[Maru]

Originally Posted by Alf

What do you Americans know about Kamala's running mate and stolen valor?

Is it in the news over there?

(These are all TV channels and one major local newspaper (The Chronicle))

What to know about Gov. Tim Walz's military record and Sen. JD Vance's accusations of 'stolen valor'
https://abc13.com/post/what-know-wal...alor/15156435/

Here's a look at questions about Tim Walz's military record
https://www.chron.com/news/politics/...e-19628549.php

Texas Republicans want to paint Tim Walz as a radical leftist. Is he?
https://www.chron.com/politics/artic...t-19625695.php

Here's a look at questions about Tim Walz's military record
https://www.click2houston.com/news/p...n-his-service/

Harris selects Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as running mate, aiming to add Midwest muscle to ticket
https://www.fox26houston.com/news/ha...-muscle-ticket

Who is Tim Walz, Kamala Harris' running mate?
https://www.khou.com/article/news/na...1-7638e40560e2

Nobody knows him really and that much is obvious. I've never heard of him before he was picked. YT's algo is dumping local media coverage about him into my feed with glowing reviews where he is known and my political media viewing is very light compared to some. For news, I watch a lot of legal cases, infrastructure and weather-related media among other things. I do tend to watch a ton of local news clips from different sources when trying to follow things so it could be why it gets put in my Recommends... anyway...

The reality is most people will probably learn these things for the first time during the VP debates, which I'm sure they're all preparing for. Usually the VP pic isn't so critical to an election, but with two very undesirable candidates, it's possible it could help sway the vote a direction with moderates/Independents. So in getting in early any big gaffes, it's only to their benefit because there's next to little national recognition for him and so a lot can leave a bad first impression. On the other hand, it could completely backfire since there's already a lot of nastiness in this race and it could very well turn off that block off to their main candidate.

If Vance is a Marine, it makes a lot of sense (to me) why he would take the misleading comments about serving with a gun more personally, and people who understand that will relate those comments to his own experience. I would expect someone's arguments about gun control or lack thereof to be more relevant if they're coming from someone who has weapons fired at them or have had to make split second decisions regarding personal safety... not someone who just simply "carries". We can all do that legally thanks to the Second Amendment, that's a basic right... so being like "well I handled a gun while in the military", but not actually being in direct combat... that's kind of a nothingburger to the average American, especially a typical gunowner.

I didn't think she chose badly as far as his overall credentials and he's added more experience to her campaign. Like most things in the US, there's different "flavors" of each politics depending on what zone they are from and he's able to connect on a personal level with "blue dog" Democrats despite some of his recent leanings and actions on things. Some may appreciate that he is open minded overall if they're not partisan on the bigger issues (like abortion). But those people would never vote for Kamala anyway...