I cannot believe it’s been just EIGHT days since this started, holy shite! I have changed my mind around 10,000 times. In this particular moment, at this point in time, for this situation, and for the “mood” of both white men and the Democratic Party as a whole, the clearest choice is Walz. Talk to me after I workout, it may change yet again. But the more and more I hear and see him, the more I really think that he is The One/Neo. Tongue-in-cheek, all jokes aside, I don’t believe anyone can save us from ourselves. WE have to save ourselves. As Joe said, “it’s about YOU”.
Walz, a former *teacher*, very very very much understands this leadership principle. Walz Walz Walz, go all the way Kamala!!!! Walz will make an excellent pitbull for her, they can play good cop bad cop on policy too. Use him for outreach to men (across all races as a former teacher on a Native Reservation, he knows how to talk different cultural languages), and use Kamala on women (again, across all races). They are the PERFECT union and balance. She’s a black highly educated woman from the liberal West Coast who understands what women go through in this country, Walz is from the middle of the US, and he is in love with the working class/regular people, the working class way of life, and is able to harness male energy in a positive direction. I truly believe it should be Walz. HOWEVER, our cup runneth over, whoever she picks will indeed make it work. But I think Walz has the right combination at the right time.
Also — let’s not forget that choosing a VP is no different than any other hiring or recruiting process. A candidate can look great on paper, but there needs to be chemistry with the team for it to truly work, which is why bigger orgs have candidates do 1:1’s with various team members, and then collectively share their feedback with leaders to make the final and best pick collectively. The Dems are doing exactly that by trotting these candidates out, they actually want and welcome and need our feedback. And my feedback, as a person living in Chicago, is that Walz’s pro-union, pro-gun rights with (duh) bans/restrictions on weapons of war, pro-social security and safety net, pro “mind your own damn business” on government telling doctors and patients what to do and feel…..you just can’t lose with Walz. You might even consider calling your Senator/Representative and sharing who you want to see? SM is much easier, but it will also be drowned out by all the excitement and noise right now.
Strategically speaking, Walz is 100% the best pick, and I spent a week arguing for Shapiro only because I didn’t even know Walz. We are in a strong position — but please don’t fuck it up by getting cocky because we have not yet won, we need to stay focused on winning. And Rethugs are about to try and use SCOTUS to pick the next President, so the ONLY way to stop that is to overwhelm them with turnout. Nothing else matters right now, truly nothing!!