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August 6, 2024 - 5:05pm
Today Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris announced that she had selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate. The decision was a surprise, as many observers had considered Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro to be the favourite throughout her search process. However, picking Walz may give Democrats a chance to broaden their appeal with voters they’ve been losing for a long time.
Walz’s biography offers some hints of this possibility. His presence makes this the second Democratic ticket in a row to feature a candidate who did not attend an Ivy League school. He is also notably the first Democrat on a presidential ticket since Jimmy Carter not to have gone to law school. Before entering politics, he was a schoolteacher and high-school football coach, and served in the Army National Guard.
Walz also spent six terms in Congress representing the state’s First Congressional District, a large rural area whose population is fairly working-class and which grew more Republican-leaning during his tenure. He proved to be popular there, outrunning the Democratic presidential nominees in three straight elections, including narrowly winning the district while Hillary Clinton lost it by 16 points.
Moreover, throughout his career Walz has enjoyed the backing of organised labour and championed economically populist policies to benefit workers, including expanded sick leave, bans on non-compete clauses, and protections against wage theft. He also signed $2.6 billion to fund infrastructure projects that required union labour and removed the college degree requirement for the vast majority of state jobs, giving non-college-educated residents a path toward upward economic mobility.
On the whole, this experience paints a picture of the type of candidate who might be able to help Harris expand her appeal with key constituencies that Democrats have been losing for some time: namely, the white working class.
But Walz carries some downsides as well. Unlike Shapiro, he does not hail from a swing state — a tipping-point state, at that — so his presence doesn’t offer Harris the immediate chance to increase her odds of winning the Electoral College. And even in his run for governor in 2018, Walz did not demonstrate much ability to bounce back in areas of the state that had drifted away from Democrats during Obama’s presidency, including in his old district. His inability to outpace even Joe Biden in many of these areas stands in contrast to Shapiro, who ran ahead of the President all across Pennsylvania, often by double digits.
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Walz comes from the Minnesota DFL. The DFL operates tactically through “interest group pluralism.” In other words, divide and conquer by giving privileges to enough interest groups to secure a majority. This is exactly how Democrats conquered California.
Amazing that being a Jew is now disqualifying for the Democrats’ national ticket. Shapiro was by far the best strategic pick, and he was passed over b/c the Hamas wing of the Dems won’t accept a Jew.
And yet Jews, like blacks, will, without recognizing the irony, still vote overwhelmingly Democrat. SMH.
I doubt that Josh Shapiro being a Jew made him an unacceptable choice. How could you know that was the case?
We don’t know, but the optics are horrible. This will be a GOP talking point.
To me it’s amazing that someone would make a comment like that without any facts to support it. I’m no fan of Kamala Harris, but I have not seen a single sign that she is anti-Jew. Her husband Doug Emhoff is a Jew.
There are plenty of reasons why Kamala Harris may have chosen Tim Walz over Josh Shapiro after she had narrowed it down to the two of them. No reason to assume race or religion was the reason.
He’s not referring to Kamala. He’s pointing out that Shapiro was the better choice but the Democrats had to placate their powerful left fringe to keep mass protests at bay. They need to have a relatively harmonious convention in Chicago.
Kamala Harris made the choice. Not the Democrats.
Omfg really? I’ve you not been paying attention. Of course the party made the choice not Harris. She is just a puppet.
Right…just like Joe Biden made the “choice” not to run again.
You are either joking or completely naive. If the machine picked Kamala, do you think they wouldn’t also pick the VP? All without a single democrat voting. Utterly astonishing what is allowed to take place in the name of “saving” democracy.
BWAHAHAHA!
You cannot be THAT naive.
I think you’re making the mistake of assuming that this was Kamala’s decision. Her job is just to read the autocue and say nothing else for fear that she might start vomiting out all the maoist nonsense about ‘unburdening’ that she clearly doesn’t herself understand.
Multiple Democratic officeholders are out there talking on the record about it.
The fact that Josh Shapiro is a Jew, and the extent to which that played a factor in the VP selection, are certainly valid topics to discuss. But charges of racism are not discussion, they are accusations. Such charges should not be made lightly.
Take Tim Scott, for example. He was considered by Donald Trump for VP but not selected. The fact that he is black certainly played a factor. But was he disqualified because of his race? Of course not.
Cmon man. There was an entire genocide Josh campaign from the Hamas wing of the party.
It’s true that some Democrats don’t like Josh Shapiro’s stance on Israel, but there’s no evidence that played any part in Kamala Harris’s decision not to select him. By all reports, Kamala Harris didn’t disqualify Josh Shapiro because he’s a Jew, and was legitimately torn between him and Tim Walz up until the end.
But where Josh Shapiro quizzed Kamala Harris about what his role and powers would be, and clearly is an alpha male type, Tim Walz told her (essentially, and I’m just making this analogy up), you’ll be Batman, and I’ll be Robin. Josh Shapiro is looking to be number 1 someday. Tim Walz is content to stay number 2.
If I were a woman picking my most important subordinate when my own hold on power is shaky, I would make the same choice. I would choose someone ready to step into the number 1 spot, but not eager to.
I’m reacting to a lot of these comments because I hate when the Democrats do the same kind of thing to Donald Trump. Take normal decisions he makes or words he says and turn them into some sort of vicious racial attack. Like they did with his comment about “good people on both sides” in Charlottesville. It irks me.
It also irks me to see so many UnHerd commenters writing pretty brainless comments. There are still some intelligent comments here, like many of yours, but fewer than they were. And commenters all seem to follow the same herd, with all the thumb up and down votes lopsided one way or the other. UnHerd is getting to be as unherdish as the Democratic party is democratic. Which is to say, it isn’t.
If you want to worry about racism, then worry about the genuine racism (antisemitism, or um…over-enthusiastic antizionism) of the left Dems and in some swing states parts of the electorate. There was already a movement against “Genocide Josh” and a furore about strongly pro-Israel views he expressed at twenty – also he has been forthright in his condemnation of pro-Hamas demos at universities in his state…
Obviously, in picking a Veep Kamala and her advisors are primarily taking a political decision – and insofar as Josh’s combination of pro-Israel attitude with actual Jewishness was a factor (and I would bet that it was), his obvious unpopularity on that score with a powerful and potentially troublesome wing of the party, plus the potential to depress support among young and Muslim voters in some areas, could not have been overlooked. I wouldn’t have overlooked it myself in Kamala’s situation. It’s a sad reflection on the state of opinion about Jews/Israel in some sections of Dem politics and electoral base, but there you go…nobody is suggesting that Kamala and advisors passed over Shapiro because they are personally antisemitic, but I’d wager they passed him over partly because some key other people are.
I agree. I think he’s just too smart and well-spoken.
Fair point. I do not think the Josh Shapiro being Jewish made him an unacceptable choice. His positions on Israel and regarding the anti-Israel protests on campuses did him in. Bernie Sanders is Jewish and the Progressives love him.
Swing state
It’s not disqualifying, exactly, but it’s now an entry in a candidate’s Negative column.
At least Tim Walz has enough executive experience to be president if the need arises. Not so with JD Vance.
I suppose Harris experience could be described as “widespread” in terms of executive positions and experience.
No, Kamala Harris did not have the executive experience to be vice president when she was chosen in 2020. She was a very poor pick, similar to JD Vance.
The same could be said about Obama as President. That explains so much.
The corpse of Joe Biden has been running the country for four years.
Well, the marionette strings seem to show otherwise…
Yeah, he should abled to handle LGBTQ+ issues. I’m sure Putin and Xi are quivering in their shoes.
Hookers have a lot of “executive” experience too, but I wouldn’t marry one.
Clearly Walz has learned nothing from his own failed leadership opportunities.
Add to this Walz’s support for gender extremism, including signing a bill in 2023 making Minnesota a “trans refuge” state for gender-confused children who want hormones or surgery.
Also last year, the state (taxpayer-funded) DOC agreed to pay a cool half-million to settle the lawsuit of a trans-identified male inmate who alleged the department discriminated against him by treating him as a man and deferring his request for vaginoplasty. In addition to the cash, the settlement ordered his transfer to a woman’s prison and — contingent on his “readiness,” as medically assessed — directed the DOC to also pay his out-of-pocket costs for genital surgery, though he was scheduled for release in May of this year.
I’m a lesbian and former lifelong Democrat who grew up in Minnesota, a beautiful state once known for being sensibly liberal. Both Harris’s and Walz’s advocacy for this ideology — which puts vulnerable kids at risk and trespasses women’s sex-based rights — sickens me.
Interesting. Last time I looked the above post had 58 upticks. Now it has one. What’s going on?
I wonder same, Hugh. Votes seem to be scrubbed at a certain point, after which new ones accumulate. I’ve seen this on other comments by a variety of people with a variety of perspectives. (It appears to have happened to all the comments on this story.)
I don’t understand, either, and I think my one attempt to ask UnHerd about this went unanswered. Anyone know?
Right now, I see all zeroes. It’s a bug. I’ve seen it on many stories, I think it’s when I use my mobile.
To the point of the article, “Is Tim Walz too progressive for Middle America?” Answer: Yes. Does it matter? No.
Middle America, be it geographically such as Missouri, Iowa, Kanas, or economically, such as working class or middle class not employed in the public sector, will vote for Trump. However, the west coast, the north east and the upper mid-west, will vote for Harris / Waltz.
Harris / Waltz have the wind at their back and they are getting more popular by getting more popular. As fast as President Biden was removed from the ticket, Kamala Harris’ polling has improved, both nationally and in swing states. It seems as though the shy Biden or shying away from Biden voters have come home. The Trump / Vance campaign seems to be comatose. Kamala / Waltz have the mainstream media behind and in front of them. Don’t expect critical pieces against them from say the New York Times or Washington Post. Kamala / Waltz can replay the 2020 campaign strategy without the pandemic; no hostile interviews, smile and wave, canned speeches.
“populist policies to benefit workers”
The policies enumerated are socialist, not populist. Expansion of government funded programs are not a signature feature of populism, which often stands for less government intervention in people’s lives, not more. Waltz is a dyed-in-the-wool progressive socialist Democrat. Harris will probably win election but not because Waltz pulls populists away from Trump but because 1)Trump has lost the “we can’t vote for senile Biden” contingent and is, therefore, no longer the lesser of two evils and 2) Trump has no mimetic potential, i.e. no army of outrageously influential pop stars who will be influencing their followers on social media in the manner that is well underway with Harris.