‘Friendly’ Harris-Walz campaign may backfire

Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) was tapped to run alongside Vice President Kamala Harris in her presidential campaign , partly on account of his down-to-earth appearance and general Midwestern disposition.

To cover up a far-left political record, Walz dresses as a “folksy man of the people,” a man committed to helping working families . This appearance of a simple choice, a ticket for the people, is what the Democratic Party is attempting to present for Election Day — that the party is as all-around friendly as Walz, its inner workings as copacetic as Harris and Walz’s arrangement.

President Joe Biden’s ousting in late July exemplified the Democrats’ cohesiveness while belying the authentic friendliness they now hope to convey. Real hostility existed between the executive and legislative branches before Biden withdrew his presidential bid, while impressive levels of back-turning and strong-arming brought the plan to culmination. Still, the Democrats found swift cover under the hostility that makes their unity, and they were able to move forward with newfound relief and gusto.

But pro-Palestinian protesters threaten to crumble this facade, having chipped away at it during Harris’s campaign stop in Detroit on Wednesday. Public animosity between Harris and liberal voters showed itself as she had to shut down the protesters with some force.

Harris has made serious concessions to Hamas in the position she has taken regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The media neither hide nor condemn this aspect of her platform. Even so, questions fly as to whether Harris decided against Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) on the basis of his being Jewish. Whether or not that was her motivation, the benefit of choosing Walz is clear on the Palestinian front. At least it was at face value: As Wednesday’s protests indicate, Walz’s inclusion on the ticket has done nothing to placate the pro-Palestinian voters who seek to weld their agenda onto Harris’s campaign.

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It is up to Harris to decide what to do with them. She may privately regret pandering to the voting bloc that is contingent on her ceasefire commitments, or she may continue to concede. I would expect the latter. Harris has played a dangerous game attempting to reconcile her progressive past with a new, slightly more centrist platform. Now, she has to reconcile her radical record with expectations that she go even further.

The friendly, straightforward persona that the Harris-Walz campaign is trying to communicate not only is unsustainable but is also untrue to the nature of their politics.