HARRIS ZEROES IN ON A RUNNING MATE
Vice President Kamala Harris is just hours away from announcing who she’ll pick for the VP nomination. The latest reporting is that the campaign will release a video tomorrow, just before Harris and the lucky winner take the stage in Philadelphia. All signs are pointing to a race that’s come down to two contenders: Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
- The reasoning behind these two picks is, by now, familiar: Shapiro, 51, is the well-liked governor of arguably the most critical battleground state. He would bring an additional measure of youth and charisma to the ticket, and would help cement the idea that Harris represents the future, while Trump represents the past.
- Shapiro, a former congressional staffer, state rep, and county commissioner, was elected attorney general of Pennsylvania in 2016 and governor in 2022. His approval rating is north of 60 percent, which is almost unheard of in today’s hyperpolarized world.
- Walz, 60, has rocketed to internet stardom in the last few weeks as he’s taken the wood to JD Vance and Donald Trump with his signature mixture of midwestern folksiness and razor wit. It was Walz who, more than anyone, came up with the idea of attacking the Republican ticket simply as “weird”—an approach so understated and effective that the VP herself picked it up in short order.
- Walz, who grew up in a tiny town in Nebraska, became a high school teacher and football coach in southern Minnesota and spent years in the national guard before running for congress in 2006. He was elected governor of Minnesota in 2018 and was reelected in 2022. He’s governed as a progressive, outlawing book bans and enshrining trans rights.
- As the speculation about Harris’s running mate selection has dragged on, opposition to Shapiro has bubbled to the surface, mostly from progressives who view him as overly critical of students protesting the war in Gaza, and who disagree with his stance on school vouchers. In that sense, Walz could be seen as the safer bet, and less likely to divide Democrats—even if he can’t help deliver a particular battleground.
- Regardless of whether Shapiro gets the nod, it’s worth remembering that VP picks from swing states do not always deliver them. Mitt Romney lost Wisconsin in 2012 with Paul Ryan on the ticket. John Kerry lost North Carolina in 2004 with John Edwards on the ticket. Hillary Clinton won Virginia in 2016 with Tim Kaine as her running mate, but—well, you know the rest
Disgraced former President Trump, of course, has shown what can happen when a veep pick goes sideways.
- Trump’s choice, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), has been making headlines primarily for his poor poll numbers, lack of charisma, draconian views on abortion, “weird” vibes, and curious repeated references to Diet Mountain Dew. “He is historically unpopular, even more so than V.P. nominees who of course went on to infamy,” CNN pollster Harry Enten recently said of Vance. “It’s the worst vice presidential pick of my lifetime.”
- Vance has been catching flak for deriding Democrats as “childless cat ladies” and calling for people with biological children to get more votes while paying lower taxes. Even Trump seems disappointed with the guy he picked. Asked whether Vance would be ready to be president, Trump replied that, “historically, the vice president, in terms of the election, does not have any impact.” Which, of course, wasn’t the question.
But now, both tickets are complete, and it’s on to November
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NEWS NEWS NEWS
It was a rough day on Wall Street, and in financial markets around the world, as traders fretted about a slowdown in American economic growth. All three of the major American indexes closed down more than 2 percent, according to The Wall Street Journal, in the worst day for markets in almost two years. We’ll see about tomorrow, though. Capitalists have a way of getting their money back quickly.
A federal judge ruled today that Google illegally disadvantaged its competition to maintain its stranglehold in the search market. Google had spent huge amounts of cash to get phone manufacturers and web browser developers to make Google the default search option, acts that the Justice Department said were illegal. Judge Amit Mehta agreed. “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta wrote. The ruling could have big consequences for the future of search, according to a Google search about today’s ruling.
Hurricane Debby made landfall along Florida’s west coast today as a Category 1 hurricane, and has since been downgraded to a tropical storm. Debby appears to have caused four deaths so far, and caused the usual power outages and travel messes. Storm-fueled winds also blew $1 million worth of cocaine onto a beach in the Keys on Sunday. Aspiring screenwriters: there’s your prompt.
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