held off out of sympathy for the rioters’ cause.
We are still living with the consequences.Walz has a terrible record as governor. This post sums it up.
Under Walz, Minnesota became a high-crime state for the first time ever …
Under Walz, student achievement tumbled even as spending on schools skyrocketed …
Under Walz, per capita GDP in Minnesota fell below the national average, for the first time ever …
Under Walz, increases in energy costs have far outstripped the national average …
And under Walz, Minnesota has joined New York, California and Illinois as a state that people of all ages are fleeing …
That is Tim Walz’s record. It is every bit as bad as Joe Biden’s and Kamala Harris’s, possibly worse. He is a far-left ideologue whose character includes not one redeeming quality. As an American, I am horrified at the thought of him being close to the seat of power.
Today when I first heard the news that the choice was Walz, I thought good, because he brings so little of value to the ticket. But then I thought maybe not so good, because maybe the choice of Walz means that the left thinks that this election is in the bag, by hook or by crook, and so there’s no need to appeal to the middle at all.
Then again, Kamala’s already so far to the left that Walz doesn’t push her any further. He’s also not likely to succeed her as president because of her disability and/or death, because were she to be elected in November she’d “only” be 60 (which, interestingly enough, is the same age as Walz).
So how much influence would Walz have as VP? Probably not all that much, for the simple reason that he and Harris are on the same page politically anyway.
I’m so old that I can remember when Democrats in the upper midwest were not nasty, snarling misfits like Tim Walz or Ilhan Omar. You had guys like Fritz Mondale, who was deeply misguided but not hostile or malicious. That was a long time ago.
So, who is going to come up with the lyrics to “Walzing Kamala”, to the tune of Waltzing Matilda? Or, how about “Word Salad Kamala”, to the tune of the great Tony Joe White’s Polk Salad Annie? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrT-TQTLoiw
Sgt. Joe Friday:
Hubert Humphrey.
My cynical take is that the Waltz pick is similar to Biden picking Harris. I’ve seen it in intradepartmental politics too.
There is barely average or sub-average mediocrity at the top, and they need a new hire. Better make sure that the new person doesn’t outshine us lifers here. Worse yet, never select a real doer and achiever who might take over and shake things up for the better. We all might be out of a job if that happened.
In the case of Biden/Harris, the unlikely happened. Biden was no doubt thinking for a time, “You Dem power brokers are going to push me out and replace me with her??”
Another unrelated possibility is one of corruption and corruptibility. I am beginning to think that the Dem party isn’t just figuratively like an organized crime syndicate, but rather like an actual one. Perhaps omerta and compliance must be enforceable.
Now RedState is reporting that a group of retired Command Sergeants Major are accusing Waltz of cowardice and lying about his service record while serving in the Minnesota National Guard. It will be interesting to find out if there is anything to this report.
What’s the old adage…
“A-level leaders pick A-level subordinates and B etc pick C/D level”?
Something like that…?
We thought Kamala was a weird choice… now the cabal that saddled the US with Biden-Harris says, “Hold our crack pipe.”
He looks like Bernie’s brother.
My cynical take is that the Waltz pick is similar to Biden picking Harris. I’ve seen it in intradepartmental politics too.
TommyJay:
The saying goes:
_________________________
“A” people hire “A” people.
“B” people hire “C” people.
_________________________
I doubt Harris is even a “B” person.
John+Guilfoyle got there first.
Josh Shapiro was not picked because he once when I think he was 20 years old had the temerity to write an article sympathetic to Israel and he is Jewish. They feel that the pro Hamas wing of the Democratic Party needs to be placated. Walz, like Harris, would have to improve to be considered mediocre.
William @3:38 pm
“He looks like Bernie’s brother.” Walz is a fat version of Bernie Sanders.
BrooklynBoy:
Hard to believe Walz is 60 years-old. He looks to be in his 70s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Walz
neo on August 6, 2024 at 3:14 pm said:
Sgt. Joe Friday:
Hubert Humphrey.
______
I remember when I was a kid and didn’t follow politics at all, my father and both grandfathers talking about how terrible Humphrey was. This must have been 1960. He was seen as extreme then, but 1972 he was the voice of sanity against McGovern.
The only worse pick would have been Buttegieg
I can’t understand why every article mentioning Shapiro in connection with this Harris VP speculation has referred to him as the “popular” governor of Pennsylvania. Unlike our recent GOP candidates for the U.S. Senate, I live in Pennsylvania, and I’ll bet that most Pennsylvanians don’t even know the governor’s name. I didn’t know what the guy looked like until I saw his picture a couple of times in articles about the VP business.
That aside, while I have no idea how smart Shapiro is, he’s no doubt nowhere near as stupid as either Harris or Biden. Why, then, would he want to be Kamala Harris’s running mate and (worse still) vice-president, especially if he thinks he might have a political future beyond a term or two in the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg? Could it be that the Gopher State cipher Walz ended up being chosen because the reality on the Democratic side – including among candidates mentioned as possible VP choices – is that confidence in, and enthusiasm for, the presidential ticket headed by Harris is not running especially high?
JDinPA, you make too much sense.
Walz is the left’s backup to Harris. The left’s insurance that if anything happens to Harris or if her incompetence forces her ouster, that the left’s destruction of America will continue on schedule. It’s also an indication that the left is confident that the election has already been ‘decided’.
Rumor is Shapiro dropped out leaving Harris hanging.
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2024/08/06/josh-shapiro-backed-out-of-the-kamala-veepstakes-n4931397
Also Harris-Walz aids Pelosi’s strategy to retake the House and keep the Senate to stymie a Trump victory – again…
crasey:
Interesting. I hadn’t heard that rumor when I wrote my post, but I had a notion there was a chance, as I noted in the post, that it was Shapiro who had said no to Harris.
Perhaps Walz was the last man standing. That would explain a lot.
Tbe speech was all about abortion forget about the crime or inflation or any other subject
Some good info about Walz on Megan Kelly. You’ll probably see some this repeated for the next three weeks.
Vance will be up to the challenge!
Rich Lowry is doing his best to appear enthusiastic.
“Significant Questions Emerge About Harris VP Tim Walz’s Military Service, w/ Ungar-Sargon and Lowry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xYUOlnGGCw
They will still win… by a few million votes I suspect. Just learned today that big, unspent bucks from the Beat Inflation Bill or whatever those “representatives” of ours called it have been labeled for “green” things and are all going to Dem candidates. And then there is the cheating, fraud, etc.
Why even discuss who this guy is?
Too pessimistic? I hope so, but it feels like a pretty frail hope as we all focus on such matters as those mentioned here. Keep us discussing and whamo, the lights go out, polling places close only to open in the morning to boxes of D votes. And that is the simplistic stuff, the devious stuff is never seen. Thanks Google et. al.
@ Chris B > “a group of retired Command Sergeants Major are accusing Waltz of cowardice and lying about his service record while serving in the Minnesota National Guard. ”
Where were they in 2022?
What makes Walz as VP less desirable than Walz as governor?
Wikipedia:
Walz was elected governor of Minnesota in November 2018, defeating the Republican nominee, Hennepin County commissioner Jeff Johnson.[2] He was reelected in 2022, defeating Republican nominee Scott Jensen.[3][4] During his second term, Walz pushed for and signed a wide range of legislation that included tax modifications, free school meals, bolstering state infrastructure, gun background checks, codifying abortion rights and free college tuition for low-income families.
No one here has mentioned Walz’s explicit support of socialism, but Not The Bee is on the case!
https://notthebee.com/article/kamala-harris-picks-minnesota-gov-tim-waltz-as-vp
The relevant tweet from that post is from the RNC:
“One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.”
— Tim Walz
That quote is from the White Dude’s Call, as told in this post:
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/08/06/gov_tim_walz_on_white_dudes_for_kamala_harris_call_one_persons_socialism_is_another_persons_neighborliness.html
It gives you a good idea of Walz’s positions from his own mouth.
Of course, he lies and gaslights as is usual with politicians, in the particular direction Democrats are going this season.
I don’t know exactly what he means by that phrase, but if you’ve studied socialist countries at all, they are the anti-thesis of “neighborliness.”
Unless you think ratting out your friends & family for wrong-think is neighborly.
Oh wait, that’s what the Democrats wanted us all to do during the Covid Crisis.
A meme for your collections:
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/whenthewallfell-whoranwhere.jpg?w=680
Interesting. When was the last time both major-party presidential tickets featured VP candidates from the Midwest at the same time?
1976, Mondale/Dole?
FOAF, looks like you’ve got it.
2020: Biden needs a Black woman. 2024: Harris needs a White man. In both cases, the results were bad.
Does calling opponents radical or extremist really work? It worked against Goldwater and against McGovern, but we were a different country then. The swing voters don’t pay much attention to those attacks. Right now both parties accuse their opponents of dangerous radicalism, so maybe the non-political assume it’s all just part of the game.
When was the last time both major-party presidential tickets featured VP candidates from the Midwest at the same time?
Maybe 1944, Truman D-MO vs. Bricker R-OH, or 1924, Dawes R-IL vs. Bryan D-NE.
@ Aesop > “Where were they in 2022?”
Questioned answered by a link from Nonapod in the next post.
https://alphanews.org/fellow-veteran-speaks-out-on-walzs-misleading-statements-about-military-record/
The story is from September 2022.
And the veteran has been speaking out on the subject since 2016.
But the media has been ignoring or dismissing hime.
Obviously, it did not impact the elections against Walz since then, so why would it now?
On the other hand, sometimes it takes an elevated attention to things like this to get action, similar to how John Kerry’s attempts to portray himself as a gung-ho soldier eventually were shot down by the Swift-Boat Veterans, who gave him a pass until he ran for Commander-in-Chief.
On the gripping hand, the media immediately propagandized that story and coined “swiftboating” to mean “a FALSE attack” on Kerry’s record.
It’s hard to fight against the combined forces of the government AND the media, all speaking from the same playbook — and sometimes literally from the same script.
More from Alpha News:
https://alphanews.org/msnbc-data-guru-delivers-brutal-reality-check-to-dems-after-walz-pick/
“The Democrats’ hope is that he’s going to appeal to the blue-collar areas in these other three states, maybe he will, but when you look at what he’s done in Minnesota, you don’t quite see that,” Kornacki said.
And this could cause some problems for the Democrats, if the Somalian community is actually in play.
https://alphanews.org/somali-voter-explains-his-switch-to-trump-very-conservative-people/
After explaining the policies that initiated his switch from being a Democrat to running for office as a Republican, he says this:
“In the bag, by hook or by crook”!!
Jesus Christ you all are the cheaters and election deniers.
I have no idea if we will win. But I know that your people will try to cheat, and will cry like baby bitches if you lose, and stage a more violent coup attempt than your last one if all else fails.
It is all projection with you people
A few more details from Not the Bee.
No matter how low your opinion of the media is, it’s not low enough.
https://notthebee.com/article/look-at-how-wapo-is-covering-the-most-radical-vp-pick-kamala-could-have-made
The Babylon Bee is more succinct:
https://babylonbee.com/news/tim-walz-vows-to-make-america-as-great-as-minneapolis
JDinPA – Shaprio’s approval rating is right around 50%, and usually a little over. There are also plenty of stories of him acting decent to Pennsylvanians who are on the other side of the political divide. His response to the the death of Corey Comperatore was appropriate, showing grace to someone who almost certainly didn’t vote for him:
https://x.com/GovernorShapiro/status/1812552849685119380
He has also diverged significantly from the Democratic party line on Israel and Palestinian “protesters.” He still says that he’s in favor of school choice, but after this legislative session, I don’t think that’s accurate. At a minimum, he hasn’t been on board with nearly as many of the looney left policies as Walz and Harris. Apparently, that passes for moderate these days.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like the guy as a politician and would never vote for him, but it would have been far easier to cast him as a moderate than it will be with Walz, who comes off to me as arrogant jerk (if JD Vance can get off the couch? Really? And you’re going to criticize Trump for being crude?)
Pennsylvania really isn’t red at all. A large and often decisive chunk of the electorate are blue collar folks who are not particularly conservative (especially economically), are not Republicans, and usually vote for Democrats. I think Trump won PA in 2016 (by the skin of his teeth) because he did better with these voters than Republicans have historically. But to put things in perspective, these folks are also Fetterman’s base. Shapiro would have helped a lot with this group. He can come off as a decent, reasonable guy, and genuineness goes a long way.
Walz is a liability, for sure, as is Kamala’s record. With the press running interference for the Democrat’s ticket, however, it’s going to take a disciplined, on-message campaign to defeat them. In other words, Trump needs to NOT be the center of attention between now and November. I’m not sure that he is capable of that. I guess we’ll see.