Veepstakes narrows to Shapiro, Walz, report
Kamala Harris has reportedly narrowed down her Democratic veepstakes field to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz ahead of a planned announcement on Tuesday morning.
Shapiro and Walz are the two finalists after Harris whittled down a short list of four over the weekend, Reuters reported Monday.
The current veep is expected to unveil her pick early Tuesday, CBS News reported, although some other reports said the announcement could come anytime as early as Monday evening.
Shapiro could give Harris a critical edge in the Keystone State, perhaps the one most important swing state, while Walz could give her an edge across all the battleground Rust Belt states, which would be the easiest path for Democrats to reach 270 electoral votes.
The pick tees up the fall election pitting Harris against former President Trump and his vice presidential sidekick JD Vance.
The two finalists offer somewhat different approaches to Harris’s effort to rebuild the Democratic coalition that President Biden rode to the White House four years ago.
Shapiro, 51, was the odds-on favorite in the Democratic veepstakes because of his sky-high approval figures in Pennsylvania and his reputation as a skilled orator and political operator.
In other words, he’d fit right into the veep’s traditional role as an attack dog.
He is considered a political moderate, which could help draw voters who want to see Democrats head to the center as they fight to keep Trump from getting back to the White House.
Shapiro is an observant Jew and would be the first Jewish vice president.
He is a strong supporter of Israel and has drawn criticism from progressives and advocates for an end to the war in Gaza, which could blunt enthusiasm among the Democratic base. But that stance could help the new ticket with moderate and independent voters who back the Jewish state.
Walz, 60, is much more of a feel-good pick that nearly all Democrats could quickly and enthusiastically unite behind.
He was once seen a dark horse for the No. 2 spot and burst out of the veepstakes pack in recent days on the back of waves of enthusiasm from the Democratic base.
A folksy Midwest native with an edge, Walz famously coined the “weird” attack on Vance that has helped boost fundraising and polling numbers since Harris launched her campaign just two weeks ago.
He’s a former teacher and high school football coach from a town of just 400 people, making him a valuable mouthpiece as Democrats compete for votes in rural areas and small towns and cities across middle America.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Marti/File)