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Was Picking Tim Walz was Kamala Harris’s first campaign mistake

snitzoid

He's likable, a good speaker and aside from his somewhat ridiculous policy positions he's perfect.


Picking Tim Walz was Kamala Harris’s first campaign mistake

by Matt K. Lewis, The Hill

Opinion contributor - 08/06/24 3:00 PM ET



When I heard that Vice President Harris had selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate, the first thought to hit me was that of revered baseball manager Casey Stengel: “Can’t anybody here play this game?”


That’s not to say Walz is the worst choice in the world. But Shapiro is the governor of Pennsylvania — probably the most important state for Harris electorally, where he has a 64 percent approval rating. That fact alone might have been dispositive.


Walz, conversely, is the governor of Minnesota, a state that Harris should easily win. And while Walz’s avuncular Midwestern image might play well in the so-called “Blue Wall” states (which include Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania), it’s not the same as him being the popular governor of one of those states.


What’s more, by going with Walz, Harris has abandoned the generational change contrast that a Harris-Shapiro ticket would have enjoyed against Trump. (Although Walz is just nine years older than Shapiro — and only months older than Harris — he presents as much older.)


As someone who has been described as a “Never-Trump conservative,” I must also concede that my perspective is biased in favor of the more moderate Shapiro. Nevertheless, there are thousands of politically homeless Americans yearning in vain for someone — anyone — to woo them.


Just the other day, a bunch of current and former Republicans endorsed Harris, presumably with the goal of winning over some disgruntled suburban soccer moms and erstwhile Nikki Haley supporters. Today, that goal became much harder.


Rather than counterbalancing the narrative that suggests Harris is a “San Francisco liberal,” Walz’s selection reinforces that left-wing brand.


Now, it is true that Walz won’t be easily pigeonholed as some effete cosmopolitan liberal — he’s a veteran and a high school football coach, among other things. And it’s also true that some of his past positions would be hard to cast as out of touch (he was once backed by the NRA).


Still, much of Walz’s actual record — such as signing a law that allows undocumented immigrants to receive a driver’s license, and his response to the George Floyd protests — will be easily pilloried.


To be sure, Republicans would have attacked Shapiro, too. But those attacks would have lacked the same plausibility.


Shapiro’s image is clearly that of a moderate. This includes his support for school vouchers, the “middle ground” he has carved with regard to fracking and his forceful condemnation of antisemitism by protesters against the Gaza war.

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