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Sixteen days after finding herself thrust upon the top of the Democrat ticket in the 2024 race for the White House, the current Vice-President, Kamala Harris, has picked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to become her political understudy. Walz beat out a list of possibilities that included North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, and the odds-on favorite, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Harris will now introduce Walz officially Tuesday night at a campaign event in Philadelphia, but should she be introducing Shapiro instead? National Review Editor-in-Chief Rich Lowry thinks so; he appeared on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program to express his disbelief at the choice.
“[I’m] kind of surprised. I thought Shapiro was a natural,” a flabbergasted Lowry told Berman and Riedel. “A talented guy, a popular governor with executive experience, because he’s a governor in an absolutely central swing state. This doesn’t eliminate Pennsylvania to her, but 10,000 votes could make a difference in a close race, and Minnesota is not a swing state. And I think it’s because they’re scared of the Jewish stuff with Shapiro, which is shocking and disgusting, and they wanted someone who was not as moderate as Shapiro. Now, Shapiro’s not a huge moderate, but [he’s] a little bit more moderate than Kamala and they clearly couldn’t take that, so they went with the MSNBC candidate, who I don’t think, I don’t think this guy’s going to get her anything, so as a Republican, I’m relieved.”
Perhaps a bit less surprising is that Donald Trump’s campaign has suddenly lost the magic touch, as Lowry says he seems more preoccupied with beating Georgia Governor Brian Kemp rather than Kamala Harris. “Trump, who most of this year has been relatively disciplined- I underline ‘relative’; he’s never going to be totally scripted and listen to his pretty shrewd campaign team- the last two weeks [he’s] been kind of flailing and attacking a popular governor of a state that you really need, and a governor who is working for you- even though he doesn’t like you, he’s working to try to elect you- attacking him and his wife is just crazy.”
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