Vice President Harris’s Choice of Walz Teaches Voters a Lot About Who She Is

Vice President Harris’s choice of Governor Walz of Minnesota teaches us a lot about who she is — and where her administration would go.Ms. Harris had the opportunity to pick Governor Shapiro of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes could be the decisive margin in the presidential election. Mr. Shapiro’s 61 percent approval rating from Pennsylvania voters made him an attractive choice.Furthermore, his support for fracking would strengthen the Democratic Party in dealing with high energy prices (and Western Pennsylvania has two of the four largest natural gas reserves in the entire world). Being pro-energy is being pro-jobs and pro-Pennsylvania.In addition, Mr. Shapiro has been pro-public teachers unions and pro-school choice. He would have helped Ms. Harris move toward the center on one of the most important issues for American voters, who overwhelmingly support school choice.For two weeks, Mr. Shapiro seemed the likely choice. Then the pushback came. Mr. Shapiro is Jewish and has been strongly pro-Israel. The pro-Hamas, antisemitic wing of the Democratic Party began to express how strongly it would oppose Mr. Shapiro.Some observers believed that picking Mr. Shapiro would lead to chaos at the Chicago Democratic convention similar to the anti-war riots at the 1968 convention at Chicago. Some warned the Democratic National Convention could resemble the Columbia University protests if Mr. Shapiro was chosen. Suddenly, Mr. Shapiro’s star began to fade.Then, there was brief excitement for Senator Kelly of Arizona, but he was not pro-union enough. Then it turned out he had invested in the company which made the infamous Chinese spy balloon that floated over the entire United States.A week ago, a boomlet began for Mr. Walz. Senator Sanders, the only self-defined socialist in the Senate, endorsed Mr. Walz. Radical groups began lavishing praise on Mr. Walz and the momentum built to avoid Mr. Shapiro and pick the Minnesota radical.Make no mistake about Mr. Walz’s political leanings. He may have been a moderate leftist when he served in the House. But as governor, he became radicalized. He imposed a diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda on the state. He held off deploying the National Guard while neighborhoods in Minneapolis burned after the George Floyd riots. And he oversaw a disastrous, knee-jerk Covid response which cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars for virtually no benefit. You could even argue he has more radical positions than Mrs. Harris. So, the San Francisco radical picked a Minnesota radical to be her running mate.This is the opposite of the way presidential candidates normally operate. The standard rule is to move to broaden the ticket. Since Ms. Harris was already being attacked for views and positions that were clearly to the left of most Americans, it would have made sense for her to pick someone who might have attracted moderate Democrats and independents.What can we learn from these last three weeks as Ms. Harris went through the process of looking for a vice presidential nominee?First, she caved to the left when the pressure was on. President Clinton, as a candidate in 1992, had used a clash with rapper Sister Soulja as an opportunity to prove he was tough and no nonsense, but Ms. Harris just proved to the left that she could be pushed around.Second, in a Democratic Party which historically has attracted the support of an overwhelming majority of Jewish Americans, she just proved that the pro-Hamas, pro-Palestinian wing of the party had the power to block a Jewish-American vice presidential pick. The threat of losing Michigan and Minnesota seemed to weigh heavier than the opportunity to gain Pennsylvania.Third, the discussions about the vice presidential nomination seem to have been largely held within liberal and radical elements of the Democratic Party. In those rooms, Mr. Walz seemed perfectly normal. He is even being billed as a populist centrist who could appeal to the working men and women being drawn into the Trump coalition. These conversations must have been completely out of touch with reality. The Trump-Walz contrast will play out much differently with voters.It is clear we now have a completely radical Democratic ticket. No amount of maneuvering and speech-making will get beyond this reality.

Vice President Harris’s Choice of Walz Teaches Voters a Lot About Who She Is

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