At 60, Walz is just a year older than Harris, but critics say he looks much older, which could be a liability to a campaign that is rebounding from Biden's departure over concerns about his age.
Walz responded to this criticism on X, saying he looks the way he does because he was a high school teacher and "supervised the lunchroom for 20 years. You do not leave that job with a full head of hair. Trust me."
As a Minnesotan I'd like to point out that Walz really isn't a progressive, however, like Biden, he's repeatedly shown a willingness to welcome everyone to the table, and (generally) not stand in the way of progressive legislation, even when he personally doesn't agree, so definitely not the worst choice. But I say double down on minority women, nominate lieutenant governor Peggy Flanagan instead, let's get the first native woman in the White House!
I agree that Kelly is the best choice. War veteran is a big plus for Harris, who's never been in the military. And everybody loves astronauts, those guys are hardcore and have been to space.
I know how important policy is, but let's be honest when it's an all-out fight against the end of the fucking free world? Yeah, it's a popularity contest. It's stupid, but you got to do what you got to do. And as long as they do it legitimately, thus being able to hold the ethical high ground, and they could stop on Trump hard enough, it's a win that he will probably never recover from. Just because he's too old and his mind is decaying too quickly.
Why would Buttigieg weigh down the ticket? He's been slaying the opposition on Fox News while their pundits sit there in slack jawed awe. He's shown his progressive chops on multiple occasions and, best of all, he's not old as fuck.
I love Mayor Pete for all the reasons you've said and more. I hope he is our president one day. He is the realization of the ideal politician imagined by Aaron Sorkin in shows like The West Wing and The Newsroom, and he has the rhetorical chops to put Josh and Toby to shame.
But he'd be weighing down the ticket with yet another Leftist Perversion of the Natural Order, e.g. he's openly gay. You can't serve the American People (who are an essentially stupid entity when taken together) a black-indian-woman-prosecutor with a side of openly-gay-silver-tongued-navy-daddy. Too rich. They'll get indigestion. That's too many LPNOs and too many "firsts". You need something a little more bland and safe as a palate cleanser.
If he was a nobody he wouldn't be part of her list. I think you can do better than that.
What does a Kamala candicacy need from a VP, other than an old-but-not-too-old white man who doesn't say much and doesn't steal she show but conveys a sense of quiet competence to illustrate a kind of chaperone character for the benefit of older people who want to be progressive but are still basically racist? Not much if you ask me, this is the Kamala show. But having a tough looking mother fucking Astronaut whose wife survived an assassination attempt neutralizes so many Trump/Vance talking points right out of the gate, freeing up Kamala to be Kamala.