The Walz Pick: Was the Democrat 'deep bench' nothing but bottom scrapings? And will Tampon Tim be Eagleton-ed?

Damien Bennett can't figure out the Walz pick. 

Honestly, I can't. The Democrat 'deep bench' was nothing but bottom scrapings apparently. Can someone help me out here?

• Walz Describes GOP Ticket As 'Weird' August 6, 2024
• NPR: Democrats Embrace ‘Tampon Tim’ Walz Nickname August 7, 2024

• Tim Walz Chose Wedding Date to Coincide with Tiananmen Square Anniversary, Then Honeymooned in China August 7, 2024
  
• Tim Walz: ‘One Person’s Socialism Is Another Person’s Neighborliness’ August 6, 2024
  
  
• A-Walz: Kamala’s Running Mate Broke Pledge to Deploy To Iraq in 2005: ‘I Have A Responsibility To Serve … If Called On’ August 7, 2024
  
• timwalzforuscongress.org, March 20, 2005 — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ...He has been previously deployed during his 23 years in the National Guard, including an eight month deployment during Operation Enduring Freedom. ... Although his tour of duty in Iraq might coincide with his campaign for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional seat, Walz is determined to stay in the race. “As Command Sergeant Major I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on. I am dedicated to serving my country to the best of my ability, whether that is in Washington DC or in Iraq.”
  
• National Guard Disputes Walz's Military Bio; CNN Calls Out 'Absolutely False' Claim Over Deployment August 8, 2024
  Minnesota National Guard spox Army Lieutenant Colonel Kristen Augé: Walz, Kamala Harris' vice presidential running mate, was demoted and did not retire as a command sergeant major as he has claimed for years - including on his official gubernatorial biography - as he failed to complete a 750-hour course in the Army's Sergeants Major Academy, a mandatory course for E-9s, the Army's highest enlisted rank. [N.B.: Anonymous MNG spox credibly challenges this claim at Task & Purpose.]
  CNN correspondent Tom Foreman: "[T]here is a difference between being in a combat area, being involved at a time of war and actually being in a position where people are shooting at you. There is no evidence that at any time Governor Walz was in a position of being shot at, and some of his language could easily be seen to suggest that he was. So that is absolutely false... The campaign has essentially come forward to say, ‘Look, he had a long career, he would never want to purposely mislead people about this.’ It’s what campaigns tend to say."
• Harris Campaign Website Scrubs Walz’s Rank, Escalating Stolen Valor Scandal* August 8, 2024
  * There's plenty of phony (and this) in Walz's characterization of his military service, but using 'stolen valor' as a club is plain wrong. Stolen valor in law specifically refers to someone who "fraudulently holds himself or herself out to be a recipient of [various specific medals awarded for valor]." As far as I've read, Walz has made broad service and rank claims but has not claimed any medals, specifically not the medals covered in H.R.258. If you know different, please clue me, otherwise stick with the cold facts, not the hot rhetoric. If you argue a broader abstract concept of 'stolen valor' your blue friends will argue H.R.258.

There are quite a number of stories about his politics and record, a lot of gush but also a lot of onions -- actually bushels of onions, which are being reported on both defensively and also aggressively. That's a surprise. It's not one Walz hymn book.

Other than baggage Walz doesn't bring much to the ticket.

• Poll: Only 17% Of Americans View Tim Walz Positively August 6, 2024
  The 17 [favorable] and 12 [unfavorable] percent marks appear to be so low because many Americans (71 percent) have never heard of him before or are unsure how to rate him.
  
• Tim Walz Fails To Inspire Swing State Voters: ‘He Makes Tim Kaine [!] Look Exciting’ August 6, 2024
• MSNBC Data Guru Delivers Brutal Reality Check To Dems After Walz Pick August 6, 2024   
  MSNBC data analyst Steve Kornacki: “When you look at what Tim Walz actually pulled off to get elected, to get re-elected in 2022, it’s the Biden model, demographically, regionally. You go county by county, there’s not much variance between how Walz did and how Biden did. ... Now go into greater Minnesota, let’s take a look at, like, Stearns County here. Look, Walz lost this by 23 points. What did Biden lose it by? 23 points. And this is the kind of county, by the way, in Minnesota and across the Midwest here, that Democrats are hoping Walz will help them with. ... So, the Walz victory in 2022 looks like what is now a standard Democratic victory in Minnesota: Heavy reliance on the Twin Cities metro area and taking big losses in greater Minnesota. The Democrats’ hope is that he’s going to appeal to the blue-collar areas in these other three states [i.e., Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania.], maybe he will, but when you look at what he’s done in Minnesota, you don’t quite see that."
• NBC Analyst: Walz Doesn’t Broaden Democrat AppealTo Blue-Collar Voters August 7, 2024

Low-to-no name recognition; no pull with vanishing key black, hispanic, Jewish, and youth demos; no base beyond metro Minnesota; no star power, no eye candy, no charisma, nothing compelling but his negatives.   

I don't get it. One theory is that Walz is so obviously the wrong choice that KA-mala easily made the pick.

 MSNBC’s Wallace: Kamala Harris ‘Is Running A Flawless Campaign’ August 6, 2024

I don't get it. Help me out. 

Let me close with a couplet of election year shit polls:

• Poll: Harris Outperforms Biden And Leads Trump Nationwide By 4 Points August 8, 2024
• National Poll Shows Trump/Vance +5 over Harris/A-Walz August 8, 2024
  

Fuck off, polls!

Trying to help Duncan out, Duncan answers as follows:

I'm in complete agreement with your assessment of Tampon Tim. However, the MSM has strong counter-narratives working full-time.

For example, CNN (sorry for the vulgarity) suggests the attacks on Walz's military service is just "Swift Boating" a la the anti-Kerry campaign.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/09/politics/tim-walz-service-swift-boat-attacks/index.html

When I ask my Lefty friends about Walz, they are mostly unaware of all the dirt this guy drags around. Narratives work until they don't (sharp as a tack Biden). So, a politically astute friend of mine thinks Walz will be Thomas Eagleton-ed...not necessarily for the same reason but something that is both sympathetic and disqualifying.

He suffered from bouts of depression throughout his life, resulting in several hospitalizations, which were kept secret from the public. When they were revealed, it humiliated the McGovern campaign, and Eagleton was forced to quit the race.

When you compare the MSM efforts to prop up the Harris/Walz campaign to your extensive collection of real Walz negatives just in this email, I too wonder how can people choose to be so stupid?