Political choices are fraught with cross-cutting issues. It's often not what you get with them, but what you don't get that truly matters.
With Kamala Harris' choice of Tim Walz for her running mate, she gets some of both. But the cutting edge of that decision involves what will now happen, instead of what won't.
Josh Shapiro, Governor of Pennsylvania, would at first appear to be the best choice. He's a great speaker and carries with him a unique combination of being both slick and down-to-earth (and there's a strong connection with Barack Obama, too). People would look at him and say to themselves, "Now, he would be a great successor to Harris should something happen to her."
Which, on the surface, would certainly be true. Except for two things: He's Jewish, first of all. Normally, this would be an excellent twist to the ticket, but being associated with Israel in any palpable way right now carries with it considerable baggage because of its decidedly destructive, relentless war with Hamas. Anyone who's been following the news lately knows of the left wing of the Democratic Party, which seems far more in pity with how the Palestinians have been suffering (and they sure have), in lieu of the simple fact that Hamas started this conflict and should have plenty of fingers pointed at it.
The Harris campaign is vociferously denying this. But it can't be unseen. Harris would have to deal with far greater pro-Palestinian protests at her speeches with Shapiro in tow. Call it "we're better off without" rather than "can't do it at all," to divert the discussion from anti-Semitism (which it wouldn't be, but accusations of which couldn't be avoided) to an unnecessary political burden (which it would be, undoubtedly). Hopefully, all of that will diminish from a crisis to an annoyance.
This election, the support for which has plainly shifted toward Harris (and probably a photo finish), would be a shame to blow if the left wing failed to show up at the polls, which they certainly could if she didn't bow at least a little bit toward their concerns. She's already tried to do so by declaring that, while Israel has a clear right to defend itself, it's time to settle this matter and stop the fighting and destruction. She knew she had to do that because every vote will matter--just as it did in 2020. At least they won't have an excuse not to show up, which is about all Harris can hope for.
No, not that, though that might have been problematic. What would have been a disaster is taking on Shapiro's insistence on support for school vouchers. The major teachers' unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, has been on board for decades, now, as being dead set against vouchers, which drain public schools of money to satisfy ultra-moralistic religious school advocates who want everything both ways. These blind idealists claim that public schools remain godless and eschew morals, which is nonsense; if you don't teach the importance of religion in the history of the country--including how it has been manipulated to causes not associated with goodness, too--you've missed quite a bit. Tim Walz, former public school teacher of social studies, knows this very well.
Beyond that, anyone who backs vouchers runs afoul of the very ground troops placed within every state who can and will, with the backing of the right people, knock on doors and people-up polling areas in solid and undying consistency. And that also means anyone who has such a person on their ticket.
So who arranged for Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota and firm supporter of teachers' unions? Those very unions. I assure you--someone got to the Harris campaign and told it that they were playing with way-way too much fire if they did anything that would make the potential supply of volunteers and voters for that ticket in narrowly decided battleground states, look askance. But Harris is from California, the bastion of the leading state affiliate of the NEA, whose backing she's already needed in her races for state attorney general and U.S. Senate, so I doubt if she needed much of that.
Now, of course, these very unions have no excuse other than to turn out the maximum number of enthusiasts to drive this victory home. There's no assurance that that's going to happen, but the Harris campaign can now say that they touched all the bases and tried to please everyone they could, and so now let's get on with it.
There are other reasons to take Walz, too. He's a fine speaker from a state that tends to carry for Democrats. He's good on the stump and quick on his feet, too. That stands to reason, because he was a teacher, and those are some of the hidden skills that make for good teachers. He has a folksy way about him that people will consider--the kind of guy you'd like to have a beer with. He's also a hunter who has supported reasonable, logical gun control laws. He's a successful football coach--what can be more American than that?--whose team won the state title. And his state was the first to codify Roe v. Wade when the Supreme Court reversed form and ruled against it two years ago.
Teachers who understand their positions know they have to play politics sometimes, though they may hate it. Another one who knows this is Tony Evers, the governor of Wisconsin.
Of course the Republicans will attack him as being too liberal and conjure other lies. It's knee jerk and I don't think will stand the test of time. Instead, Walz will provide ballast to an assertive woman who might otherwise threaten people to give second thoughts about her. He, too, would make an excellent successor to Harris should something happen to her.
So Walz checks a lot of boxes for a running mate. That's great, because we are now within 90 days of making an incredibly important decision. Harris has made up for the deficit that Biden presented her with, says an average of polling recently taken. That momentum must continue. But taking Tim Walz as a running mate isn't likely to hurt it, either--unlike ex- taking J.D. Vance, which is proving not only unproductive to him, but damaging.
There's energy back in this campaign, and fresh attention paid to it. It's too easy to assume that this will go without unforeseen challenges. But so far, Kamala Harris has given herself as good of a chance as there is. Joe Biden, as good of a president as he has been, could no longer do that.
Be well. Be careful, With some luck, I'll see you down the road.
Mister Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment