KAMALA'S CHOICE

Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota is Kamala's pick for vice- president. 

It is doubtful that this "tame" selection will stir hearts and minds. The governor might surprise but he looks surprisingly old fashioned, almost Truman-like. Given the unforgiving scrutiny of the Republicans, he must have been vetted over and over. This doesn't make him exciting. He will not steal the limelight or come up with an over-intellectual message. Maybe his apparent banality is his persuasive added-value, given that the GOP chose chaos candidates.

Other names, in the first place Governor Shapiro from Pennsylvania, might have created an unstoppable momentum. But so be it, Mr. Everyman was chosen over Mr. Somebody. The applause will follow, or not...

Kamala Harris is a sophisticated politician. Her reading of public opinion might have led her to choose the normal over the exceptional. Besides, two exceptionals might have led to an overcrowded ticket. Since JFK, Americans know too well that the top is more a marriage of political calculus than a love match. Marriages of mutual convenience, a European special, often have a longer timespan than unions based on rapture.

It is too early to judge, but the fizzle ain't there even when the Midwestern thing is supposed to be "in". Governor Walz comes with a persuasive record after all, even as his name is not known yet in Vienna or elsewhere. In today's America one should not try to chase too many innuendos or undercurrents. Everything has become very elementary.