Vee

Shapiro, to the Beltway, was more about what they always expect from Democrats: A ritual sacrifice to 'centrism' and proving they're not too liberal by shoring up the conservative flank and listening to Republican defector pundits who anointed him. To that element and a lot of media he was the ideal Dem candidate - not too progressive, young and masculine, hawkish in the right places. They were shocked to discover Harris didn't listen to them. But most of them are at a loss to complain about Walz so far, especially after yesterday's pretty much perfect rollout. He impressed many media doubters. I think the GOP was rightly scared of Shapiro and initially relieved, but they're only pretending to be euphoric. They know they're in trouble. Anyone who saw Walz over the last two weeks but particularly yesterday knows that. I think Shapiro may well have a bright future in the party and be POTUS someday, and that's fine. But the media is not used to liberals making liberal choices without asking permission from the punditry.

I think Kornacki, who gets off on the numbers game way too much more than anything else IMO, is just reacting to what he thinks was an obvious gimme of PA with Shapiro. He's usually mostly tolerable to me in his place, but when it's not numbers and the great game he loses perspective of much else and gets obnoxiously juiced on what he thinks is power and the math, moreso than other anchors or pundits who just reflexively disdain Democrats personally. Of course he doesn't get Walz (yet), because he doesn't think like that. I hope to watch him eat his words. Meanwhile, back on Desperation Alley:

As I suspected: CNN on the BTS details of the Walz pick.

Good lord.

It's a good and valid question. My answer remains the same as before: You do it by bringing back Brenda and marrying them off, and letting VM lead most of their joint or separate story. That, Maurice could live with.

I mean, they never found anything with women on Obama and nothing like that ever stuck to Joe for long either. I feel like our just coming up with a random sex angle out of nowhere is borrowing trouble, lol. And I don't trust the Trump Gang to walk out of the bathroom without stepping on a rake right now. But who knows!

The right wing angle so far has been him 'abandoning' his 20+(?) year military career to go into politics and/or abstain from the Iraq War, which really isn't true. They can't swiftboat him. It's not gonna work.

Putting Stephen Miller on after that is a bold choice:

Dear God. Trump is being interviewed next week... by Elon Musk. Are they suicidal over there? Who exactly does this peel off that's new for Trump? Who does this get them that they don't have? It's like The Producers. Meanwhile:

The below is not news to me. The Beltway badly wanted Kamala to pick Shapiro, a more centrist-leaning choice, to prove she is a 'serious' Democrat who can diss her own. (I happen to think Shapiro would be a fine choice, but he's not Walz.) It's a loyalty oath mainstream media often expects from any Dem candidate - punch the left to gain their favor.

This guy is very, very good. Better than I knew. He knows when to pick it up, he was working this room of 10K people. The IVF story he told will go very, very far.

Meanwhile: I always remember who guys like Miller are and where they come from, but he was also a gay kid in a boys' school and he's right about all this. He called it out @Khan!

Shapiro was on earlier:

The lone sane voice on Fox again: They're on now!

Good grief. She looks like Ridge's midlife crisis younger second wife opposite those two.

They're trying to do the full Tara Martin on her ass to try and make her look old enough! Like when AMC brought back poor old Karen Lynn Gorney and suddenly she had a Mother Bates gray bun hairdo and granny clothes to look old enough to be Kelsey's mom. Giving her the Ellen Stewart treatment!

Not for the first time, and boy was it weird back then.

Krista at least was a close match for HT and projected older. Rebecca Budig does not look her age and there is no way I buy her as JMW's mom, let alone a contemporary of Brooke and Ridge.