The Associated Press reports that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been picked as Vice President Harris’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election:
Vice President Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, looking to strengthen the Democratic ticket in Midwestern states.
My wife reminded me that I had predicted that Gov. Walz would be VP Harris’s running mate shortly after President Biden endorsed her. He’s well-aligned with her politically, has experience in areas in which she is could use some bolstering, and, at least notionally, shores up her Midwestern support.
In a pseudo-Rose Garden campaign in which neither the presidential nor vice presidential candidate gives interviews or even appears publically much, he’ll be fine. In a more, shall we say, dynamic campaign there’s a risk that Gov. Walz will outshine VP Harris.
Does this mean this is the Most Important Election of Our Lifetime, or should I wait for something else to panic? Like, Trump farting into an open mic? I am so confused.
Since I do not watch the news channels, does it really matter? All those ads are wasted on me. Am I a bad person?
The shadows on the walls are not real. You are being played, but reality can be frightening. Take a leap. Stand up, and leave the Cave.
I sometimes find myself feeling like Robert Neville or Adam Jeffson.
I have never read much Sci-Fi, but I have always felt like a semi-outcast. It is somewhat my fault. I refuse to go-with-the-flow.
Adam Jeffson is the main character of M. P. Shiel’s The Purple Cloud and Robert Neville is the main character of I Am Legend. The Purple Cloud is available free on Project Gutenberg (see link).
One way to avoid “going with the flow” is to do what I have done: read old science fiction. A lot of it is available on Project Gutenberg for free.
Someone who was a career NCO putting in 24 years in the Guard and was a high school teacher and a (winning football coach? Nice to see someone who isn’t a lawyer and not rich. I think you may be correct about the speaking part. Fallows linked to a speech he gave to the GIS people about geography and mapping. Seems like a good speaker, very comfortable in his own skin. Figure if he can keep the attention to teens in high school and junior enlisted folks he must have some decent skills. A gun owner and a hunter. Had to go through IVF to have a child. Life story is almost too good to be true.
Steve
He will function as her “beard” with “liberal nice” Minnesota Democrats. “We’re not Socialists, we just care about people “! Nice.
It looks so awkward, like Obama couldn’t even find a single Black performer to take on the role.
Noah Smith put up a piece on him. He is pro nuclear power so he may be the front person on that issue for the admin if they win. He is generally pro energy signing approval of a pipeline over opposition from the left. He has support building reform cutting approval times and specifically supporting single stair structures. While any nominee would be called the most liberal ever he seems a bit more pragmatic.
Steve
I predicted Shapiro last week when it was reported that the VP was going to be announced around the time Harris was going to be in PA. Fake out. Still think Shapiro made more sense since it looks like PA is the state that might decide the election and the VP usually doesn’t matter, but might move the votes in the VP homestate a few percentage points.
(Irrelevant aside, I don’t think of people growing up in West Nebraska as Midwesterners — I put the cut-off around the Archway in Kearney, or around the 100th meridian. Whether people in Arizona or Nevada see it that way, I don’t know, but the northern swing states are really Rust Belt States, not Midwestern states in particular.)
I like Shapiro and thought he had a decent chance but wasn’t sure he would want to do it. Met him once when a group of docs were invited to come talk with him about the fentanyl issue. Meeting started poorly then got better. He was very bright and well informed. Group was pretty evenly split between R and D but we all went away fairly impressed but all agreed the guy would run for POTUS some day.
Steve