August 6, 2024
On Kamala Harris' choice of running mate...
Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her vice presidential running mate. I’ll freely admit I don’t know enough about the man to have a set opinion on the choice, and I’m okay with that at this point (the days and weeks ahead will bring plenty of information — and better information — to form a fuller picture of him).
I do know a few things about Walz, though, in the context of the other top tier candidates on Harris’ shortlist. He was the least moderate, and he was the only one not from a swing state. Regarding the former, I’m a bit confused why a California Democrat wouldn’t try to balance out her ticket with a more middle-of-the-road candidate. Maybe she didn’t think it was necessary. Maybe she thought he was a strong enough messenger to overcome any voter reservations (his cable news hits attacking Republicans and defending his own record reportedly played a big role in putting him on Harris’ radar). We’ll learn her reasoning soon enough.
As for choosing someone not from a swing state, I can’t decide if this is shrewd or a mistake or doesn’t matter. Running mates have been shown to have no identifiable effect on a ticket’s electability so, going by that, she was right to pick the running mate she wanted most. At the same time, when swing states are being decided by as few as 10,000 votes, it’s hard to see how that state’s popular governor or senator on the ticket doesn’t help your odds. I’ll be curious to see polling after the election showing how a Harris-Shapiro ticket would have fared in Pennsylvania versus a Harris-Walz ticket.
So that’s what I have. Today’s piece is a straightforward article on the announcement from a lesser known but terrific outlet called NOTUS that is worth bookmarking.