Obligatory old (looking) frumpy white dude as VP for a minority candidate. Total DEI selection .

Well, it was a fun 2 weeks where we imagined a second Trump term wasn't going to happen. Harris made her first MAJOR mistake by choosing Walz over Shapiro. I hope it's not a mortal wound, but it really is just a completely insane unforced error here for a number of reasons:

1. She has to win PA - there is basically no path to victory without it. Shapiro's favorability in PA is off the charts. She just threw that away.

2. This shows that Harris will not stand up to the fringe, rabid anti-Semitic wing of her party. She's hoping that energizing a group that NEVER shows up to vote will offset turning off moderates. She will likely be wrong.

3. Walz brings the baggage of the 2020 BLM riots with him, and most Americans found the destruction of property to be disgusting. He was the governor of MN when it all went down. She just made this a campaign talking point for Trump. Just a monumental mistake.

Harris had a chance to really knock Trump out by appealing to swing voters and she threw it away for someone who will placate the insane wing of her party that doesn't even show up to vote. Bowman lost. Bush is about to lose. She joined the losing side. 

The last time Trump was in power, he set this in motion, because he is a huger puss bag.

Like his supporters. Cowards, morons, and f-tards.

19 minutes ago, Toastrel said:

All the best celebrity endorsements. Such talking points.

 

So, hearing this is the real story, and it makes sense and makes me understand the pick better. 

Harris wanted Shapiro, but the party leadership told her no. Said if she picked Harris, the far left lunatics would turn the DNC into a repeat of 1968. So she went with Walz because she didn't want the DNC to turn into 4 days of riots.

Congratulations you anti-Semitic clowns. You likely just re-elected Trump.

4 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

Well, it was a fun 2 weeks where we imagined a second Trump term wasn't going to happen. Harris made her first MAJOR mistake by choosing Walz over Shapiro. I hope it's not a mortal wound, but it really is just a completely insane unforced error here for a number of reasons:

1. She has to win PA - there is basically no path to victory without it. Shapiro's favorability in PA is off the charts. She just threw that away.

2. This shows that Harris will not stand up to the fringe, rabid anti-Semitic wing of her party. She's hoping that energizing a group that NEVER shows up to vote will offset turning off moderates. She will likely be wrong.

3. Walz brings the baggage of the 2020 BLM riots with him, and most Americans found the destruction of property to be disgusting. He was the governor of MN when it all went down. She just made this a campaign talking point for Trump. Just a monumental mistake.

Harris had a chance to really knock Trump out by appealing to swing voters and she threw it away for someone who will placate the insane wing of her party that doesn't even show up to vote. Bowman lost. Bush is about to lose. She joined the losing side. 

My concern (viewing from a thousand miles away) is Walz was the pick of Pelosi, Bernie, Biden, and a lot of the other old guard of the party as well.  Maybe their endorsements had little effect on Harris, but my worry is she made the "popular pick" of the outgoing power base rather than make solely her own decision.

I could be wrong; maybe Walz is the smart strategic pick.  A win in November (or January) makes this a smart choice.  A loss, and this will be looked back on as a huge gaffe.  

7 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

Well, it was a fun 2 weeks where we imagined a second Trump term wasn't going to happen. Harris made her first MAJOR mistake by choosing Walz over Shapiro. I hope it's not a mortal wound, but it really is just a completely insane unforced error here for a number of reasons:

1. She has to win PA - there is basically no path to victory without it. Shapiro's favorability in PA is off the charts. She just threw that away.

2. This shows that Harris will not stand up to the fringe, rabid anti-Semitic wing of her party. She's hoping that energizing a group that NEVER shows up to vote will offset turning off moderates. She will likely be wrong.

3. Walz brings the baggage of the 2020 BLM riots with him, and most Americans found the destruction of property to be disgusting. He was the governor of MN when it all went down. She just made this a campaign talking point for Trump. Just a monumental mistake.

Harris had a chance to really knock Trump out by appealing to swing voters and she threw it away for someone who will placate the insane wing of her party that doesn't even show up to vote. Bowman lost. Bush is about to lose. She joined the losing side. 

Strongly disagree.  Kamala needed to keep the base ginned up.  The base of the Democratic Party is more important than the base of the Republican Party in this cycle, since Dem turn out decides elections and Trump already had his base coked to the gills.  And Shapiro would've blunted Dem excitement, justly or unjustly (it's unjustly by the the way, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't have happened).  There's not time in this cycle to build things up gradually, the payoff needs to be immediate and it needs to keep momentum on her side.  This pick did that.  And he's great in front of the cameras, unlike JD. 

2 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

You likely just re-elected Trump.

 Goin a bit overboard der, dontcha think? (MN accent intended)

1 minute ago, Alphagrand said:

My concern (viewing from a thousand miles away) is Walz was the pick of Pelosi, Bernie, Biden, and a lot of the other old guard of the party as well.  Maybe their endorsements had little effect on Harris, but my worry is she made the "popular pick" of the outgoing power base rather than make solely her own decision.

I could be wrong; maybe Walz is the smart strategic pick.  A win in November (or January) makes this a smart choice.  A loss, and this will be looked back on as a huge gaffe.  

See above. She was counseled that picking Shapiro would turn the DNC into a disaster thanks to the anti-Semitic lunatics. So they all caved to the children and basically threw away a real chance at moderates.

Just now, vikas83 said:

See above. She was counseled that picking Shapiro would turn the DNC into a disaster thanks to the anti-Semitic lunatics. So they all caved to the children and basically threw away a real chance at moderates.

Except Walz isn't far left.  He's just not hated by the far left.  Zero chance this turns moderates to Trump.

2 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

A win in November (or January) makes this a smart choice.  A loss, and this will be looked back on as a huge gaffe.  

Depends entirely on how things unfold. If she loses PA in a loss, then yes, it was a bad pick. If she loses WI in a loss, then it wasn't. There's more to it than that if you want to compare to shifts from 2020, but it's grossly oversimplistic to say any loss should be chalked up to the Walz pick.

6 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

Well, it was a fun 2 weeks where we imagined a second Trump term wasn't going to happen. Harris made her first MAJOR mistake by choosing Walz over Shapiro. I hope it's not a mortal wound, but it really is just a completely insane unforced error here for a number of reasons:

1. She has to win PA - there is basically no path to victory without it. Shapiro's favorability in PA is off the charts. She just threw that away.

2. This shows that Harris will not stand up to the fringe, rabid anti-Semitic wing of her party. She's hoping that energizing a group that NEVER shows up to vote will offset turning off moderates. She will likely be wrong.

3. Walz brings the baggage of the 2020 BLM riots with him, and most Americans found the destruction of property to be disgusting. He was the governor of MN when it all went down. She just made this a campaign talking point for Trump. Just a monumental mistake.

Harris had a chance to really knock Trump out by appealing to swing voters and she threw it away for someone who will placate the insane wing of her party that doesn't even show up to vote. Bowman lost. Bush is about to lose. She joined the losing side. 

I agree, Harris must win PA. I disagree she threw it away - Harris can win PA with Walz. But I do agree she made BLM protests a campaign talking point. Trump/Vance would be keen to pick up on it.

Let's not overreact. For all his faults, Walz still has more appeal than Vance. I believe Harris found more excitement with Walz over Shapiro.

 

Just now, vikas83 said:

See above. She was counseled that picking Shapiro would turn the DNC into a disaster thanks to the anti-Semitic lunatics. So they all caved to the children and basically threw away a real chance at moderates.

I hope not.  Biden was able to keep the lunatic fringe of the left at bay, so Harris not being able to do so wouldn't speak well for her. 

Someone mentioned a few pages back that Shapiro's charisma might overshadow Harris.  I think that played a part as well.  

1 minute ago, VanHammersly said:

Strongly disagree.  Kamala needed to keep the base ginned up.  The base of the Democratic Party is more important than the base of the Republican Party in this cycle, since Dem turn out decides elections and Trump already had his base coked to the gills.  And Shapiro would've blunted Dem excitement, justly or unjustly (it's unjustly by the the way, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't have happened).  There's not time in this cycle to build things up gradually, the payoff needs to be immediate and it needs to keep momentum on her side.  This pick did that.  And he's great in front of the cameras, unlike JD. 

 

1 minute ago, we_gotta_believe said:

 Goin a bit overboard der, dontcha think? (MN accent intended)

If you were going to pass on Shapiro, you couldn't pick the guy who was governor of the state where Floyd was murdered and then lawlessness broke out. The Trump ads write themselves. You have to hope Trump screws it up, but this goes to his wheelhouse -- ginning up his base about the BLM riots. 

It's a massive mistake and opens the door for Trump.

Just now, vikas83 said:

 

If you were going to pass on Shapiro, you couldn't pick the guy who was governor of the state where Floyd was murdered and then lawlessness broke out. The Trump ads write themselves. You have to hope Trump screws it up, but this goes to his wheelhouse -- ginning up his base about the BLM riots. 

It's a massive mistake and opens the door for Trump.

Showering the country with images of riots that happened under Trump's presidential "leadership" to tarnish a VP pick is certainly a strategy.

15 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

Well, it was a fun 2 weeks where we imagined a second Trump term wasn't going to happen. Harris made her first MAJOR mistake by choosing Walz over Shapiro. I hope it's not a mortal wound, but it really is just a completely insane unforced error here for a number of reasons:

1. She has to win PA - there is basically no path to victory without it. Shapiro's favorability in PA is off the charts. She just threw that away.

2. This shows that Harris will not stand up to the fringe, rabid anti-Semitic wing of her party. She's hoping that energizing a group that NEVER shows up to vote will offset turning off moderates. She will likely be wrong.

3. Walz brings the baggage of the 2020 BLM riots with him, and most Americans found the destruction of property to be disgusting. He was the governor of MN when it all went down. She just made this a campaign talking point for Trump. Just a monumental mistake.

Harris had a chance to really knock Trump out by appealing to swing voters and she threw it away for someone who will placate the insane wing of her party that doesn't even show up to vote. Bowman lost. Bush is about to lose. She joined the losing side. 

They clearly were influenced by the war and protests

They want all of those young college votes

3 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

 

If you were going to pass on Shapiro, you couldn't pick the guy who was governor of the state where Floyd was murdered and then lawlessness broke out. The Trump ads write themselves. You have to hope Trump screws it up, but this goes to his wheelhouse -- ginning up his base about the BLM riots. 

It's a massive mistake and opens the door for Trump.

I'm sure they'll try to hammer Walz on the riots and covid lockdowns, but not sure how much that will boost his turnout when he's already running against a black woman at the top of the ticket. A bit? Sure, but enough to flip PA? Doubt it. Only one way to find out though.

And here it comes. Nobody excels at losing elections better than Democrats:

 

trump said the vp nominee doesn't matter...people vote for the top of the ticket....and he's really smart, so...............

Dems have been hit with riot stuff for years. It's white noise.

The one saving grace is short of picking the reincarnation of Hitler, no choice she made would have been as awful as JD Vance. But she had a chance for a knockout blow and whiffed. The race is at best a coinflip now.

2 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

 

If you were going to pass on Shapiro, you couldn't pick the guy who was governor of the state where Floyd was murdered and then lawlessness broke out. The Trump ads write themselves. You have to hope Trump screws it up, but this goes to his wheelhouse -- ginning up his base about the BLM riots. 

It's a massive mistake and opens the door for Trump.

The democrats are the more popular party. If everyone voted, republicans lose. Energizing the democratic base is more important this cycle when they’ve been frustrated with Biden for multiple years.

26 minutes ago, EaglesRocker97 said:

 

Our political culture in general is basically determined by vibes at this point. Sad, but true. 

 

It's very true. "Knowing stuff has no value anymore" "The future will be filled with beautiful idiots who just want to feel".