During his conversation with Walz, Stewart asked the veep candidate why the campaign thought it was such a good idea to lean on Cheney to make an affirmative case for Harris. After all, Democrats have spent much of the last two decades describing the Cheneys as avatars of evil.

Walz's response was eyebrow-raising.

"There is still a core group of folks out there, the Don't Tread on Me, the Reagan piece of this, the libertarian piece, the constitutional piece, there are a lot of people out there," he said. "I think Liz Cheney and Dick Cheney give permission to those people who want to find a reason to do the right thing."

Walz seems confused. Libertarians, constitutionalists, Don't Tread on Me folks—these are all people who fundamentally dislike the Cheneys to an equal or even greater degree than the standard Republican voter.