| | Sudiksha Kochi | Congress, Campaigns and Democracy Reporter @KochiSudiksha | | |
Hey OnPolitics readers! With her surprise choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris made a direct play to the Democratic base − not the electoral map − while betting that his plainspoken style will appeal to working-class voters in the Midwest. |
In a rapid-fire search for vice president, Harris picked Walz, a folksy, often jovial 60-year-old former schoolteacher and congressman who emerged as the top choice among progressives and union allies, USA TODAY's Joey Garrison and Rebecca Morin reported. Walz and his common-man persona got the nod over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, 51, whose popularly in his home state made him a strong option to help deliver what is widely seen as the most important battleground state of the election. |
❌Shapiro's criticism from Democrats made for a riskier pick: Shapiro attracted criticism from some Democrats because of concerns about how he would approach the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Like most Democratic officeholders, Shapiro has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but supported the war against Hamas. Drawing additional pushback from the left was Shapiro's support for school vouchers that allow public money to go toward private schools. |
🥊Republicans sharpen attacks on Walz's progressive record: As governor, Walz also signed into law protections for abortion access and legalizing marijuana. Republicans quickly pounced on Walz's liberal record as governor and his response to the protests in Minneapolis after the killing of George Floyd in 2020. |
💡Walz coins 'weird' attack against Trump, Vance: Perhaps most significant, according to allies with firsthand knowledge of Harris' thinking, the campaign sees Walz as an effective communicator to take on former president Donald Trump. Walz coined the newfound attack line that Trump and Republicans are "weird" − a message that Harris quickly adopted − in a shift from President Joe Biden's framing of Trump as a threat to democracy. | | | | Now that the vice president has made the Minnesota governor her official running mate, he'll face off with Trump's no. 2, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. | | | | A Pakistani national tied to Iran was charged by the Justice Department with murder for hire in a plot to assassinate U.S. officials. | | | | Voter challenges, once an obscure practice, have become a mass movement in Georgia. Experts say a new election law will likely make the problem worse. | | | | Hamas named its Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar as successor to former political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran last week. | | | | Ohio now has the strictest voter ID law in the U.S., preventing thousands from voting. Other states with new ID laws include Florida and Georgia. | | | | | This 7-day newsletter course will help you be an informed voter before Nov. 5. | | | | | | | |
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