On Wednesday, Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris named her running mate. Minnesota governor Tim Walz got the nod over Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s governor. Rumors of Michelle Obama wanting second banana were fanciful. The Obamas aren’t second anything.

Walz’s selection is a bit of a surprise. Shapiro would have brought more to the ticket, and Pennsylvania is critical to Harris’ chances this autumn. Donald Trump enjoys a slim lead in the Keystone State. Democrats may figure that they’ll just steal PA from Trump, as happened in 2020. Shapiro may have threatened Kamala’s sense of self. Kamala is said to be insecure, self-doubting, and bullying. In an increasingly volatile world, she’s the perfect choice to helm the ship-of-state.

Walz is in his second term as Minnesota’s chief executive. Polling showed that Trump was competitive in Minnesota when Biden headed the Democrat ticket. But he’s begun trailing Harris. Minnesota hasn’t voted for a Republican since 1972, when Richard Nixon racked up an historic 49-state victory over George McGovern. Even without Walz, Minnesota should have trended back to Harris. With Walz, if Minnesota isn’t secured, Democrats have huge problems.

Walz was likely a choice urged on Harris, who dutifully nodded agreement. Harris must appear in charge. However much feminist Kool-Aid Kamala drinks, to be elected president, she must look to have big cojones, like Italian boxer Angela Carini, an authentic woman who had the snot beaten out of her by a testosterone-raging, Algerian trans in 46 seconds. Harris may have bigger cojones than Tim Walz, which matters to a woman with an inferiority complex. His choice was meant to reassure her.

The same cabal that pulls feeble Joe Biden’s strings is puppeteering Harris. In turn, the cabal’s strings are pulled by the nation’s second black president, Barack Obama. Bill Clinton was our first, if you don’t recall.

A self-identifying white male was necessary to balance the ticket -- not that ying and yang matters much anymore in progressive world. But independents might care. Of course, gender being fluid, it wouldn’t hurt for ninja conservative journalists to ambush Walz to ask the question: “Do you identify as a white male or what?” His on-record response may enlighten.

Kamala is selling herself as a black female. We know she’s a she because she said so. But Harris is half Indian, too -- as in the subcontinent. Not long ago, Kamala wore her Indianness like a Saree, but Democrat political operatives did the math. Millions more black than Indian voters populate America. Keeping blacks on the Democrat plantation is vital. So, Kamala is 100% Southern-dialect black for the purpose of politics. Corporate media propagandists are all-in on the ruse.

Yet, like Kamala’s over-overlord, Barack Obama, her blackness can’t be traced to a slave plantation in the antebellum South. Harris’ workaround is proclaiming blackness as universal, hence, anyone with a drop of black blood anywhere can identify with the plight of Southern blacks pre-1965. Kamala’s ancestors never knew the sting of pernicious Jim Crow. Her dad hails from Jamaica. Barack’s dad was Kenyan. Soul food for Kamala is jerk chicken. Barack probably tucks into a plate of Nyama Choma occasionally.

Come on, we know why Josh Shapiro was a no-go. Shapiro is a Jew, and there the Democrat party has a problem. Muslims are a growing faction. Rashida Tlaib is Palestinian by heritage. Ihan Omar is Somalian by birth. Anti-Israel sentiment -- read, Jew-hating -- among Democrats is making strides. The party is also experiencing generational change. Young, waspy “progressives” are being transformed into Jew haters at leftist indoctrination centers, otherwise called “colleges.” The eruptions of virulent antisemitism on campuses this year are testament.

Shapiro’s selection would have caused a wider rift with militant Muslim Democrats. Shapiro wouldn’t have played well in Dearborn, Michigan. Dearborn has the highest concentration of Arabs in the U.S. Gaining Pennsylvania but losing Michigan is close to a wash. Democrats need both to win.

With Shapiro off the board, the troubles between Jews and Muslims can be papered over. That is, unless a regional war erupts in the Middle East. Then those internal tensions begin to flare.

Democrats aim to unite all stripes around their visceral hate and fear of Trump. Moreover, Democrats’ god above the true God is power. They’re hoping Trump hate and power lust gets the party into the winner’s circle.

A Shapiro selection would have come with another biggish problem. Harris has a slew of past pronouncements and a record. Both indict her as hard Left, perhaps more than Michael Dukakis -- perhaps more like George McGovern. Her leftist positions put her at odds with Shapiro’s centrist approach and Keystone State voters, who don’t like extremes. On the other hand, Walz is in-step with Harris’ edgy progressivism.

Politically, Walz’s nomination is about Democrats maximizing votes from single women, in particular.

Walz is attractive to feminized progressives because he’s a feminized progressive. Yet, about half of Minnesota contains real men. A lot of guys there like to hunt and fish and watch football. Walz’s official profile skips his feminist bona fides. It also skips his character imploding after a DUI arrest. It highlights his National Guard service and points out that he “helped” coach the high school football team where he taught social studies.

But Walz’s political career reveals the true him. Timidity and pandering are the hallmarks of his governorship.

Steven Shier, writing at the Star Tribune, weighed the pros and cons of selecting Walz for the Democrat ticket. One con speaks volumes about Walz’s makeup. From the article, July 23:           

Minneapolis burning. The GOP will use images of the George Floyd riots to introduce Walz quickly and negatively to a national audience. His controversial record during the riots will also be a ripe topic for media and opposition investigation.

Like Minneapolis’ feckless mayor Jacob Frey, Walz permitted riots to rage following George Floyd’s death. Like Frey -- like Oregon and Washington State Democrats that let Seattle and Portland burn and mayhem ensue -- Walz failed to exert manly leadership. Besides, in 2020, civil unrest made for good politics. If Minneapolis had to burn, along with other Democrat-run cities, to create the perception of widespread racial strife and social breakdown under Trump’s watch, so be it.

Defining Walz isn’t just about his permitting Minneapolis to be ransacked and burned. He’s also pushed a radical feminist agenda.

Wrote Brooke Migdon for The Hill, August 3:

Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who’s emerged as a top contender for Vice President Harris’s running mate, helped turn Minnesota into a refuge for LGBTQ Americans, signing laws that shield access to gender-affirming health care and abortion, ban conversion therapy and make it illegal for libraries to ban books solely because they have LGBTQ themes or characters.

What can we say about a man who protects those who mutilate children’s bodies in the name of “gender-affirming health care?” How about promoting the savagery of no-limits abortion? How about banning counseling for gender dysphoria sufferers? How about safeguarding graphic LGBTQ themed pornography in public libraries and schools?

For Democrats, the smarter pick was Josh Shapiro, though his selection was far from trouble-free. Walz’s selection pacifies an insecure Kamala. It satisfies radical feminist progressives, though outside of blue states and localities, plays as poorly as a low-testosterone guy in drag at Marine bootcamp. Well, before Lloyd Austin took over, anyway.

J. Robert Smith can be found at X. His handle is @JRobertSmith1. At Gab, @JRobertSmith. He blogs occasionally at Flyover.

Image: AT via Magic Studio