Kamala picks Tim Walz

Shift left.

It’s official: Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.

It was her first real decision as the Democratic nominee, and she chose a relative unknown outside of Minnesota who bolsters Kamala’s leftist credentials. Call it the most left-wing ticket in American history.

You might also call it Kamala’s first big mistake in the presidential race.

Why Walz?

Let’s start with the obvious: unlike Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Walz doesn’t threaten Kamala. He’s the clear #2, someone that won’t see himself as an equal to Kamala and a man who may not have future presidential ambitions.

He also adds a veteran to the ticket - Walz was in the Army National Guard for 24 years (starting in 1981). A former teacher, Walz was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 before winning the Minnesota gubernatorial race in 2018. He is backed by the United Auto Workers. He plays relatively well to the media, espousing small-town values and false populism that mask his progressive record.

About that record.  

Walz has been a vocal supporter of some of the worst parts of the Biden Administration’s economic agenda, including the Build Back Better and the spending which (at a minimum) exacerbated the inflation of the last few years. As governor, he proposed raising the gas tax and supported “sanctuary state status for Minnesota.” He opposes the border wall. He shut down the state and put children in masks during the pandemic. He established a “snitch line” for citizens to rat out their neighbors for violating his COVID orders. He’s all in favor of gender transitions for young children.

During the 2020 riots, Walz allowed Minneapolis to burn and allowed rioters to loot and steal and pillage and kill for four days. As the riots progressively got worse, and as buildings burned and the power of the mob grew and local authorities lost control of the city, “Walz was hesitating” when local officials asked for the National Guard.

The timeline of events is damning. Read it. Reporters described how “a mob of thieves and arsonists now apparently governed the streets of Minneapolis.” The violence worsened. Minneapolis police lost the Third Precinct and the surrounding buildings. Rioters “set towering fires, looted and vandalized businesses and shot at police officers.” After four days of riots, Walz finally called the National Guard – approximately 20 hours after the mayor’s request. By then it was too late.

While it is still early, it’s unclear what Walz adds to the ticket. He appeals to progressives and might secure Minnesota, but other states – starting with Pennsylvania – are still at-risk for Democrats.

Some believe the selection of Walz was “based on the progressive campaign to end Shapiro.” Unlike Shapiro, Walz has more appeal to the pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic party, especially in Michigan. (You’re not a conspiracy theorist if you believe that the Democrats saw Shapiro being Jewish as a liability.) Per Politico:

“I can see them looking at the explosion of enthusiasm from young people and being spooked out of nominating [Shapiro] if it risks bringing Gaza back into the conversation,” said a Democratic strategist who knows the Harris team well.

Or, it’s entirely possible that Shapiro, who has Presidential aspirations of his own, decided not to put his political fate into the hands of Kamala Harris. Shapiro did “not have a great feeling” about his meeting with Kamala and let her campaign know about his conflicts about leaving Pennsylvania. According to sources who spoke with Politico:

After their meeting on Sunday, Shapiro called Harris’ team and made clear that he was “struggling with the decision to leave his current job as governor of Pennsylvania, in order to seek the vice presidency,” according to a person familiar with the selection process.

In any event, analysts have observed that results from Minnesota’s 2022 governor’s race “don’t suggest [Walz] provides an obvious boost with the blue collar voters Dems have been shedding in WI/MI/PA”.

Here is Steve Kornacki explaining the numbers:

For their part, Republicans are pleased with this pick. As they should be in a race as close as this. Open Borders Kamala joins forces Sanctuary State Walz. The far-left nominee picks an equally progressive running mate. The woman who supported the rioters selects the man who let them riot. Imagine the ads. As Donald Trump said today, “THANK YOU!”