Thread by @JewishWonk

Couple of thoughts on Jews and the Democratic party in light of the Walz selection, a thread.

1) If you are Jewish and politically engaged but not a political insider, what you saw for the past 2 weeks was an enormous explosion of online antisemitism against Shapiro using fig leafs like misquoting statements on protests, school vouchers he didn't pass, or other things

Online leftists are a sewage dump of antisemitism, conspiracies, and half-baked slogans. They ended up rallying around Walz in an attempt to influence decision making and block a Jew from the job.

That doesn't mean their considerations were Harris's.

2) Walz being selected does not mean the Jews "lost" anything. As @DemMaj4Israel, which has been on the frontlines of fighting the anti-Israel squad, has said, Walz has been a friend of Israel's. He supported Israel after 10/7, he supported Jewish students against antisemites.

The intra-coalition fight between the antisemitic far-left and Jews who are normie Democrats and pro-Israel is one that Jews continue to win.

We were going to win it in the VP selection whether it was Walz or Shapiro.

Read that again.

3) Unless you were in the room, which none of us posting publicly were, you can only guess as to the motivations for selecting Walz over Shapiro. Let me offer a few for you to consider.

A) Electorally, Walz will campaign just fine across the Midwest. He is an answer to Vance first and foremost.

Even up to the Mountain Dew shtick. Note the date.

B) Walz is older and has had a longer career than Shapiro. He served in the military. He was in congress for many years. He has strong relationships on the hill. Pelosi, for example, indicated to Harris that Walz was her first choice.

When you are thinking about what you want to accomplish as president so much of it is about passing legislation, which must go through the House & Senate.

Who do you want to help you navigate the crossroads of policy & politics?

How about someone who knows the inside baseball?

C) A very real consideration for selecting the VP is can they step in and do the job? Vance's entire career is 18 months in politics. He is manifestly unqualified.

Harris, unlike Trump, took this part of her responsibilities seriously.

Of all the people being discussed for the Veep slot, Walz had the longest CV. He knows Washington. He knows how to campaign. He knows enough about foreign policy. He has strong relationships across factions in the party.

In short, he will have the shortest learning curve.

That speaks to Harris's judgement and her priorities. It wasn't just about who would help her win an election. It is about who can do the job if, G-d forbid, something happened to her.

4) Does that mean you can't be upset that your preferred guy didn't get the nod? You're absolutely entitled to your feelings! I wrote a whole piece on why I think Shapiro should have been picked.

But the decision has been made.
forward.com/opinion/639870…

Temperamentally, I am the kind of person who will fight hard to persuade while decision-making is being discussed, but I don't see the point in continuing the fight once a decision has been made.

My goal is to influence an outcome. What is your goal? Only you know.

In my view, this was not a bad outcome for Shapiro or for American Jews. We have a pro-Jewish and pro-Israel ticket. Shapiro went from being one of 50 governors to one who national media and Jews around the country know. He is 51. He has plenty of time to run.