MSNBC analyst Charlie Sykes said Tuesday that Kamala Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., was “not a safe pick” and suggested Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa., who Harris also considered as her vice presidential nominee, appealed more to centrists.
“But deep breath here, this was not a safe pick. Josh Shapiro seemed like the obvious pick for two reasons. No. 1, Pennsylvania is the key swing state with 19 electoral votes. Josh Shapiro would be able to appeal to centrists. Obviously, the decision that has been made here has been to go with the strategy of making sure you take care of the base and base enthusiasts as opposed to reaching out to centrists,” Sykes said.
“Now Kamala Harris may do this, may do this in other ways, but there was basically an internal battle between the people who said what the ticket needs to do is move to the center versus those who say no, let’s go with the more progressive Bernie-like candidate. Now whether or not he will present that way is not clear,” Sykes continued.
Walz was announced as Harris’ running mate on Tuesday after she officially became the Democratic nominee for president on Monday.
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Sykes suggested there might be some potential backlash from Jewish voters because Harris did not pick Shapiro.
“I have to say that I think you’re going to get a lot of attention on the process here. Again, because Josh Shapiro was such an obvious choice, but was the subject of a vicious online attack from the left for his views on Israel. And I want to point out that his views on Israel are not substantially different than any of the other candidates except that Josh Shapiro is Jewish. I think there’s going to be some question, did they blink, were they influenced or over influenced by the excessively online anti-Israeli left in order to get rid of Josh Shapiro?” Sykes added.
However, Sykes said it might not matter and argued a debate between Walz and GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance would be interesting to watch.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended Harris’ choice, suggesting Walz was “right down the middle,” despite his progressive record.
“Tim Walz is wonderful. She had many good choices. Tim Walz I know very well. He served in the House. To characterize him as left is so unreal. It’s just not, he’s right down the middle. He’s a heartland of America Democrat,” she told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
The 60-year-old Walz, a former congressman, is in his second term as governor of Minnesota, a Democratic-leaning state that the Trump campaign has aimed at flipping this cycle. No Republican White House candidate has won Minnesota since 1972.
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