Harris picks Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate | CNN Politics
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Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, capping the Midwestern Democrat’s short but swift ascent from a relative unknown to a leading driver of the party’s attacks on Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda.
  • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
    451·
    3 months ago

    As much as I would have liked to see her make a strategic pick who could help her win an at risk state like Arizona or Pennsylvania, he has less baggage than Shapiro.

    I think too, there’s strategy in a non-strategic pick. The cynics would have said “Oh, she only picked Shapiro because she needs Pennsylvania” or “Yeah, yeah, he’s an astronaut, but she wants Arizona”.

    In this case? I think he’s going to be a delight to watch. He’ll devastate Vance in the debate.

    • merc@sh.itjust.works
      41·
      3 months ago

      She only picked him because she needs to show that she’s committed to fixing immigration, because he’s from a border state. ;)

    • Not_mikey@slrpnk.net
      331·
      3 months ago

      I think he’s pretty strategic, not to any specific state, but to rural Middle America in general. He grew up working on a farm, worked in a factory for a bit, joined the army then worked as a teacher and football coach, he’s the salt of the earth common American vance pretends to be. Not saying he’ll turn all the rural areas blue but even going from say 20% to 25% will help a lot in those swing states which have a large rural population.

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
        10·
        3 months ago

        Yeah, but he’s no salt-of-the-earth type like JD Vance who is a hilbilly* who attended Yale Law and then worked for totally normal guy Peter Thiel at his Venture Capital firm in San Francisco.

        * Not really a hilbilly

    • Trainguyrom@reddthat.comEnglish
      121·
      3 months ago

      As a resident of a neighboring state, I’m excited to get to vote for someone from somewhere so close in a national election. If my annecdata happens to apply to more than just me that might help in Iowa, Wisconsin and the Dakotas (although culturally the dakotas are more comparable to their neighbors to the west, while Minnesota is culturally closer to Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin)

      • NielsBohron@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        3 months ago

        Granted I only married into a Minnesotan family and my experience with the Dakotas is fairly limited, but I would have said that they’re a pretty broad spectrum from east to west, especially in South Dakota. Rapid City is definitely pretty similar to Montana and Wyoming, but Mitchell, Sioux Falls, and Fargo are all far more similar to Minnesota

        Then again, I’m thinking “culturally” not “politically,” so if you’re thinking about how they vote, you’re probably right that they’re likely more similar to MT than MN.

        • frezik@midwest.social
          3·
          3 months ago

          Think of it this way: Minnesota has a population of 5.7M, and almost 3M of that is in the metro area of Minneapolis. It’s not quite up to the level of Chicago or New York, where that one blue metro area completely dominates state politics, but it’s close.

          What I’m getting at is while Minnesota does have areas that are more like the Dakotas, those aren’t the places where most of the people live.

          • NielsBohron@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            3 months ago

            I see your point, although it doesn’t match my anecdotal experience. People from the Twin Cities might vote differently than people in the small rural towns, but many of the everyday attitudes and cultural associations are pretty similar statewide, regardless of whether they are rural or urban. And in my experience, people from the Cities have a lot more in common culturally with the eastern Dakotas, Iowa, and Wisconsin than they do with Chicago and rural Illinois or with Montana and Wyoming.

      • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
        42·
        3 months ago

        Mocking a mod with a line item specifically against the civility guidelines is not a way to win friends and influence people.

  • Scallionsandeggs@lemmy.world
    88·
    3 months ago

    Between the response to this ticket and the big antitrust win today, this is the most optimistic I’ve been about the direction of American politics in a very long time.

  • Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world
    264·
    3 months ago

    I don’t ever wanna hear any move about how we need to get old white rich people out of politics, cause you guys clearly don’t mean it. This guy is the exception, but so was sanders? Come on.

    Get some young blood like buttegieg in there please

  • Xanis@lemmy.world
    52·
    3 months ago

    This is reassuring. I’ve claimed for a while that Dems are excellent political tacticians, but MAN do they suck at the long-term strategies due to being unwilling to play hardball. Meanwhile, the Right are great at long-term strats and often fail when it comes down to making quick, tactical decisions that fall outside their plans. Then Harris here stepped in after an honestly excellent choice by Biden, and we are seeing just how skillful someone on the Left can be when there isn’t any time to be a moron.

    Dems, in our own way since 1980.

    • demizerone@lemmy.worldEnglish
      14·
      3 months ago

      It was an off the cuff remark that struck a nerve. We’ve all been there with that weird relative that is decked out in MAGA gear.

      • Wirlocke@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        3·
        3 months ago

        Exactly why he feels like a great pick. He didn’t over engineer some tagline to game the attention economy.

        He just said what the silent majority is thinking in a down to earth “this is so obvious” kind of way. These people are just weird and ruining the family gathering.

  • paddirn@lemmy.worldEnglish
    48·
    3 months ago

    Half the pictures I see of him, he reminds me Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston).

    • merc@sh.itjust.works
      10·
      3 months ago

      I’m curious what voters will think of the two VP candidates military service.

      JD Vance was in the Marine Corps as an corporal for 4 years and served in Iraq, but he served as a combat correspondent, a military journalist, not in a combat capacity.

      Walz was in the Army National Guard as an enlisted soldier for 24 years. AFAIK he was never in combat, but his specialty (heavy artillery) was definitely a combat-oriented one. He also achieved the rank of Command Sergeant Major, which is a very high rank for an enlisted soldier.

      IMO, being in the Marine Corps sounds more impressive than being in the National Guard. But, 4 years as a combat correspondent sounds a lot less impressive than 24 years, starting out in artillery and moving up to a Command Sergeant Major role.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
        8·
        3 months ago

        Vance was not an officer. I don’t mean that disparagingly, he just wasn’t. He served a 4 year enlistment.

        If you’re comparing their careers, a sergeant major is a titan compared to a corporal. One of them was primarily concerned with taking pictures and not getting shot. The other made a career studying the art of leadership. It’s literally not even a contest.

        • merc@sh.itjust.works
          3·
          3 months ago

          Oops, I thought Vance was an officer, not an enlisted member. Thanks for the correction.

          As for Walz, I don’t know how quickly he advanced through the ranks, but IMO a Command Sergeant Major is one of the most impressive titles. It’s a leadership rank but done the hard way. If you enter the military as an officer, you immediately outrank 80% of the military. A Command Sergeant Major has to practice the difficult art of leading people who technically outrank them.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
            2·
            3 months ago

            Yeah. And quite often they’re the ones responsible for standing up to the officers to protect the privates. I’ve had bad ones but a good sergeant major can make a huge difference in a unit.

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
    41·
    3 months ago

    “Kamala Walz” sounds like an Australian dance.

    Anyway, after seeing Walz’s record I think he’s a great choice. Unfortunately as VP he’s not a policy-maker, even though the VP can wield some influence, but hopefully his presence will drive things in a positive direction.

    • Meeech@lemmy.world
      2·
      3 months ago

      One thing I’ve noticed is almost any female politician, we refer to them by either their first name or the full name, but rarely by their last name. Meanwhile male politicians are almost exclusively referred to by their last name only.

      Once I made this realization, I started making a conscious decision to stop saying Kamala and began referring to her as Harris.

      I’m ready for a Harris/Walz administration.

      • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
        1·
        3 months ago

        Good point. Maybe some minor unconscious psychological bias toward familiarity, therefore reduced expectations and respect for her position.

  • xerazal@lemmy.zipEnglish
    54·
    3 months ago

    Madame President Mamala Harris, thank you for making the correct choice.

  • taiyang@lemmy.world
    53·
    3 months ago

    I loved this guy since the juxtaposition photos between him and the child labor folks. I wonder if Harris campaign is getting to make decisions because this whole situation blindsided DNC officials/strategists who have historically made stupid calls. They haven’t had 4 years to overthink a campaign.

    As cynical as I am, I think laughing Harris just felt a good feeling about smiling Walz that she just didn’t get from Shapiro, and no strategist hack was able to convince them otherwise.

    • fluxion@lemmy.worldEnglish
      15·
      3 months ago

      I suppose this is a good time for me to send that nice donation I’ve been putting off and hope it helps to let the DNC see what happens when they don’t disenfranchise progressives.

    • GaMEChld@lemmy.world
      282·
      3 months ago

      DNC sucks at strategy. I think making quick decisive moves, especially with the public’s diminished attention span is proving very effective. Campaigns should probably focus on being like 3 months before the elections in this era.

      • Scallionsandeggs@lemmy.world
        25·
        3 months ago

        Should Harris win (and especially if she wins big), I could see it changing the nature of campaigning here. Three months goes against all the conventional wisdom.

        The media won’t be happy about it, but it’s past time we bring the press back to public service and away from profiteering anyway.

    • Zaktor@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      13·
      3 months ago

      Harris’s primary campaign seemed to be defined by Harris herself taking progressive-ish positions and then later walking them back after someone in her orbit convinced her she had to be more status quo. Maybe that campaign flaming out has taught her to stop listening to those people.

  • demizerone@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8·
    3 months ago

    The best possible choice she could have made. It fills me with joy the democratic party didn’t stand in the way. I for sure thought she was going to pick Obama’s boy Shapiro.