When I heard that Vice President Harris had selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate, the first thought that hit me was from the revered baseball manager Casey Stengel: “Can’t anybody here play this game?”

That’s not to say Walz is the worst choice in the world. But Shapiro is the governor of Pennsylvania — probably the most important state for Harris electorally, where he has a 64 percent approval rating. That fact alone might have been dispositive.

Walz, conversely, is the governor of Minnesota — a state that Harris should easily win. And while Walz’s Midwestern avuncular image might play well in the so-called “Blue Wall” states (which include Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania), it’s not the same as him being the popular governor of one of those states.

What is more, by going with Walz, Harris has abandoned the generational change contrast a Harris-Shapiro ticket would have enjoyed against Trump. (Although Walz is just nine years older than Shapiro — and only months older than Harris — he presents as much older.)

As someone who has been described as a “Never Trump conservative,” I must also concede that my perspective is biased in favor of the more moderate........

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