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32 days until the November 5th elections. What do we know, what have we learned? Part One

Oct 4, 2024

By Dave Andrusko

When pro-abortion Vice President Kamala Harris went fishing for a running mate, Minnesota’s pro-abortion Tim Walz was well down the list, according to a ton of stories. It seemed as if the entire blogosphere wanted Pennsylvania’s popular Gov. Josh Shapiro but for a myriad of reasons Harris selected Walz.

Initially there was deep skepticism followed by a 180 degree shift to stories about how Walz was picked for his “Everyman aesthetic and fluency in retail politics,” Elaine Godfrey writes. “And so far, the affable former high-school football coach and hype man for Menards has mostly received glowing reviews.” [Menards is a big box home improvement chain, sort of like Home Depot.]

Then came the debate against pro-life Sen J.D. Vance which was almost universally interpreted as a disaster for  “Coach Walz.” (He was actually an assistant volunteer coach). He flubbed questions he knew would be asked even by the friendly moderators from CBS News.

Critics piled like they were loading lumber at Menards.

Coming from the right, Joe Concha uses Walz’s “answer to the question about why he’s claimed to be in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests when he was actually in Nebraska” to illustrate his verbal clumsiness and dishonesty:

“I will be the first to tell you I have poured my heart into my community. I’ve tried to do the best I can, but I’ve not been perfect,” he said. “And I’m a knucklehead at times, but it’s always been about that.”

 

How comforting to know a self-described knucklehead could be one heartbeat away from controlling the nuclear codes. 

 

This filibuster of an answer went on for a full two minutes without addressing why he had lied about being in China at that critical moment, prompting co-moderator Margaret Brennan to press him for an actual response. 

 

“Governor, just to follow up on that, the question was, can you explain the discrepancy?” she asked. 

 

“No,” he said. “All I said on this was . . . I got there that summer and misspoke on this, so I will just, that’s what I’ve said.” 

 

Ah, he misspoke.

Godfrey, coming from the Left, tells us

And Walz’s failure to provide a coherent, succinct correction for an entirely predictable inquiry about one      of his flubs suggests ill-preparedness for a spotlight that is only going to get brighter—and harsher—in the weeks to come.

And Cocha finished with this zinger:

Harris can’t win without the Rust Belt, hence Walz’s berth on the ticket — even though she had the option of popular Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. 

 

But a pre-debate New York Times/Siena poll deflated that expectation: Walz, it turns out, is struggling in the heartland.

 

He’s seen favorably by just 44% of voters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, for example; in   Ohio, that number drops to 41%.

 

And men haven’t flocked to his side: A CBS poll taken before the debate found that Walz is seen favorably by 58% percent of women, but only 48% of men. 

Even Politico, essentially a mouthpiece for Democrats, hammered Walz for his ineptitude []. They went all the topics that Walz had “misspoken” about. It was not a pretty picture for “Coach Walz.”

It’s too late to unload Walz and in all likelihood we won’t hear much more from him. That and the near silence from Harris looks awful in comparison to the talk-to-anyone approach of former President Donald Trump and Vance.

HotAir’s David Strom summarized the results of Walz’s “misstatements” (I’m trying to be generous.)

There is another, underlying problem. The Democrats keep hitting on Trump and Vance as “liars,” which, while unfair, has been working. Now that Tim Walz is revealed to be a serial liar and J.D. Vance looked great on stage, that dog won’t hunt. 

Categories: Politics