Kamala Harris picks Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running ...
Philadelphia: Vice President Kamala Harris has picked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate for the White House, setting the scene for a historic election that has been completely upended by Joe Biden’s decision to pull out of the race.
With 91 days until election day, Harris and Walz will now embark on a five day, swing state blitz as they try to fend off Donald Trump and his heir apparent to the MAGA throne, J.D. Vance.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz addressing the media at the start of July.Credit: AP
The 60-year-old Walz is a two-term Congressman, a veteran of the Army National Guard and a former high school teacher who coached his football team to its first state championship.
He served 12 years in Congress representing a conservative, mostly rural southern Minnesota district – credentials that could be a drawcard for independents and moderate Democrats, and could help offset Harris’ background as Californian city-slicker.
But despite being known for his “midwest grit”, Walz has a record of progressive policy achievements that could appeal to left-leaning voters, including providing universal free school meals for students, enshrining abortion rights into state law, banning gay “conversion” therapy and providing protections for gender-affirming health. In May, he also signed a bill into law expanding voting rights in Minnesota for tens of thousands of formerly incarcerated residents.
Harris’ decision to pick Walz came as a surprise to some Democrats and Republicans, who widely expected Pennsylvania’s popular governor, Josh Shapiro, to be chosen as her running mate, particular given the need to win his state.
However, some progressives had pushed back against the Jewish-American Shapiro due to stance on the war in Gaza, in which he - like most Democrats - backs Israels right to defend itself against Hamas. Earlier this year, Shapiro also condemned universities over the pro-Palestinian protests that spread across the country.
Joseph Geevarghese, who heads the progressive grassroots organising group Our Revolution welcomed the decision, citing Walz’s “strong pro-labor record and dedication to working-class issues.”
“The selection of Tim Walz as the vice-presidential nominee is a clear indication that the Harris campaign is listening to the voices of progressives across the country,” he said.
Trump, however, immediately put out a fundraising email claiming Walz was “even worse than Dangerously Liberal and Crooked Kamala Harris.”
As the chair of the Democratic Governor’s Association, Walz is well liked in Democrat circles and is known for his affable, no -nonsense style. This has played well on the airwaves in recent days as he ramped up his attacks on J.D. Vance and the MAGA movement, describing Trump’s VP choice as “weird and creepy” – language the Harris campaign has since embraced.
Harris’ selection now paves the way for a formidable match-up between the four Republicans and Democrats now vying to lead the country.
Until Biden dropped out of the race, Trump and his Republicans were feeling highly confident about their chances in November, and emboldened by the former president’s near-death experience at the hands of a would-be assassin in Pennsylvania last month.
However, polls now put Harris and Trump neck and neck, and Trump himself appears to be struggling with the new dynamic. The former president ignited a firestorm last week by attacking Harris’ racial identity.
Since then, he has pulled out of a US ABC debate originally scheduled for September 10 between him and Biden - challenging Harris instead to a debate with conservative outlet Fox News on September 4.
And as the stock market plummeted on Monday (US time), he has accused Harris of being responsible for America’s fickle economy, as well as the crisis on the US-Mexico border.
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