Vice President Kamala Harris’s failed bid for the presidency has political strategists second-guessing many of her campaign choices, including her choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
“The selection of Walz was just one of many disastrous mistakes, but it was indicative of a larger problem, which is that the Democratic Party leadership is too afraid to say no to the hard-left progressive wing of the party,” Julian Epstein, a longtime Democratic activist and former chairman, said. House Judiciary Committee counsel told Fox News Digital.
“This hard left opposes logical solutions that… [Pennsylvania] governor. [Josh] Shapiro supports charter schools, for example. “Or defeating terrorists rather than imitating their talking points and positions, which allows them to remain in power and rearm for the next genocidal attack,” Epstein continued. “It is the hard-left progressive wing that looks first to welfare and redistribution rather than economic growth.” And cultural extremism regarding immigration and gender is deeply alienated from American voters. “Walz was certainly a very poor choice, but their choice was part of a deeper problem.”
Rob Bloy, president and executive editor of The Daily Signal, told Fox News Digital that adding Walz to the ticket was a major error in judgment.
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Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
“Historically, vice presidents have little influence over the fate of a presidential nominee,” Bloy said. “But in the case of Tim Walz, it proved to be a disastrous decision that doomed Kamala Harris from the moment she made it. Not only was Walz unprepared for the national spotlight and media scrutiny, Harris passed over many better options. Given how little Americans know about Harris Or her political positions, they were right to question her judgment on this major decision.”
Harris has faced scrutiny even from some in her own party over her decision to name Walz, whom many consider more left-wing than her, rather than a more moderate choice. Some viewed prominent Democrat Shapiro, governor of the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania that Trump won on Tuesday night, as a more practical option.
“One of the things that is top of mind is the selection of Tim Walz as the vice presidential nominee,” Harris Walz’s replacement, Lindy Lee, told Fox News senior White House correspondent Jackie Heinrich at Howard University. “A lot of people are saying tonight it should have been Josh Shapiro. Honestly, people have been saying that for months.”
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Supporters react to early election results at Vice President Kamala Harris’ election night rally at Howard University in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. (Reuters/Daniel Cole)
“I know a lot of people are probably wondering tonight what would have happened if Shapiro had been on the ticket,” Lee continued. “And not just in Pennsylvania. He’s known as a moderate. That was a signal to the American people that it’s not the liberal San Francisco that Trump said it was.”
Walz came under fire on the campaign trail over questions about his integrity regarding his military service, his ties to China, the response to the George Floyd riots in 2020, and a policy agenda as governor that several Minnesotans who spoke to Fox News Digital described as extremist. .
Alex Conant, co-founder of Firehouse Strategies, told Fox News Digital that although Walz did not support the ticket, the issues ran much deeper.
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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks during a campaign rally at Tucson High Magnet School in Tucson, Arizona, on Saturday. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
“Democrats should feel a lot of remorse,” Conant said. “He didn’t help Walz get the ticket, but he’s not the reason she lost. Vice presidential candidates don’t matter much.”
“The bigger issues were Trump’s poorly-run campaign, Biden’s unpopular record, and Harris’ lackluster performance as a nominee — and I’m not sure how she could have changed any of those things.”
Andrew Mark Miller is a correspondent for Fox News. You can find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
