I’m one of those in the large group of people the article mentions not being familiar with him, so this was very helpful. He honestly sounds great. I just hope he isn’t too progressive for the moderate voters, but it sure works for me personally.
I can see a bit of your point about “too moderate” worries, but in reality this is the time for people to vote for the future.
Might as well go for broke on the bet, because if it goes wrong we’re all fucked anyways.
Either we choose to have a fucking dictatorship, or we choose a progressive leadership the next 4 years (if the scRotuM and legislative bodies aren’t included)
Personally I’m excited that someone “so old” actually seems to care about anyone younger than they are. We need that kind of person in leadership.
I get what you’re saying, but it’s just so vital that we win this one. I’d rather have a ticket that was less optimal from my personal point of view if it makes us more likely to win. Having a wonderfully progressive ticket that loses the election would be a very, very bad thing.
In two respects, however, Harris’ choice could have negative consequences. First: During her years in the Senate and her failed quest for the Democratic nomination in 2020, she adopted a number of progressive positions—endorsing the Green New Deal, opposing fracking, supporting Medicare for All (including for undocumented immigrants), and comparing ICE to the KKK—that she is now repudiating. Choosing a running mate seen as strongly progressive could make it more difficult to separate herself credibly from her past record.
Second: In the context of the Electoral College, Harris’ choice could backfire. While Walz’s Minnesota is safely Democratic, Shapiro presides over the most important swing state in the 2024 election. Although many pundits see Walz as especially appealing to rural and working-class voters, the evidence suggests otherwise. Compared to Biden’s 2020 performance in Minnesota, Walz received the same share of the vote overall (52%), and he did no better than Biden among rural and small-town voters, working-class voters, and Republican identifiers while running four points behind Biden among Independents.
By contrast, Shapiro far exceeded Biden’s 2020 baseline statewide, racking up 57% of the vote compared to Biden’s 50%. And he outpaced Biden in virtually every electoral group, exceeding the president’s share by seven points among rural and small-town voters, seven points among non-college voters, nine points among Republicans and voters leaning Republican, and five points among Independents.
What’s fun is I’m not sure my dad has realized Walz is a flaming progressive. The response to Covid (fact-based, science supported, and ‘measured’,) and the response to Floyd riots (law and order, but that includes right to protest,) Cary a lot of water with the not-totally-MAGA.
(We also have a lot of inbred hicks that are totally maga, though, and the “you’re weird” resonates in that note.)
It blows my mind that centuries-old concepts “let’s not jump to hasty conclusions” and “people should be free to protest the government but not break the law” just got called “flaming progressive”.
edit: Sorry, now I see what you’re saying, that those were some points that pull people from across the aisle.
Oh yeah. He started as a moderate, but has turned incredibly and wonderfully progressive.
And more importantly, effective.
Edit: a large part of it is that he’s very good at communicating the ”why”. And he’s genuine and sincere. He can pull moderates and the unicorn undecideds in, while also getting progressives very energized.
Love him. (Also I’m excited for Peggy. First Native American gov, first woman in mn to be gov. And she’ll have 2 years for people to get over it while shoe shopping for even bigger shoes.)
I just hope he isn’t too progressive for the moderate voters
I think this is more of a myth than anything, that voters get turned off by a “too progressive” agenda. Bernie was immensely popular, even if he didn’t end up winning the primary. And I think he probably would have helped Hillary a lot if she had picked him as VP instead of Kaine, who didn’t help her at all.
Bernie was very popular in blue cities, but middle America thinks he’s a nut job. There’s zero chance he would have done as well as Biden in a general election for exactly the reasons I’m concerned about here.
I also don’t know anything about the guy other than what I’ve heard on podcasts and so on in the last 24 hours.
That said, he does seem to have a well established ability to woo voters from further into the conservative end of the spectrum than other progressives.
For example, as @Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world said, “Gun owner, hunter, and veteran: understands guns. Supports gun control.”
He also really cut through with the “creepy & weird” thing. Listening to the way he talks, and the way he frames things, he seems to have an ability to speak to people in a way that resonates with them.
Ross — a 23-year-old streamer with a mostly young male audience of more than 1.4 million Kick followers and 4.4 million YouTube subscribers — fawned over the former president during a 90-minute stream and gave him a Rolex and a Tesla Cybertruck wrapped in images of the former president.
It's also been speculated that this is the same Cybertruck that he shot with a gun several months ago for a video, with the wrap covering the bullet holes.
This dumb fuck cheaping out and giving his idol a second-hand gift is funny on its own, but knowing that it might be full of bullet holes is just poetic.
Voice of America - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)Information for Voice of America:
> MBFC: Least Biased - Credibility: High - Factual Reporting: High - United States of America
> Wikipedia about this source
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> MBFC: Left-Center - Credibility: High - Factual Reporting: High - United States of America
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How sad is it that my first thought is how mad I’ll be now if we lose? This is a great ticket, where once I was basically eating a week old egg salad I’m now having some proper greens.
Vox - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)Information for Vox:
> MBFC: Left - Credibility: High - Factual Reporting: High - United States of America
> Wikipedia about this source
If only he listened more to Mamaw, he might not be so fucking weird
“I’ll never forget the time I convinced myself that I was gay. I was eight or nine, maybe younger, and I stumbled upon a broadcast by some fire-and-brimstone preacher. The man spoke about the evils of homosexuals, how they had infiltrated our society, and how they were all destined for hell absent some serious repenting. At the time, the only thing I knew about gay men was that they preferred men to women. This described me perfectly: I disliked girls, and my best friend in the world was my buddy Bill. Oh no, I’m going to hell.”
When he brought up the issue with his grandmother — known to Vance as “Mamaw” — she replied bluntly: “Don’t be a fucking idiot, how would you know that you’re gay?”
When Vance explained his reasoning, she laughed.
“JD, do you want to suck dicks?” she said, according to the book.
The young Vance, apparently “flabbergasted,” said: “Of course not!”
“Then you’re not gay. And even if you did want to suck dicks, that would be okay,” she replied. “God would still love you.”
Rewarding because you can accurately gauge exactly how much smarter you are than the world’s richest man?
Or rewarding because you get to burden the legal system with all those hypotheticals that the one troll in your law classes kept asking and your professors kept claiming “no judge would ever entertain that idea”?
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