Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign are desperate to paint Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as a bad option for second in line to the presidency. That tactic might work if Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) did not have so much baggage.

Harris’s running mate is a new face for most people. A recent Monmouth poll revealed that “one-third of voters have not heard of or have no opinion of Walz and about a quarter cannot rate Vance.” For Walz, this is a good thing. His record as governor leaves much to be desired, and his accounts of his personal history span from questionable to outright false. Of the two vice presidential running mates, Walz is easily the one with more problems.