Kamala Harris presented Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to the nation on Tuesday at a lively rally in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, aiming to boost the newly minted Democratic presidential binomial in the race for the White House.
«He’s the kind of person who instills in people a sense of belonging and inspires them to dream big … That’s the kind of vice president that United States deserves,» Harris said, standing next to Walz in Philadelphia. Image internet
Walz took the microphone after Harris and harangued the crowd for the arduous campaign ahead. «We have 91 days. Oh my God, how easy. We will rest when we are dead,» he said.
The comments reflected the urgency of the moment, as Harris chose Walz as her running mate during one of the most turbulent periods in modern American politics. Republicans have closed ranks with former President Donald Trump after he was the target of an assassination attempt in July.
By choosing Walz, 60, Harris is turning to a governor from the north-central region of United States, who is a military veteran, pro-union and helped enact an ambitious Democratic agenda for his state, which included broad protections for abortion rights and generous support for families.
It’s her most important decision as a Democratic presidential nominee, and Harris has chosen an option that most find acceptable: someone who says politics should be more lighthearted and who diverts attention from the dark rhetoric of Republicans with a lighter twist, a strategy the Democratic campaign has increasingly resorted to since Harris assumed the presidential nomination.
Harris hopes Walz will help shore up the support she has in the Midwest United States, a critical region in the electoral contest that often serves as a buffer zone on the way to the White House for Democratic candidates. The party remains haunted by Trump’s victories in Michigan and Wisconsin in 2016. Trump lost those states in 2020, but he has targeted them in his bid to return to the presidency this year and is now also focusing on Minnesota.
Since Walz was named vice presidential candidate, the campaign team has raised more than $20 million in donations from supporters, according to the campaign itself.
Walz is far from a household name. An ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted before his appointment, but after several names began to be considered, found that nearly 9 in 10 U.S. adults lacked enough information to have an opinion about him.
Harris devoted much of his speech to Walz’s life and career, which included stints as a social studies teacher and football coach.
«Those who know him closely know that Tim is more than a governor,» Harris said. «We both believe in lifting people up, not tearing them down,» he said. «We both know that the vast majority of us have more things that unite us than separate us. And in our compatriots we see neighbors, never enemies.»