Here’s the news.
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.
