CNN appeared eager to console viewers on Tuesday after Vice President Kamala Harris appeared to botch what would be her first governing decision by selecting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as her running mate, surprising observers.
The frontrunner had been Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), a moderate governor from a swing state. Expectations had been set when the Harris campaign set the rollout of her running mate for Tuesday evening in Philadelphia.
But the party’s anti-Israel, left-wing base had made it clear that it rejected Shapiro, not only because of his pro-Israel views, but also because he is Jewish — leading some Democrats to speak out openly against antisemitism in the party.
Walz — who has moved further to the left over the course of his career — represents a reliably Democratic state, and has radical policies on abortion, transgenderism, energy, and policing.
Hence the disquiet among some Democrats. And reporters could not help but ask why she had skipped Shapiro — and whether she had bowed to antisemitism within the party.
But CNN and its guests took a more optimistic approach, arguing that Walz would at least not hurt the ticket.
Left-leaning political scientist Larry Sabato told Jim Acosta on CNN:
The old rule, which you’ve heard many times, because you’re older than you look, is that you do no harm with the vice presidential nomination, do no harm. I’m sorry, despite what this one, and that one, and the other one are saying, I don’t think he does any serious harm at all, and is a plus in other ways. Think Wisconsin and Michigan: if he did nothing else but campaign and and camp out in Wisconsin and Michigan, he could do Kamala Harris a lot of good.
On the positive side, Sabato said, Walz was “an interesting guy” with a strong resume and a good sense of humor. He added: “We need to remember vice presidential candidates shrink into the background relatively quickly.”
Veteran political reporter Jeff Zeleny suggested that Walz had been chosen so that he would not overshadow Harris at the top of the ticket: “He’s a governing partner … and his ambition was not seen to get in the way of [Harris’s] plans.”
He added: “At the end of the day, this should not be about him — this is about the top of the ticket.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
