Urban beat: Walz Dithered as Minneapolis Burned

“If Kamala Harris wanted to dispel the idea that Democrats are soft on crime, Tim Walz was an odd choice” for No. 2, quips Heather Mac Donald at The Wall Street Journal. Minnesota’s governor is “defined” by his lame response to the 2020 George Floyd riots. Rioters attacked firefighters, looted and burned stores; a police precinct had to be abandoned. Yet Walz delayed sending in National Guard units, citing the concerns of people who have to “run from” police. “Unchecked chaos” spread and a subsequent nationwide crime spike has yet to subside. Walz and Harris “both portray the police as the major threat” to blacks. If they’re elected, “the result will be more lawlessness and more needless loss of black lives.”

Culture critic: Consensus Cracks on Trans-ing Minors

“The main justification for ‘gender-affirming care’ for minors in the United States has been that ‘all major U.S. medical associations’ support it,” but critics argue that’s “the result of a small number of ideologically driven doctor-association members,” muses Leor Sapir at City Journal. Now comes the “first big fracture. In July, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons . . . acknowledged that there is ‘considerable uncertainty as to the long-term efficacy for the use of chest and genital surgical interventions'” in adolescents. Plastic surgeons are reportedly “increasingly expressing concern about the use of hormones and surgeries” in minors. Amid the “growing international consensus against the ‘gender affirming’ approach for minors,” “the U.S. is one of the few Western countries where minors can receive gender surgeries.”  

Conservative: Vote Harris for Labor Strikes

Joe Biden oversaw “a steady increase” in strikes, notes National Review’s Jim Geraghty — including a 280% jump in 2023. And a Kamala Harris administration plainly would want “unions to have as much leverage as possible and to force corporate management to make as many concessions as possible.” As they campaign, expect Harris and Tim Walz to “tell every major and minor union in the country, ‘We’ve got your back,’ which many unions will interpret as a green light to make the largest demands possible and then go on strike.” That’s because “in the eyes of the Left,” “corporate leaders are union-busters” and unions are the bomb — despite “considerable evidence that at a lot of workplaces, workers don’t want to join a union.” “A vote for Harris is likely a vote for additional strikes in the years to come.”

Republican: It’s the Economy, Donald

Kamala Harris’ not-as-bad-as-Biden’s unfavorability ratings are “why we’ve seen such a structural change in the race over the past three weeks,” explains Roll Call’s David Winston. “She has picked up a portion” of the voters who viewed both Biden and Donald Trump negatively. Yet Trump “has one clear advantage: The top issue is the economy, with inflation at the top of that concern” — and Republicans have a clear edge on both issues. The GOP’s weak showing in 2022 “indicates that independents needed to hear a more substantive economic message from Republicans than simply ‘fire the Democrats.’” Simply put, Trump and the GOP “must lay out solutions to get the economy back on track.” 

Media watch: Kamala’s Free Pass

Thanks to Kamala Harris’ unprecedented 11th-hour entrance into the race, “unlike a traditional presidential campaign, there’s been virtually no discussion of actual issues such as the economy, immigration, education, taxes,” seethes The Federalist’s Mark Hemingway. Harris “has flip-flopped on major issues” like fracking, and “often defaults to embarrassing and ignorant gibberish when she has to talk at any length.” Gov. Tim Walz, meanwhile, “bailed on a combat assignment and lied about his National Guard service” and was slow to react to the Minneapolis race riots in 2020. “Any mildly adversarial reporting on Harris and Walz would pretty quickly see them face real pressure to explain themselves publicly,” but the media instead are “going to do what they can to help Harris get elected.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board