Sorry, I just couldn't get into the VEEP hysteria

In politics there is little quite so dull — to me, anyway — as the days of speculative turmoil leading up to the naming of a presidential running mate nor as thoroughly anticlimactic as the post-naming days. We pay some attention to the veep-wannabes' debate of two hours, but the weeks before and the weeks after are all about the ticket's very top names     

The anticlimax has yet to hit us — that will commence sometime late tomorrow. So Politico decided today to vastly overstate the importance of the Democratic presidential nominee having named the Democratic vice-presidential nominee. The publication did this in its first paragraph, never backtracking so as to clarify the relative unimportance of it all.

"Kamala Harris named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday," wrote Politico, "elevating a Midwestern governor, veteran and former schoolteacher to help shore up support among blue-collar, white voters in the Rust Belt."

He'll "shore up" nothing. You know and Politico knows — hell, even Donald Trump knows — that presidential running mates have virtually no effect, one way or the other, on the election's outcome. Nominees have often chosen a veep to help carry the latter's state — empirical evidence has shown it didn't help — and in Walz's case, his state is already blue, so even home-state advantage isn't a factor.    

The only suspense remaining about the Minnesota governor is what asinine cutesy name Trump will give him. On the Harris front, the latest news is that he has dumped Lyin' Kamala, Laffin' Kamala and Crazy Kamala in favor of "Kamabla," which someone will have to explain to me. So far Trump has posted that "Kamabla ... wants to DEFUND THE POLICE," plus other lies, and "Kamabla Harris is afraid to Debate me on FoxNews" and "Kamabla is the WORST V.P."

Walz isn't yet the VP, although he will be, at which point he will become "the WORST V.P" ever. This G.O.P. S.O.P. has already begun from a different angle. Here's Trump's good friend Charlie of assorted "Turning Point USA" grifts, just minutes after Harris named Walz.

I answered Charlie almost as quickly.

My extreme boredom over all the VP hubbub is why I wrote first thing this morning about Mr. Chansley instead.

Comments

[Anne J]

Did Sarah Palin make a difference in John McCain's candidacy? What about J.D. Vance being the worst polling v.p. pick in at least 40 years?

[PM]

They were, are, good for laughs. That's about it, Anne.