Tim Walz has a bad case of 'main character' syndrome 🤒

Dude....

(Tim Walz/ Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

Tim Walz was a dud as vice presidential pick. He added zero to the ticket. In his one big moment — the vice presidential debate with JD Vance — he got beat. Badly. And looked hopelessly out of his depth.

None of this is to say that if Kamala Harris had picked someone other than Walz she would be president right now. History tells us that VP picks almost never make any real difference. And I think that’s true this time too. Had Harris picked, say, Josh Shapiro, she still would have lost.

To my mind then, Walz was a sort of historical blip. Plucked from relative obscurity by Harris and then, after losing, sent back to that relative obscurity. Which isn’t nothing! Being a governor of a state is a big deal! Being the VP nominee is a huge deal!

But, in politics, water usually finds its level. And Walz’s level was not — and is not — national politics.

This is obvious to anyone who has spent any amount of time covering or watching politics. It is not obvious, however, to Tim Walz.

Since the election loss, Walz has slowly but surely tried to fashion a narrative that he was under-utilized during the campaign. And that had he been properly deployed a) he would have shined and b) Harris might have won.

Witness this recent story from CNN on Walz — and this line in particular:

Walz says now he should have been doing events all through last fall. He says he offered, but was told no, and in his bewildered daze, he decided to be a team player.

Um….

A few things:

1. The job of the VP nominee is literally to be a team player. Like, that’s the gig.

2. If you think that the answer to Democrats’ problems in the 2024 election was “more Tim Walz,” I have a terrific up-and coming-video company named Blockbuster you might be interested in.