NEWS AND OPINION:

Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, a move that gave the press much to do in the aftermath. It also prompted some advice from at last one news organization.

“Kamala Harris and Tim Walz need to pivot to the center right now. Does Harris really understand the assignment?” asked Jonathan Chait, a columnist for New York magazine.

“Her decision to pick Tim Walz, while not completely irrational, makes me much more cautious and less optimistic that Harris does understand the assignment. The assignment, to be clear, is to win over voters who don’t like Donald Trump but worry Harris is too liberal,” Mr. Chait wrote.

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Meanwhile, here are a few headlines from the last 24 hours:

“55 things to know about Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ pick for VP” (Politico); “Dog parks, Diet Dew and car sickness: A collection of tidbits about Gov. Tim Walz” (Minneapolis Star Tribune); “Who is Tim Walz — The progressive governor with a history of winning over Republicans” (The Guardian); “Five controversies surrounding vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, from DUI to COVID fraud” (Fox News); “Tim Walz’s kids: Meet Hope and Gus” (Today.com); and “Republican reaction to Tim Walz shows Kamala Harris made the right choice” (MSNBC).

MEANWHILE IN ALASKA

The countdown is on in the “Last Frontier” up in the north country.

“Early voting started Monday for Alaska’s Aug. 20 primary election. Alaska’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives will be on the primary ballot, alongside all 40 seats in the Alaska House of Representatives. Half of the state Senate’s 20 seats will also be on the ballot,” the Anchorage Daily News reported Tuesday.

“In 2020, Alaska voters narrowly approved a ballot initiative that implemented ranked choice voting and open primaries. Alaskans first used the new voting system in the 2022 election cycle. This year, voters will again pick one candidate per race in the primary election,” the news organization continued.

“The top four vote-getters, regardless of political affiliation, will advance to the Nov. 5 general election. Lauri Wilson, the Region 1 elections supervisor, reiterated in a Monday interview that voters need to remember the primary is not a ranked choice election, unlike the November general election,” the Daily News said.

“It’s a pick-one primary. Vote for one candidate and move to the next race,” Ms. Wilson said.

FOXIFIED

For the week of July 29-Aug. 4, Fox News marked 30 consecutive weeks as the most watched cable channel of all, besting its news and nonnews competition alike, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Fox News drew a daily average of 2.3 million prime-time viewers that week, compared with MSNBC with an audience of 1.1 million and CNN with 638,000.

In the daytime, the Fox News audience numbered 1.4 million, while MSNBC drew 783,000 and CNN 479,000.

As usual, “The Five” earned the biggest average daily audience with 3.3 million viewers, followed by “Jesse Watters Primetime” (3 million), “The Ingraham Angle” and “Hannity” (2.6 million each), plus “Special Report With Bret Baier” and “Gutfeld,” each with an average daily audience of 2.4 million.

The daytime ratings champs included “Outnumbered” (1.8 million average daily viewers), and “The Faulkner Focus” and “America’s Newsroom With Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino,” each with an audience of 1.7 million.

A BIRTHDAY OF NOTE

A happy birthday goes out on Wednesday to retired U.S. Rep. Dick Schulze, who represented the great state of Pennsylvania on Capitol Hill from 1975 to 1993.

He is marking his 95th birthday — an event to be celebrated by family and friends at a historic and noteworthy spot not far from the U.S. Capitol.

“During his career in the U.S. House of Representatives, Schulze rose to serve as a top-ranking member of the House Committee on Ways and Means and as the senior Republican member on the Subcommittee on Oversight. He also served on the Trade, Social Security, and Select Revenue Subcommittees, the Armed Services Committee and Banking,” according to a biography from Villanova University, which maintains a collection of Mr. Schulze’s congressional papers.

“He chaired the Republican Study Committee, and was the Republican Whip for Pennsylvania. Ronald Reagan appointed Schulze to the Presidential Advisory Committee on Federalism. Schulze was one of the ’Reagan 13’ advising the President on economic and social issues,” the biography said.

“George H. W. Bush appointed Schulze to serve on the Board of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. He also founded the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus and Foundation in 1990. Schulze served as Chairman of the National Prayer Breakfast, and has been a member of the House of Representatives weekly prayer breakfast for over 30 years,” the biography said.

Mr. Schulze also introduced a bill in the House in 1975 that authorized the secretary of the interior to establish Valley Forge National Historical Park.

A happy birthday to you, sir, from family, friends, well wishers, longtime fans — and The Washington Times.

POLL DU JOUR

• 27% of U.S. adults say that, not counting attending religious services, they pray “several times a day.”

• 13% say they pray outside religious services “once a day.”

• 12% say they pray outside services “a few times a week.”

• 2% say they pray “once a week.”

• 6% say they pray “a few times a month.”

• 15% say they “seldom pray.”

• 21% say they “never” pray.

• 4% “don’t know” about the issue.

SOURCE: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,610 U.S. adults conducted July 27-30.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, on Facebook @HarperUnivrse. Contact her at jharper@washingtontimes.com.