So, the die has been cast. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has been chosen as Vice President and selected Democrat nominee Kamala Harris’ vice presidential running mate. Many of my colleagues and political pundits had already cast their lot in with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, but I knew that would never happen. The Democrat Party is as antisemitic as it is racist, and it will be a long day before another Jew is part of a presidential ticket. Think 2000 with VP Al Gore and Senator Joe Lieberman—that was a disaster, and that’s how long it’s been.
The Democrat Party has been overtaken by the Pro-Palestine wing: the Rashida Tlaibs and Ilhan Omars are peppered throughout their party, particularly in the Rust Belt and northeast.
As my colleague Ward Clark reported:
But progressive groups are nevertheless warning Harris away from Shapiro.
One letter signed by nearly 50 progressive leaders pointed to Shapiro’s “shortcomings as a national candidate” and urged the vice president to consider Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) instead.
“With the compressed timeline ahead of us to defeat the Trump-Vance-MAGA threat, we simply cannot afford any setbacks,” the letter said.
A letter from another progressive group, known as “VP Unity,” said Harris’s consideration of Shapiro has “set off alarm bells” among young voters, Muslims, Arab Americans and activists.
Take a look at those categories. “…young voters, Muslims, Arab Americans, and activists.”
From this, we can conclude with reasonable certainty that the “young voters” and “activists” are those who either conducted or are in sympathy with those who held “peaceful protests” in favor of wiping out Israel on college campuses across the country. And were we to draw one of Kamala Harris’s beloved Venn diagrams of “Muslims” and “Arab Americans,” there would likely be an almost complete overlap.
While these young voters, activists, and ethnic groups may not be as voluminous as they appear, they are extremely vocal. Look at the damage done on college campuses across the nation. Look at the destruction and attacks on Jewish life in Los Angeles. If Shapiro had been selected as Kamala Harris’ running mate, they would have raised unholy hell at the Democrat National Convention, across social media, and in a city near you.
So, the play to not choose Shapiro had much to do with getting them to fall in line and quiet down. We will see how well it works. We live in a sea of crazy, so anything can happen.
As a governor, Shapiro is far more popular than Walz, and he governs a purple state, where he won reelection handily.
Shapiro ran 14 points ahead of Joe Biden in his state. Was he running against an election-denying crackpot? Yes, but so was Mark Kelly in Arizona, and Kelly only ran five points ahead of the Biden level. Shapiro’s victory margin indicates very broad appeal.
In office, he has actually expanded his support level. A recent poll pegged his approval rating at +29. That is an incredible level of support to compile in a purple state.
But it makes sense when you pay attention to how Shapiro operates and how he communicates. Lacking a solid Democratic majority, he has not had the ability to sign sweeping legislation like fellow Democratic governors Gretchen Whitmer and Tim Walz. He has, however, made progress on issues that are both substantively important and broaden his appeal.
But here’s the rub: Harris is at the top of the ticket, and is an unpopular VP and now-manufactured POTUS nominee who needs to be fluffed up and propped up. Shapiro, on the other hand, has great personal appeal, comes off authentic, and can actually string words together accurately and off prompter. It would have taken little time before Shapiro outshone her—and a VP candidate can never outshine the top of the ticket.
Anyone calling Walz a leftist has allowed themselves to be negatively polarized by campus protesters. The guy is a down-the-middle moderate on policy, and red meat on vibes/aesthetics—much more so than polished coastal lawyer Shapiro. pic.twitter.com/XUlTqtvIdt
— Dan Riffle (@DanRiffle) August 6, 2024
There was also the risk that Shapiro would have been running for top-of-the-ticket in 2028 before 2024 was even done and would have been running a shadow presidential campaign behind Harris’ back. Shapiro’s that ambitious. Anyone who formerly had deep pride in his Jewish ancestry and heritage who can reduce his past stances for Israel and the Jewish people as having “evolved,” shows just how much he wanted to get on the ticket. Joe Lieberman was 10-toes down in his support for Israel throughout his life and never compromised his values, and he was railroaded from the Democrat Party because of it. Shapiro, on the other hand, is flexible. This flexibility may also have tanked him. The malleable ones get little respect and are dispensable when the party is done using you. Look at President Joe Biden for the most recent example.
Walz, on the other hand, is Scranton Joe 2.0. While his policies and their results have been wildly radical, he’s pulling an Al Franken circa 2008, and playing up the affable dad and grandpa bona fides. Here is where the Trump campaign and Republicans better get wise.
The case for Harris picking Tim Walz is that his demeanor & appearance reassures independents that he’s a normie moderate while his record reassures the base that he’s an uncompromising Far Left zealot, & the national press can conceal the latter from the former.
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) August 6, 2024
They cannot assume battling against this ticket will be a cakewalk. Remember, Walz is the one who came up with painting Trump and JD Vance as “weird.” He may seem innocuous, but he’s incredibly insidious. The Harris-Walz ticket has a legacy media and DNC apparatus that will work overtime to gaslight and cover that up, and the love fest has already begun.
Minnesota progressives didn’t always love Tim Walz.
But over the years, Walz has moved left from some of his more moderate stances — and also impressed them with willingness to “lean into disagreements.”
Why they pitched him as @KamalaHarris‘ VP pick ⤵️ https://t.co/L8Jvb4s63l
— Kyle Stokes (@kystokes) August 6, 2024
Exposure of this must be done surgically and strategically, not through crass memes, and bumbling takes that make Walz a put-upon hero, rather than a dangerous ideologue and partner to America’s destruction.
