"DEI" has succumbed to Goodhart's Law: When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. When DEI is an outcome, it's good. When DEI is a target, it's bad. The proponents of DEI made it a target; they own its co-option.

To be sure, Walz was picked because he is a straight, White, Christian man. He sets off no alarm bells in Charlottesville. His role on the ticket is not to bring out votes but to not bring out votes. He's a great choice. (And he's qualified, which doesn't matter to enough people, but is nice to know.)