Meet VP Pick Tim Walz
Harris' running mate is the quintessential Midwesterner with a down-home approach to progressive ideals, who is beloved by all of his colleagues, and apparently makes a mean hot dish.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris will campaign with her new running mate, Tim Walz today, holding events in pivotal battleground states like Wisconsin and Michigan in an attempt to put the Waltz Midwestern charm to work. “He’s the kind of person who makes people feel like they belong and then inspires them to dream big — that’s the kind of vice president America deserves,” Harris said on Tuesday, while standing with Walz in Philadelphia before a crowd of thousands.
No doubt Harris has discerned the need to bolster her support in the upper Midwest, in an attempt to bypass that critical 2016 error which cost Democrats the election. But this pick feels a little bit more personal that a Josh Shapiro choice, which would given the campaign Pennsylvania, but cost them essential support from unions and environmentalists. Walz is a smart counter to Trump, who has been extending his swing-state focus to Minnesota to help shore up lost opportunities.
You can watch the Tim Walz announcement by Kamala Harris in Philadelphia here:
A Soldier, a Teacher, a Coach and a Congressman
Walz was born in West Point, Nebraska, in 1964 to a stay-at-home mom and a school administrator. He joined the US Army National Guard at 17, and was promoted to the rank of command sergeant major over 24 years he served. He earned a teaching degree at Chadron State College and went on to become a football coach in addition to teaching. Walz is the first Democratic Vice-Presidential pick since 1964 who did not go to law school, so depending on your perspective, that could be a huge selling point.
As former congressman, who won an impressive election in 2006 by ousting an entrenched Republican incumbent in a heavily rural district, Walz has a record of appealing to the white, rural voters that Trump and JD Vance are desperately courting. After serving 12 years in the US House of Representatives and becoming the top Democrat on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Walz was first elected Governor of Minnesota in 2018, and then won again in 2022.
A pivotal accomplishment in his state that has made him beloved to a diverse group of voters includes providing free breakfast and lunch for every student in 2023. Something that makes Walz endearing to the voters, is that the day he signed the bill into law, he purposely went without lunch to commemorate the intent behind the work.
As governor, Tim Walz was able to cap the cost of insulin in his state, provide paid family leave for workers, codify abortion rights, and require universal background checks for gun purchases. Walz is a self-described gun owner and supporter of the Second Amendment who “believes that Congress must do more to tackle gun violence in our communities.”
The Perfect Foil for Vance
Tim Walz also came from humble beginnings, but unlike his Vice Presidential opponent, he chose an education at a local school and went on to teach rather than pursue law school. Walz actually has that country charm that Vance has been desperately trying to sell, but rather than appealing to rural white voters in a way that demeans others, he embodies the idea of embracing commonality as the cure for division.
Note the several open bottles of diet Mountain Dew in the background of that podcast tweet above. Just like JD Vance, who tried to make a joke about his love of Mountain Dew being a racist trope, Walz’s beverage of choice is ironically Diet Mountain Dew. Walz has been sober since he was pulled over for going 96 mph in a 55 mph zone in 1995 and failed a sobriety test, an event he considers a “wake-up call.” A spokesperson says he has even cut back on his Mountain Dew six-a-day habit earlier this year, and now limits himself to three. Even on the soda front, Walz maintains an edge over Vance in terms of colloquial story telling and discipline.
Tim Walz and his wife spent seven years undergoing fertility treatments at the Mayo Clinic before they eventually had a daughter. Following the Alabama Supreme Court ruling last month that said embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) should be considered children, he publicly discussed the experience of going through fertility treatments in an attempt to shed light on the issue and help other families. “It’s not by chance that we named our daughter Hope,” Walz said.
In January 2023, Walz signed a bill enshrining abortion rights in his state, which is also a pivotal issue that is expected to favor Democrats in this next national election. “The message that we’re sending to Minnesota today is very clear: Your rights are protected in this state,” Governor Walz said at the time. “You have the right to make your own decisions about your health, your family and your life.”
With a sharp sense of humor and a great knack for timing, Walz shows no signs of slowing on the Vance as a punchline joke, as evidenced by his couch comment at yesterday’s rally. What is most exciting about this new round of political sparring is that Tim Walz has the credentials and the heart to back up what he stands for, and he has the perfect demeanor to counter Vance without having to say a word.
Nerd Political Trivia
If elected, Walz, 60, will become the third vice president from Minnesota, following Walter Mondale and Hubert Humphrey. Both Democrats Hubert H. Humphrey and Walter Mondale hailed from Minnesota, winning election as vice president but not faring as well on their own. Humphrey lost the nomination when he ran for president in 1968 after President Lyndon B. Johnson opted against seeking a second full term (the last time that happened before Biden). Mondale won the nomination but was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Harris Vibes with Him
“One of the things that stood out to me about Tim is how his convictions on fighting for middle class families run deep. It’s personal,” Harris said in a statement made immediately after news outlets reported her pick. “As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he’s delivered for working families like his own. We are going to build a great partnership.”
Harris is not the only career politician who seems to have a great respect for Tim Walz. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar reacted to the Waltz pick by saying he "always puts his country first." She went on to praise Waltz saying he is as “humble as they come” and “incredibly smart.” Klobuchar also describes Walz as “a close friend.”
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) calls the Governor of Minnesota “a superb choice.” Van Hollen went on to say,“Having served for years with Tim in the House of Representatives, I can say without reservation: there’s no better person Vice President Harris could have picked to run and then govern alongside her,” he said in a statement. “Tim has always put our country first — whether during his time in uniform, educating our children, or representing the great people of Minnesota in the House and as their Governor.”
Former Congressman Beto O’Rourke has praised Walz in a lengthy endorsement on Twitter (X) saying: “I met Tim Walz on my first day in Congress, sat next to him on Veterans Affairs committee for the following six years. No one fought harder for veterans. And he did it by bringing Democrats and Republicans together to get the job done. As Governor of Minnesota he codified abortion rights, implemented background checks, legalized marijuana, passed paid family leave, restored voting rights and invested more than $1 billion in affordable housing. Not bad.”
Even Senator Joe Manchin (WV), who recently changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Independent, expressed his shared sense of values with a man who understands how to win elections as a Democrat in rural, socially conservative areas. “My friend Governor Tim Walz will bring normality back to the most chaotic political environment that most of us have ever seen,” Manchin said. “All of the candidates were strong and any one of them would have been a great pick, but I can think of no one better than Governor Walz to help bring our country closer together and bring balance back to the Democratic Party.”
Perfectly Branded Trump
“I just have to say it. You know it. You feel it. These guys are creepy and, yes, just weird as hell. That’s what you see,” Walz said to thunderous applause at the rally in Philadelphia yesterday. Walz saw his political viability rise rapidly over the past few weeks as clips of him calling Republicans “weird” for their behavior went viral online, prompting other prominent Democrats to pick up the moniker and run with it.
When asked why he chose this kind of label instead of declaring that Trump was a threat to democracy, Walz explained that he is a former teacher and he saw a moment to break down what the world was experiencing in the simplest terms so that it was easier to grab onto. Given the division of late and the current lack of education and analytical thought in the United States of America, a teacher may be exactly what we need.
Possible Walz Problems
We can expect the issue of immigration to be front and center leading up to this next election. The Harris Campaign is looking to emphasize and promote Harris' support for a bipartisan border security bill that would have increased funding for border agents and detention facilities, that was ultimately defeated in the Senate after Trump publicly opposed it. Walz campaigned for Congress on sending undocumented immigrants back to their home country to reapply for citizenship in 2006, but as governor, he signed a bill last year allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. This small shift will no doubt be seized upon by the Trump Campaign, which is already attempting to spin false narratives about Harris’s immigration policies.
To his opponents, it will be all to easy to label Walz is a “progressive ideologue” who went from moderate politics to get elected to Congress and then shifted to more of a far-left progressive politician shilling for Democrats in St. Paul. Many conservatives will accuse him of letting Black Lives Matters protestors burn Minneapolis to the ground following the murder of George Floyd. Nationally, he’s already come under fire for his handling of the riots that tore through Minneapolis in 2020 and the $250 million fraud case involving the Feeding Our Future nonprofit.
But all of these supposed scandals that the Republican Party will seize upon have already been litigated in the court of public opinion with the burn of the outrage having been extinguished years ago. JD Vance’s controversial statements, which had previously not garnered such national attention, continues to haunt the Trump Campaign daily. Given Trump’s penchant for inflammatory rhetoric, a calm and home grown professional like Walz will only have the reverse effect of further emphasizing Republican shortcomings to the discerning voter. The undiscerning voters are sadly beyond our help at this point.
In an interview on Fox News on Wednesday, Trump called Walz a "shocking pick" and sought to paint him as a radical progressive. "He's a smarter version of her," Trump told the hosts of "Fox & Friends." Of all the recent statements made about Tim Walz following his pick as Veep, this latest one from Trump is the most telling. If your only clapback is to call your opponent smarter than his running-mate, you are already out of material.
I am curious to see how Walz takes on this next challenge, and am confident in his credentials and extemporaneous abilities, which might make the next few weeks a little fun as well as interesting. Regardless, let’s all take a moment to jot down the most important contribution Walz is making to the country, which appears to be his Minnesota Congressional Delegation's Annual Hotdish Contest 2014 award-winning recipe for two years running.
Amee Vanderpool writes the SHERO Newsletter, is an attorney, published author, contributor to newspapers and magazines, and an analyst for BBC radio. She can be reached at avanderpool@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @girlsreallyrule.
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