As I said in this post, I am genuinely stunned Kamala Harris picked Tim Walz has her running mate. Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro would have been one of her better choices. But he's a Jew, and that seems to be problematic for the DNC these days. Even Van Jones said that not picking Shapiro was a nod to the widespread antisemitic Leftists who populate the Democratic Party, and I tend to agree. It's a bad look, but not unsurprising.
What does Tim Walz bring to the ticket?
He doesn't win her Minnesota. FiveThirtyEight has Harris up by 10 in Minnesota, so it's not a swing state that Walz could've tipped blue. Shapiro, on the other hand, could've helped in Pennsylvania, where the polls are within the margin of error. Even Kentucky governor Andy Beshear could've helped tilt Kentucky more blue (although Trump is currently up by 16).
He has a troublesome record of his own.
First, COVID. Walz kept schools closed as long as possible, to the detriment of children. Then he made them wear useless masks. This was anti-science and anti-child. Many of us, myself included, said keeping kids out of school would do untold damage to their social skills, their academic progress and harm children with special needs.
My youngest had a severe speech impediment when he began K4 in 2017. It was so severe that his teacher couldn't understand him 75% of the time and I -- his mother -- struggled to understand him. From 2018 through the end of 2019 he went through speech therapy which greatly improved his speech. Unfortunately, his last full semester of school pre-COVID, he happened to lose both his front teeth, which delayed his progress.
Then schools shut down. His speech is vastly improved, but not where it could be. He never had an opportunity to get back into speech therapy while in public school. I think every day about the kids who came after him, who were denied special education services or forced to wear masks.
Second, George Floyd. During the summer of 2020, Minneapolis burned and at least one person died. Walz blamed the riots on a lack of 'equity' and 'diversity' and said they were the inevitable outcome of not having a DEI department (he fixed that in 2023):
This was Gov. Tim Walz's (Kamala Harris' VP pick) reaction the BLM riots:
— Memology 101 (@NewsM101) August 6, 2024
"A society that does not put equity and inclusion first will come to this result"
Imagine justifying such chaos.pic.twitter.com/fiswf3aSRH
He then had the audacity to ask for federal disaster relief funds after doing nothing to quell the riots.
Third, his views on socialism. He calls it 'neighborliness', which works if you think being a good neighbor means reporting the lady next door to the gestapo for ungoodthink. Socialism, and it's rabid cousin communism, killed over 100 million people in the 20th century. It creates poverty and destruction wherever it is tried. Look at Venezuela. It went from one of the wealthiest nations in the world to an impoverished hellhole. Its president, Nicholas Maduro, lost the recent election it seems, but refuses to give up power. As the people of Venezuela starve and are attacked by government forces, it's also a reminder of what government does when it bans guns.
Walz classifies this as being a neighbor. Mr. Rogers he isn't.
This is an unforced error and one that may very well cost Kamala the election. Tim Walz brings literally zero benefits to the ticket, but he brings a lot of baggage. He -- like Kamala -- is a far-Left radical. She supports a fracking ban, banning offshore drilling, banning red meat and gas stoves, abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy, defunding the police, and outlawing private insurance. She failed at her job as border czar.
And it does not bode well for her ability to make decisions. If she was, in fact, driven to overlook Shapiro because of his religion in favor of another radical Leftist like Tim Walz, it tells us she'll continue to cater to the Leftist base of the Democratic party. On this and every policy. She will have zero interest in representing the vast majority of Americans who are politically moderate, suffering under Bidenomics, and concerned about Biden's terrible foreign and domestic policies.
Then again, as the great Napoleon Bonaparte said: Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
Walz is a mistake.
Let Kamala make it.
