LOS ANGELES.–Picking 60-year-old Minnesota Gov. Tim Walsh as her running mate, 59-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris acquiesced to her party’s progressive wing, bypassing the more popular Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro because of his Jewish faith. Harris was told the Muslim voters in Michigan and the Upper Midwest would revolt if she picked a Jew as her running mate. Harris has been married to 59-year-old Jewish entertainment attorney Doug Emhoff since 2014 but decided it was best not to break any glass ceilings for Jewish Americans who have never served as Vice President. Former Vice President Al Gore, 76, picked the late Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) as his running mate in 2000, largely because of Lieberman’s known brilliance in foreign an domestic policy. Lieberman was an experienced member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Homeland Security Committees.
Kamala picked a running mate who, like herself, has virtually no foreign policy experience, a real downside to her selection. Instead of picking Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Az.), also rumored as a possible VP pick with background in foreign policy and border security, Kamala picks a rural state government with largely expertise in high school football coaching and agricultural issues, governing a small Midwestern state with a 5.7 million population. Harris capitulated to progressive Squad, especially Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), both Muslim Congresswomen who like to make anti-Semitic comments. Tlaib was censored Nov. 8, 2023 for her anti-Semitic remarks. Picking Walz was the safe pick for Harris worried about fallout from picking Josh Shapiro. But it picking Walz, Kamala took the easy way out, rather than standing up to anti-Semitism.
How can Kamala think she can get away with picking a running mate without extensive foreign policy background? Does Kamala know what’s going on in the Ukraine War, war in Gaza, Houthi rebel takeover in the Red Sea, brewing conflict with China and possible WW III or nuclear war in Europe if the Ukraine War doesn’t end soon? How does picking Walz improve Kamala’s own lack of experience in foreign policy, apparently rubber stamping 81-year-old President Joe Biden’s disastrous foreign policy. Relations with Russia and China have never been worse, with Biden funding a reckless proxy war with the Russian Federation in Ukraine. Biden promised June 13 Ukraine’s 46-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky that he would give Ukraine a 10-year security guarantee. If Kamala follows Biden’s lead, she could start WW III or nuclear war in her first term.
Walz does nothing to reassure voters that he’s qualified to serve as president. With an undergraduate and graduate degree in education, Walz has no background in foreign policy, but, more importantly, no real expertise in law, medicine, economics or any other area. How are Kamala and Walz supposed to manage economic or foreign policy crises? Kamala has spent four years as an underling to Biden, holding no real positions on anything related to the economy or foreign policy. Now she picks a rural state governor with more expertise in agriculture than foreign policy and economics. How’s that supposed to reassure voters that she’s prepared to manage the pressing foreign policy and economic challenges facing the country? Biden, who came to office with strong foreign experience from the U.S. Senate, made the worst foreign policy decisions in modern history.
Harris has no plans to do anything different than Biden when it come to dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and various dictators around the planet that have no good intentions for the United States. Walz gives Kamala a safe pick for dealing with the Muslim voting block in Michigan and the Upper Midwest. How much that would have affected the 2024 vote is anyone’s guess. If Harris had picked Shapiro, she would have faced an undercurrent of dissension at the upcoming Aug. 19 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. As it stands now, Kamala picked a like-minded rural governor without any background in foreign policy or economics. How’s that supposed to reassure voters that they can handle the many ongoing and brewing economic and national security crises? Kamala took the easy way out to avoid conflict.
Kamala said today she was happy with her pick for a running mate. “I am proud to announce that I’ve asked Tim Walz to be my running mate. As a governor, coach, a teacher and a veteran, he’s delivered for working families like his. It’s great to have him on the team. Now let’s get to work,” Kamala said, referring to her campaign swing in battleground states in Pennsylvania and the Upper Midwest. Kamala had so many competent choices but chose to pick Walz that fits the 2024 Democrat Party narrative that she’s the candidate of working people, despite the fact she lives in the tony Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood with her rich entertainment attorney husband. Picking Walz was a big gamble for Democrat strategists that pins all its hopes on relating to working class voters, rather than picking the best and brightest to lead the country.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
