Kamala Harris made her VP choice today — Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota – and I just streamed their first joint campaign appearance in Philadelphia.
Importantly, Harris looked more comfortable than I’ve ever seen her. While she certainly took a few jabs at the opposing ticket, she mostly struck a calm, inclusive tone and then introduced Walz to let him have the moment. Smart politics.
For his part, Walz did fine. His folksy charm came through and he’ll quickly tighten up what was a somewhat meandering message. Given that he just found out this morning that he was on the ticket, he deserves a little consideration.
Frankly, I would have written about the advantages of selecting any of final three VP contenders: Gov. Tim Walz, Gov. Josh Shapiro, or Sen. Mark Kelly. All were very qualified and each had their own upsides… and downsides.
The major downside to the selection of Walz is that he doesn’t bring a swing state with him. Harris would have won Minnesota without him. The upside for Walz? Well, he really only has that one downside.
His story is quite solid. Walz grew up in rural Nebraska, working summers on his family’s farm. After high school, Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard, attaining the rank of Command Sergeant Major. (For those unfamiliar with military ranks, a Command Sergeant Major is the highest enlisted rank in the U.S. Army.) He went to college on the GI Bill, became a teacher, and married another teacher. They moved to Minnesota where Walz was again a teacher and a football coach who took his team to their first state championship. Upon entering politics, Walz ran in eight elections and won them all. He served 12 years in Congress, representing a purple district in rural Minnesota, and had a strong reputation for working across the aisle on the Armed Services, Veterans Affairs, and Agriculture Committees. He is currently in his second term as the popular Governor of Minnesota.
Walz is effortlessly folksy and affable. While he looks older, he’s only 60 – one year older than Harris and the same age as Kelly. Walz may be best described as a “practical progressive” whose political stances don’t seem to piss off any major Democratic constituencies. That’s an astounding accomplishment. Walz received immediate, strong VP endorsements from Democrats across the party’s political spectrum, from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Sen. Joe Manchin. Both Shapiro and Kelly also quickly offered their full support.
Yes, Shapiro would have brought the important state of Pennsylvania with him and he’s also a good campaigner. However, Shapiro is a fairly polarizing politician with stances on Israel, school vouchers, and unions that the Harris campaign would have wasted cycles addressing.
Yes, Kelly would have brought Arizona, but that state’s delegate count isn’t a huge help. Kelly’s background as an astronaut would have certainly been fun to tout on a national stage, but Kelly himself is the least dynamic speaker of the three.
In the end, Walz looks like the best choice that Harris could have made. His friendliness and good humor should play well on talk shows and on the campaign trail. His progressive bona fides should help keep younger Democratic voters engaged. His down-to-earth normalcy should help keep Democratic moderates happy. And his reputation for bipartisanship may even help attract some disillusioned Republicans.
As I’ve noted before, a Democratic Electoral College win will be a function of Democratic voter turnout in the swing states. If properly used by the campaign, Walz can help drive that turnout.