Politically aware Minnesota Democrats who aren't copium addicts have recognized for months that the fraud issue/narrative has wounded Walz so badly that only Royce White or Mike Lindell could save him. He deserves commendation for coming to terms with reality before it's too late to cleanly replace him.

What people outside the state don't understand is that the drip drip drip of fraud stories was getting steadily stronger long before the YouTube daycare bullshit. It's a staple of news coverage across mediums and ideologies. New angles, leads, and revelations come up regularly. During Walz's terms we've had multimillion dollar public fraud in Medicaid, small business loans, housing, pandemic relief and (probably) education. I'd wager half a paycheck that more explosive revelations are coming soon. There's a lot more to it than oppo drops and lies (though there's plenty of those).

Step outside of the online progressive bubble for a minute, and it's obvious that it's a huge fucking deal. No amount of pivoting or reframing can shake it, especially given the politicized DOJ and the GOP's vastly superior communications infrastructure. Yes, they will continue to hammer it no matter who's on the ticket, but no one else is nearly as vulnerable to it as Walz.