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1/ The election ended 3 weeks ago. Enough time has passed.
We -- or I -- can now safely pronounce that the Tim Walz VP pick was a dud.
Let me explain:
1/ The election ended 3 weeks ago. Enough time has passed.
We -- or I -- can now safely pronounce that the Tim Walz VP pick was a dud.
Let me explain:
2/ Before I get into it, let me say two things.
One: Tim Walz did not lose Harris the race (or even close to it)
Two: Josh Shapiro would not have made Harris win -- or even win Pennsylvania.
One: Tim Walz did not lose Harris the race (or even close to it)
Two: Josh Shapiro would not have made Harris win -- or even win Pennsylvania.
3/ That said, I just don't think the Walz pick made a ton of sense for Harris.
I genuinely think Walz was the pick because he called Trump/Vance "weird" on MSNBC in late July and instantly went viral.
I genuinely think Walz was the pick because he called Trump/Vance "weird" on MSNBC in late July and instantly went viral.
4/ Remember that Harris had an incredibly compressed timeline to choose a VP. From the day Joe Biden dropped out to the day Harris picked Walz was 16(!) days.
That's it.
That's it.
5/ And Walz peaked at the exact right time. Just as Harris was looking around for a VP, Walz was the hottest thing in politics.
He had cracked the code on how to attack Trump! He was plain spoken! He was a football coach!
He had cracked the code on how to attack Trump! He was plain spoken! He was a football coach!
6/ To be clear: I think Harris genuinely liked Walz and felt a rapport with him.
And that she and her strategists convinced themselves that Walz’s “big dad energy” might help her appeal to critical voters in the upper Midwest.
And that she and her strategists convinced themselves that Walz’s “big dad energy” might help her appeal to critical voters in the upper Midwest.
7/ But, without “weird,” Walz is never on her radar. Period.
And, he never really found a 2nd act after "weird."
And, he never really found a 2nd act after "weird."
8/ Yes, there was excitement about the ticket after the pick.
But in retrospect that looks to me a LOT like excitement that Biden wasn't the nominee anymore.
Like, if Harris had picked Shapiro or Gretchen Whitmer would the energy have been less?
I don't think so.
But in retrospect that looks to me a LOT like excitement that Biden wasn't the nominee anymore.
Like, if Harris had picked Shapiro or Gretchen Whitmer would the energy have been less?
I don't think so.
9/ Walz was mediocre (at best) in the VP debate.
His tendency to exaggerate/misremember details about his past turned into a national story.
And toward the end of the campaign, he was just a nonentity.
His tendency to exaggerate/misremember details about his past turned into a national story.
And toward the end of the campaign, he was just a nonentity.
10/ Add it up and you get this: Walz was a mediocre pick based, largely, on a viral moment.
And with hindsight being 20-20 there were clearly better VP picks available to Harris.
And with hindsight being 20-20 there were clearly better VP picks available to Harris.
11/ I broke it all down in my FREE nightly newsletter. Read the whole thing -- and subscribe -- via the link in my bio!
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