Kamala Harris’s entry into the presidential race has reinvigorated a Democratic Party that was spiraling into despair and disunity. But every honeymoon has to end, and the Republican lines of attack against her are rapidly coalescing: She’s President Biden’s feckless “border czar,” she’s soft on crime, she’s childless by choice. All of which has freighted her selection of a running mate with extra importance. Harris’s reported shortlist, which is topped by Senator Mark Kelly and Governors Josh Shapiro, Roy Cooper, and Andy Beshear, suggests her campaign believes that a moderate white man can offset her perceived weaknesses.
And yet none of these shortlisters’ recent news-show appearances, which are de facto audition tapes, have generated anywhere near the social-media buzz, approving group-chat link-shares, or “Hey … what about this guy?”–themed blog posts as Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota. Why Walz? Why not Walz, for one, given Harris’s implied criteria: He’s a well-liked white governor from the must-win upper Midwest. He represented a rural congressional district for 12 years, which demanded fluency with a subset of voters the Democrats have been hemorrhaging. And he’s been very productive with a slim legislative majority, expanding labor rights........