The Minnesota governor’s record gives Democrats plenty of achievements to tout. It also offers clear targets for Republican attacks.
That line of attack has left former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, on the defensive – something surely not lost on Harris as she contemplated who would best fit the vice presidential nominee’s traditional “attack dog” role.
On the surface, Harris has picked a talented, folksy, progressive populist communicator, a ruddy-faced and avuncular former high school football coach who cheerfully lambastes the GOP and looks like Santa Claus shaved his beard to beat the oppressive heat of Summer ‘24.
There have been some comparisons to President Barack Obama picking future President Joe Biden as his running mate. That’s not quite right. A better analogy might be Vice President Dick Cheney, because neither he nor Walz had aspirations for the top job when they were picked.
- But now comes the part where supporters and detractors pick at the Nebraska native’s long political record, including his 12 years in the House of Representatives and his time as governor of Minnesota since 2019.
- Democrats say they hope Walz’s achievements and personal style will help recapture some white rural voters and shore up support in “blue wall” states like Michigan or Wisconsin.
- Republicans say Walz’s liberal record puts the Democratic ticket solidly on what they call the “dangerous” left, an argument they would have had more difficulty making had Harris picked Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania.
- The usual vice presidential caveat applies: Americans don’t vote for the running mate, and the No. 2 does not by themselves deliver a state or a demographic. Instead, they shape public opinion about the name at the top of the ticket.
Who Is Tim Walz?
The early verdict: Partisan Democrats and Republicans both appear to be pleased – and for the same reasons. Walz’s gubernatorial record is unabashedly progressive on a wide range of issues. A cautious tack to the center, this was not. It’ll be important to see the independent or swing voter response after the Democratic National Convention later this month.
- Democrats will be highlighting how Walz signed sweeping legislation protecting access to abortion. He also signed an executive order to that effect. They will talk about him signing universal school meals into law. He signed paid family and sick leave into law, they will say. And they will highlight his close ties to organized labor – critical to Democratic turnout in places like Pennsylvania.
- Republicans will be emphasizing his support for gender-affirming care for minors and the delay in calling out the Minnesota National Guard to quell the 2020 riots that left parts of the Twin Cities in ashes following the murder of George Floyd. They may also go after him for restoring voting rights to convicted felons.
The Harris campaign announcement describes Walz as a gun owner and hunter who favors new restrictions on firearms. It highlights his 24 years of service in the National Guard – a decent foil for Vance’s time in the Marines, when the Ohio native deployed to war-torn Iraq, even though Walz did not see combat.
(Vance and Walz could always bond over their shared affinity for Diet Mountain Dew.)
- The announcement also underlines that Walz and his wife needed fertility treatments “like IVF” – in vitro fertilization – to have their daughter, Hope.
The Trump campaign response was to declare the governor “even worse than Dangerously Liberal and Crooked Kamala Harris” and predict he would “unleash hell on Earth,” tying him to Biden’s policies on immigration and to Harris’ past support of a sweeping climate plan.
In a late July interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Walz previewed his response to Republican criticisms.
“What a monster! Kids are eating and having full bellies so they can go learn, and women are making their own health care decisions,” Walz said. “And we’re a top 5 business state and we also rank in the top 3 of happiness. They’re going to label whatever they’re going to label.”
Introducing the Running Mate
The task for Harris now is to get an American public that until recently did not imagine Walz as a vice presidential candidate to imagine him as president – that is, after all, ultimately central to the job.
In one hopeful sign for Harris, Walz immediately received praise from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive darling, and Sen. Joe Manchin, who recently switched his party identification from Democrat to independent.
The Democratic candidates will now barnstorm through the critical battleground states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada. A stop in North Carolina has been postponed due to weather concerns.
Open question: Will they highlight that Walz signed legislation that designated part of a Minnesota highway the Prince Rogers Nelson Memorial Highway? And in purple ink?
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