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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Rumors – CNN says it’s Walz!

Reader Interactions

107Comments

  2. 2.

    Mousebumples

    Oh the big footing happening today! 4 posts by 4 front pagers in the span of how many minutes??

    Happy Walz Awareness/Veep Day!

  3. 3.

    Anonymous At Work

    While I don’t disapprove of the music, I prefer the original album versions.

  5. 5.

    Kay

    I don’t really trust CNN but I liked Shapiro or Walz (with Shapiro at number one) so I’m fine with either.

  7. 7.

    Mousebumples

    @Kay: I’ve seen it on WaPo and AP, but I’m not sure how much is individual sources vs not wanting to be left behind with breaking news.

  8. 8.

    Elizabelle

    WG:  Thanks, but this is the third post.  Happiness yes, but maybe take this one down?

  14. 14.

    Kay

    I also didn’t realize until John wrote it that Walz is basically an older version of Cole. Which is hysterical.

    If we find out Walz is/was a Deadhead it’s even better :)

  15. 15.

    Another Scott

    There aren’t enough threads this morning.  Please to fix.

    PS, I am not a crackpot.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  17. 17.

    Mousebumples

    https://bsky.app/profile/sethcotlar.bsky.social/post/3kz2iyyeias2u

    Just warming up for tonight’s zoom call, Dad Jokes for Harris/Walz

     

    https://bsky.app/profile/nycsouthpaw.bsky.social/post/3kz2isy5vvc2z

    Reported VP pick Tim Walz has a dog named Scout and a cat named Afton.

    (there are photos in the skeet, if you click through)

    Additional news outlets reporting – https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/harris-picks-minnesota-gov-tim-walz-running-mate-112606293

    http://politi.co/3AevpJQ

    https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/08/06/from-a-mankato-classroom-to-the-white-house-harris-names-walz-her-vice-presidential-nominee/

  19. 19.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Until I see Walz in a keffiyeh, carrying a Hamas flag, I have no choice but to sit this election out.

    Sorry everybody.  Kamala made me do it…

    Also, he seems old.</sarcasm>

    Seriously though, great.  He seems awesome.
    We have our ticket now let’s go win this thing.

  22. 22.

    206inKY

    If we’re doing Fleetwood Mac, we can’t leave off Kamala’s campaign slogan—Never Going Back Again!!

  23. 23.

    tobie

    This was the ugliest smear campaign for VP I’ve ever seen and I’ve learned that Jews need not apply for POTUS or VP. Yair Rosenberg did a tongue in cheek post yesterday about certain positions on Israel, attributing them first to Shapiro, only to reveal it was Walz. Shapiro has been a damn fine governor in PA. I’m disgusted at what was said about him on the left and on BJ. The double standard was and is nauseating.

    Teaser:

    SHOCKING Shapiro revelations: *Voted to condemn UN resolution against Israeli settlements that Obama allowed to pass *Participated in AIPAC conference, called Israel “our truest and closest ally in the region, with a commitment to values of personal freedoms and liberties, surrounded by a pretty tough neighborhood” *Met with Netanyahu personally, released photo to media *Said of campus protests, “I think when Jewish students are telling us they feel unsafe in that, we need to believe them, and I do believe them… Creating a space where political dissent or political rallying can happen is one thing. Intimidation is another.” *Said in June: “the ability of Jewish people to self-determine themselves is foundational…The failure to recognize the state of Israel is taking away that self-determination. So it is antisemitic.”

    Chaser:

    Oh, sorry that was Tim Walz:

  24. 24.

    Subsole

    Was hoping for Shapiro, but this is still a damn good choice.

    Also, I gotta say it’s always a pleasure to hear something off Fleetwood Mac’s best album* that isn’t one of the three songs that got played into the bedrock.

     

    *Tusk is actually my favorite, followed very closely by Mystery to Me. But Rumors is their best.

  26. 26.

    Mousebumples

    https://bsky.app/profile/ratelimitexceeder.bsky.social/post/3kz2ia2tmbs2z (must be logged in)

    The actual clear advantage Walz had over Shapiro is that Walz looks and talks like he should be a Republican, but Shapiro was the stereotypical east coast liberal. I don’t hate that, because I am too, but Shapiro’s value in the swing states was a hedge on PA. This is a more distributed hedge.

     

    https://bsky.app/profile/tonigo.bsky.social/post/3kz2iiuggyr2w

    The best part is it will draw sad faces from Bret Stephens, Nate Silver, AND Mark Penn

    TRIFECTA OF SADNESS BABY!

    Their tears will power us all through November

  27. 27.

    Elizabelle

    @WaterGirl:  You are a Captain though, right?  Let Cole have a big post.  Two posts on the same topic is hard; three is “enough already.”

  28. 28.

    Ishiyama

    @Kay:

    I also didn’t realize until John wrote it that Walz is basically an older version of Cole. Which is hysterical.

    If we find out Walz is/was a Deadhead it’s even better :)

     

    Legalizing Mary Jane was a heavy lift. But he did it; he didn’t shrink from the hard work of legislative persuading.
    And, he thanked my older brother for his political efforts in the cause. Deadheads will love him when the word gets out.

  29. 29.

    me

    “I’m looking California and feeling Minnesota”  too bad Outshined despite being a great song is a bit of a bummer lyrically.

  31. 31.

    tam1MI

    Just FYI, everyone, today is a big day in Michigan, it’s Congressional Primaries Election Day. Might be worth keeping an eye on… 😊

  32. 32.

    Subsole

    @raven:

    Yep. And pretty damn good, too. I actually wonder sometimes what would have happened if they had kept developing in that direction.

  35. 35.

    Kay

    @Mousebumples:

    I have to admit Mark Penn and Nate Silver backing Shapiro gave me pause in also supporting him. I still think he was the better pick but I wavered when those two climbed onboard.

    I used to love Nate Silver – I do like numbers and I defended him on BJ for years but he has become miserable and insufferable.

  42. 42.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @me: Most of Cornell’s lyrics are.  Have you watched the Rick Beato video of Outshined?  It’s so good.  The faces he makes when Chris does some of his vocal gymnastics are absolutely priceless.  And he clearly loves Soundgarden the way I do, which is really cool to see after years of people denigrating “grunge” music.  I love that Beato is like “No, this was one of the best periods of rock music, EVER” and says it with his full chest :)

  43. 43.

    RaflW

    Oh, g-d. I saw Walz on Bsky and came here to find out … it’s still a rumor. If there’s a rug pull coming, it’s gonna suck (I don’t care that much who it is, but I do not want this to turn into a disarray talking point!).

    I was impressed by the leak discipline last night when I went to bed. I hope this leaking is strategic and not bullshit!

    And, I think Walz is great if true!!

  44. 44.

    Mousebumples

    @Kay: yeah, I thought he was great in 2008.

    I don’t claim to be an election expert, and I only know what I see in my purplish/red Wisconsin area. But I think Walz will be relatable and persuasive in Wisconsin. Omnes had commented that Walz is the guy that all the conservatives like… Even knowing he’s a liberal.

    No idea how he’ll play on Pennsylvania or elsewhere, though.

  46. 46.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @tobie: Yeah, the anti-Shapiro shit was very gross and the way Progressives defended/denied it was too.  But Walz is great, so I’m excited for that.  And I think Shapiro still has a great career ahead of him.

  48. 48.

    Mousebumples

    Lol another thread?!?

    Eta – AL’s am thread was reboosted or whatever term you want to use.

  49. 49.

    Kay

    @Ishiyama:

    Teacher, veteran, loves kids and animals, affable nice guy who helps others but also gets shit done – he’s John Cole.

    If he starts wearing suspenders I’m out though. There are limits.

  50. 50.

    WaterGirl

    I remember when Barack Obama chose Joe Biden.  I had always liked Joe and had voted for him as president in more than one primary, but I was so disappointed.  I so wanted Kathleen Sebelius.  Who of course would not have been a great pick, because she was too similar to Barack in temperament, not to mention that Joe Biden made Barack Obama “safer” for voters.

    I had a conservative fellow working for me who W was running, and the only reason he voted for W was because Cheney was the VP.  That was the only reason he trusted W enough to vote for him.  (ugh)

    So VP can make a difference, for sure.

  54. 54.

    rodwell

    Tim Walz is a VP like Obama picking Joe Biden.  An experienced individual who by all account will be supportive of MVP in public but will have he said in private.  Also, it will be tough to hang the elitist label on this ticket.  Especially, since both the TFCG and the weird one are the product of Ivy Schools.  I might watch some Fox just to see how the conjoined themselves into labelling them the elite.

  57. 57.

    Baud

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Yeah. Electing Harris will be great. But the next rung in the ladder is making it acceptable to have two non-white-men in both positions. But first things first. If we win, that’ll help take the monkey of 2016 off our backs.

  58. 58.

    me

    @UncleEbeneezer: ​
      Don’t get me wrong, I love depressing music, Dirt and Master of Puppets are two of my favorite albums, but just that the campaign won’t use Outshined as intro music for the ticket.

  59. 59.

    tam1MI

    @tobie: This was the ugliest smear campaign for VP I’ve ever seen and I’ve learned that Jews need not apply for POTUS or VP. Yair Rosenberg did a tongue in cheek post yesterday about certain positions on Israel, attributing them first to Shapiro, only to reveal it was Walz. Shapiro has been a damn fine governor in PA. I’m disgusted at what was said about him on the left and on BJ. The double standard was and is nauseating.

    Yeah, the Anti- Shapiro faction really did not do Harris or the Dems in general any favors in the way they advocated against Shapiro. They put Harris in a no-won position, no matter which way she went, somebody was going to end up being outraged.

  60. 60.

    suzanne

    @Mousebumples: I think Walz will come off well in PA. This is the state that elected Fetterman, after all. He comes off as very down-to-earth and common-sensical, which I feel like will do well here.

  61. 61.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: Yeah! I would have loved it if my governor was even considered for the Veep.

    In MA both Gov. and Lt. Gov are women. And Maura Healey is gay. Most Americans don’t know it but Massachusetts is the future!

  62. 62.

    Tony Jay

      NYT BREAKING NEWS

    HARRIS UNDER FIRE AFTER CONTROVERSIAL VICE PICK ACCUSED OF SEX CRIMES

    The already faltering Kamala Harris campaign came under fire from independent groups after her rushed Vice-Presidential pick Josh Shapiro J. B. Pritzker Tim Walz was sensationally accused by multiple blonde women of making inappropriate advances whenever their calendars can be shown to have more or less lined up.

  63. 63.

    Kay

    @Mousebumples:

    Ha! True. Walz is John. Well, John is Walz. I was taken aback by the Walz mugshot to the extent that I thought it was fake. It was weirdly sepia toned or something.

    They threw a lot of shit at each other, the candidates and their backers, but such is the nature of a political competition and now we got the mugshot reveal out of the way. Shapiro is a pro – he’ll be right back in it in ’28. These are the most competitive people in the world, including nice guy Walz. They don’t get to that level without it.

  64. 64.

    tobie

    @UncleEbeneezer: He’s hit the glass ceiling. Arab Americans and their progressive friends will question the loyalty of any Jewish candidate moving forward because they’ve seen how effective extortion is. I just cancelled my recurring donation to the Harris campaign. I’ll donate to other races that will likely need me more. As a veteran phonebanker and tech captain in NC, I can say that at least 2/3 of all phone bankers are Jewish. I’m curious how many of us will turn out this year. We’ve been told now that our perceptions of antisemitism don’t count and our loyalty to America is dubious. This is deeply painful.

  65. 65.

    Subsole

    @raven:

    Yep. Wild how they shifted. I liked both flavors.

    Favorite album was probably Tusk. Yeah, it was pop, but it had a lot of songs with a kind of stripped-down, almost garage-band sound that I really dug. Even the big production pieces had a kind of “I smuggled a tape recorder into the stadium” vibe.

    It also had What Makes You Think You’re the One. If you ever played the drums, you can tell Mick is just having a grand ol’ time with that one. Trippy and odd, but God it’s fun to play.

     

    Mystery to Me was kind of the sweet spot. It was pop, but still had that sort of pseudo-bluesy rock sound.

    I liked those two more, but in terms of pure technical skill and production, Rumors is probably their best. Plus you had a bunch of amazing artists just dueling over who could pour more of their soul onto the page. Legendary album, but not necessarily my fave.

  67. 67.

    Baud

    @tobie:

    You’re right to oppose anti-Semitism but you’re wrong to assume it influenced Harris’s decision. Frankly, you’re doing what the anti-semities are doing and saying Harris had to do X to prove her loyalty.

  68. 68.

    Kay

    Just to be clear, I wasn’t backing Shapiro because he was a “first” anything. That wasn’t the draw for me. The draw for me was he at 60% in PA and we need PA. I was backing him for his success in PA in drawing in moderates and Right leaners, who we need. The success he earned.

    Walz has his own strengths, which he also earned.

  69. 69.

    tobie

    @Belafon: I said very specifically I was talking about the smear campaign launched against Shapiro, not Harris’ decision making process. That campaign was disgusting. Seeing how so many BJers jumped on the bandwagon, citing cherrypicked statements and false innuendo, was a reminder to me about how deep the anti-Jewish sentiment often runs on this blog and why I moved away from it.

  71. 71.

    artem1s

    sigh of relief. Not because I thought any of the others wouldn’t make a fine VP. I was more worried about after the election and getting things done. All of them brought different strengths but Walz seems the best prepared to fill the role at this moment in time. And it will help GOTV and send the message that we aren’t giving up on taking back the Senate and everything that needs to be fixed there.
    The game plan of trying to pick up a handful of independent or never TCF voters based on the fee-fees of aggrieved white Edge Lords who threatened the sitting President with withholding their billionaire bucks from the campaign is what had me worried. Granted Harris took that threat right off the table with all these zoom events and record breaking fundraising. So I’ve been less worried that she’d get pressured into switching back to the VP spot or picking a bad apple that would spend 4 years trying to reach across the aisle behind her back.
    anyway, sigh of relief.

  74. 74.

    Jackie

    Paging BettyCracker!

    MSNBC correspondent Molly Jong-Fast took a moment to share some trivia about the Minnesota governor.

    “Walz hunts and ice fishes,” Jong-Fast wanted her readers to know. “Walz once carved a school bus out of butter.”

    No clue if it was life sized…

  76. 76.

    Mousebumples

    @suzanne: thanks for your perspective. I’d also been hearing Fetterman did not want Shapiro for Veep. But I’m not sure where/why that came from, exactly.

  82. 82.

    MomSense

    @rodwell:

    If shitting in a gold toilet wasn’t enough to make Trump too elite for Fox, nothing will be enough.

    I’m happy we have a ticket.  I liked all of the potential veep picks.

    I do think Walz has an inner joy about him and that is a quality he shares with Harris.  Should be fun to watch them together.

  84. 84.

    Jackie

    @tam1MI: It is for WA, too 😊

    TCFG has doubled down on trying to eject my congressman, Dan Newhouse, by doing another double endorsement:

    “Donald Trump and his allies have already purged eight of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. The former president could add a ninth to the list on Tuesday,” Politico reports.

    “Rep. Dan Newhouse narrowly survived Trump’s attempt to take him out two years ago but faces perhaps a stiffer challenge this year. Taking no chances, the former president has endorsed two of Newhouse’s opponents: former NASCAR driver Jerrod Sessler and 2022 Senate nominee Tiffany Smiley.”

    Smiley is the MAGA candidate who tried ousting Sen Patty Murray in ‘22.

    WA has the “top two winning candidates” primary, so my only hope is we get a Democrat as one of the two candidates for the General Election – in my MAGA red county!🤞🏻

  88. 88.

    rodwell

    @MomSense:

    Yes, Fox turned a pseudo billionaire who lives in a Manhattan penthouse with a golden toilet into the champion of the common man.   I was wondering how Fox will turn Walz into a patsy elite.  Probably they are already saying he is the most liberal governor in America.  I live in New Jersey and Phil Murphy is way more liberal.

  89. 89.

    Tony Jay

    @NotMax:

    The mocking the NYT’s hatred of Democrats part or the absolutely on-point verisimilitude of the content part?

    Different strokes, etc.

  95. 95.

    Montanareddog

    @Kay:

    If he starts wearing suspenders I’m out though. There are limits.
     

    What if he starts wearing dungarees? Or cargo shorts with a testicle hanging out?

  96. 96.

    KatKapCC

    @raven: Maybe this wasn’t your intention, but telling someone to “get over” bigotry is gross. Tobie wasn’t just lamenting Shapiro not being chosen, they were specifically highlighting the reasoning behind why a lot of people didn’t want him, and the discourse the sole Jewish possibility was being far overanalyzed and having everything from his loyalties to his “ambition” questioned and torn apart. And even when it was pointed out to folks that they were really dancing on the edge of antisemitism by implying that a Jew would be too ambitious and sneaky and power-hungry to support the Prez and to be satisfied with his job, we got hand-waving dismissals and were told to be quiet.

    So no. We will not get over bigotry. And piss off for telling us to.

  97. 97.

    tam1MI

    @KatKapCC:

    Maybe this wasn’t your intention, but telling someone to “get over” bigotry is gross. Tobie wasn’t just lamenting Shapiro not being chosen, they were specifically highlighting the reasoning behind why a lot of people didn’t want him, and the discourse the sole Jewish possibility was being far overanalyzed and having everything from his loyalties to his “ambition” questioned and torn apart. And even when it was pointed out to folks that they were really dancing on the edge of antisemitism by implying that a Jew would be too ambitious and sneaky and power-hungry to support the Prez and to be satisfied with his job, we got hand-waving dismissals and were told to be quiet.

    So no. We will not get over bigotry. And piss off for telling us to.

    Said it better than I could. The anti-semitism on display in some quarters of the campaign against Shapiro was appalling.

  99. 99.

    Princess

    @tobie: Shapiro wasn’t even my choice (that would be Pete or Pritzker, who I was also told was too Jewy) but yeah, it was pretty gross. These days I’m not surprised but I noticed. A friend of a friend posted today that Shapiro was both too Jewish and not Jewish enough. Sorry, I guess.

  100. 100.

    PatD

    @tobie: I don’t think Arab or Palestinian Americans should be the focus here. They would rightly (for their interests) be skeptical of any candidate that is strongly on the side of Israel with regards to Gaza. There is nothing anti-Semitic about that.

  101. 101.

    Manyakitty

    @tobie: FWIW, I’m Jewish and wanted Walz. Shapiro is fine, but this country is more antisemitic than we like to admit. A black woman is one thing–a Jew one heartbeat away from the presidency is another. They made the right calculation.

  102. 102.

    Manyakitty

    @tobie: yeah, that’s something very different. Definitely a disappointment here. Took hold almost immediately after October 7.

  103. 103.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Manyakitty: @tobie: Sadly what you say is true. And  it is not just the country. Balloon Juice has become a space where a lot of bigotry is tolerated if it comes from certain handles that have been here for a long time.

    Talking about it gets you called names, from racist to stupid.  FPers jump in to tell us how we need to be nice to these handles.

  105. 105.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @tobie: Let me get this straight.. you are cancelling donations to the Harris campaign because you think anti-semitism is why she didn’t pick Shapiro? Do you seriously think Harris is antisemitic?

    There are always going to be people on the left who smear other Democrats for any number of reasons.. that includes misogyny, race, religion, etc. That literally happens every campaign. It sucks, but it is the reality. I do take issue with the accusation that antisemitic comments were widespread here. Most of the commentary on this site wasn’t at all anti-Shapiro. Most of it was ‘I like someone else better, but I’m fine either way’. Do you assume that if people prefer a different candidate it means they are antisemitic?

  106. 106.

    tobie

    @PatD: No, Pat, this had nothing to do with Shapiro’s positions on Israel, which are arguably to the left of Walz. It’s who he was. And that kind of bigotry should be rejected without exception.

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