Kamala Harris today named Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her VP pick, just two weeks after Joe Biden declared he would not seek re-election, the latest twist in the 2024 U.S. presidential elections.
The Democrats' VP vetting process has been compressed and accelerated, normally taking place over a period of months. Walz had been on the shortlist of candidates but only recently gained prominence at the national level, and is not well-known internationally.
With that in mind, here is some background and "colour" on the man who could be the next Vice President of the United States.
Tim Walz, VP Candidate on the Democratic ticket for the 2024 U.S. presidential elections
Nebraska native Tim Walz has had a long career in public service, spanning 12 years in Congress, where he served as a member of the House of Representatives before becoming governor of the large Midwestern state of Minnesota.
Walz served for many years in the U.S. National Guard as well as being a high school social studies teacher and football coach. His record reflects a combination of progressive positions, such as free school meals and women's' reproductive freedom, and support for 'sensible" gun rights (he is a hunter) and military aid to Ukraine.
As Governor of Minnesota Walz has taken a public pro-Ukraine stance
Via : X 22 Feb 2024
At 60, he is the same age as Harris, and appears to fulfil the main, Hippocratic oath-like criteria for VP candidates: first, do no harm.
In terms of what he brings to the ticket, his Midwestern origins help to regionally balance the ticket with Harris's California roots, and he comes by his strong "Midwestern Dad energy" and folksy charm honestly--Walz does not tick any boxes for Ivy League education, Wall Street, white shoe law firm, VC or high tech.
This makes Walz a rare blue collar outlier in modern U.S. presidential politics, which could be useful to the ticket--Democrats have been hemmoraghing blue collar voters since the Clinton era.
According to Amy Walter of the Cook Report, "Walz’s rural Midwestern background helps give the ticket some “Blue Wall” credibility and sensibility without upsetting the progressive wing of the party. "
In terms of his voting record during his Congressional career, according to Vote View,Walz voted to the center of the Democratic median (more conservative than 70% or more of Democrats on DW-Nominate) in every session he served in Congress, representing his district.
Since featuring on the VP shortlist, Walz's TV interviews have gone viral, and he has become a social media phenomenon, particularly with his repeated assertions that Trump and Vance are "weird", an accusation much milder than Biden's charge that Trump's re-election would mark the end of democracy in America--but one that has landed well and resonated with the public.
Harris VP pick Governor Tim Walz hunts, ice fishes, and once made a sculpture of a school bus from butter...I think he could also tell you how to patch your drywall in a jiffy...
In my view, Walz is likely to be an energetic and popular campaigner. I've included a couple of clips here where you can get a sense of his style--like talking about how Americans want to go back to having Thanksgiving dinner without risking arguments with their uncle, and teasing his vegetarian teenage daughter that she can eat turkey, "because turkey is special", as well as criticising Republican policy on IVF, noting his family's own struggles to conceive.
These are anecdotes, to be sure, but humanising and "relatable" during what has become a dystopian and dispiriting, scorched-earth U.S. political landscape. On the substance of what the Harris-Walz ticket proposes, we will have to wait and see. Could this be the beginning of "MANA"--Make America Normal Again?
Minnesota Governor and Democratic VP nominee Tim Walz says: “These guys are just weird”
In terms of the polling impact of the final Democratic ticket, it will be some days before initial results come in. Today, Real Clear Politics has Harris ahead--and RCP have been the last major US pollster to have had Trump in the lead until now (see chart below).
In choosing Walz over Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, the Harris team have gone for a strategy of energising the wider base rather than an electoral college vote-based approach (which is what I had been expecting).
This suggests that her team has confidence and thinks Walz will be a net positive across the country in amplifying her message.
RCP, the last major pollster to have Trump in the lead, flipped to Harris today
Credit: Real Clear Politics, Accessed August 6, 2024
Starting tomorrow, Harris and a Walz will go on the campaign trail, and then the Democratic National Convention will begin on August 15th.
Whether or not a Trump-Harris debate will take place as scheduled on September 10th as previously scheduled is anyone's guess...
