WASHINGTON: Kamala Harris on Tuesday chose Tim Walz, the progressive Democrat governor of Minnesota, as her running mate for the 2024 Presidential election, doubling down on the left-liberal orientation of the ticket.
Walz, a 60 year old former military veteran, teacher, and father of two, was Harris’ eventual pick over Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, who was an odds-on favorite for his more centrist stand, but whose pro-Israel leanings eventually appears to have gone against him.
“I am proud to announce that I’ve asked @Tim_Walz to be my running mate. As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he’s delivered for working families like his. It’s great to have him on the team. Now let’s get to work,” Kamala Harris said in brief announcement on social media.
“It is the honor of a lifetime to join @kamalaharris in this campaign. I’m all in. Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what’s possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school. So, let’s get this done, folks! ” Walz responded.
A balding avuncular man with bushy white eyebrows, Walz is little known nationally, but has become a social media celebrity in recent days for his scorching, rapid-fire, and caustic attack on Trump Republicans, including caricaturing them as “weird.” He has generated more punchlines in a few weeks than most politicians do in a lifetime, including predicting that Trump will “have his ass handed to him” by a Black woman in 2024.
In a fund raising pitch he made before he was picked to be Kamala’s running mate, Walz, in a video clip that went viral, said, without naming Trump, “Make that bastard wake up afterwards and know that a Black woman kicked his ass and sent him on the road.”
He is also avowedly progressive, having codified into law in Minnesota the right to abortion, universal free school meals regardless of income, legalized recreational marijuana and giving voting rights to former prisoners.
He has also won several elections in Minnesota, which is often said to be the reddest blue state (or bluest red state) in the country because it has elected Republican Governors and Senators as well given the GOP majorities in both state legislative chambers — except when it comes to Presidential elections, where it last voted Republican (Nixon) in 1972.
Walz also has Washington DC experience, having been a five-term Congressman before resigning from the House of Representatives in 2019 after being elected Minnesota governor.
Expectedly, Trump Republicans immediately jumped on Walz record, of which he is unapologetic, calling him “radical” and “dangerously liberal,” as they have done with Kamala Harris. They reminded voters that Walz was the governor during the Minneapolis riots, and accused him of adopting a state flag similar to Somalia’s and providing drivers license for illegal aliens in Minnesota.
Indeed, the shadow of the middle-east conflict hung over Kamala’s decision, given that Shapiro, an observant Jew, was seen as strongly pro-Israel, with a stand that was seen as putting off young American voters agitated by Israel’s actions. On the flip side, some commentators see her choosing Walz over Shapiro as endangering her winning Pennsylvania, a crucial battleground state with 19 electoral votes that are crucial to reaching the 270 needed to winning the Presidency.
Shapiro however took the rejection like a sport, at least publicly. “My work here in Pennsylvania is far from finished — there is a lot more stuff I want to get done. Over the next 90 days, I look forward to traveling all across the state to unite Pennsylvanians behind my friends Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and defeat Donald Trump,” he said in a statement. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Nancy Pelosi among other party veterans also welcomed the choice of Walz as the veep nominee, noting his progressive credentials.
Both Shapiro and Walz are scheduled to appear with Harris at rally on Tuesday evening in Pennsylvania, followed by events in six other competitive states — Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada — in the run-up to the Democratic Convention in Chicago on August 19.
Walz, a 60 year old former military veteran, teacher, and father of two, was Harris’ eventual pick over Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, who was an odds-on favorite for his more centrist stand, but whose pro-Israel leanings eventually appears to have gone against him.
“I am proud to announce that I’ve asked @Tim_Walz to be my running mate. As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he’s delivered for working families like his. It’s great to have him on the team. Now let’s get to work,” Kamala Harris said in brief announcement on social media.
“It is the honor of a lifetime to join @kamalaharris in this campaign. I’m all in. Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what’s possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school. So, let’s get this done, folks! ” Walz responded.
A balding avuncular man with bushy white eyebrows, Walz is little known nationally, but has become a social media celebrity in recent days for his scorching, rapid-fire, and caustic attack on Trump Republicans, including caricaturing them as “weird.” He has generated more punchlines in a few weeks than most politicians do in a lifetime, including predicting that Trump will “have his ass handed to him” by a Black woman in 2024.
In a fund raising pitch he made before he was picked to be Kamala’s running mate, Walz, in a video clip that went viral, said, without naming Trump, “Make that bastard wake up afterwards and know that a Black woman kicked his ass and sent him on the road.”
He is also avowedly progressive, having codified into law in Minnesota the right to abortion, universal free school meals regardless of income, legalized recreational marijuana and giving voting rights to former prisoners.
He has also won several elections in Minnesota, which is often said to be the reddest blue state (or bluest red state) in the country because it has elected Republican Governors and Senators as well given the GOP majorities in both state legislative chambers — except when it comes to Presidential elections, where it last voted Republican (Nixon) in 1972.
Walz also has Washington DC experience, having been a five-term Congressman before resigning from the House of Representatives in 2019 after being elected Minnesota governor.
Expectedly, Trump Republicans immediately jumped on Walz record, of which he is unapologetic, calling him “radical” and “dangerously liberal,” as they have done with Kamala Harris. They reminded voters that Walz was the governor during the Minneapolis riots, and accused him of adopting a state flag similar to Somalia’s and providing drivers license for illegal aliens in Minnesota.
Indeed, the shadow of the middle-east conflict hung over Kamala’s decision, given that Shapiro, an observant Jew, was seen as strongly pro-Israel, with a stand that was seen as putting off young American voters agitated by Israel’s actions. On the flip side, some commentators see her choosing Walz over Shapiro as endangering her winning Pennsylvania, a crucial battleground state with 19 electoral votes that are crucial to reaching the 270 needed to winning the Presidency.
Shapiro however took the rejection like a sport, at least publicly. “My work here in Pennsylvania is far from finished — there is a lot more stuff I want to get done. Over the next 90 days, I look forward to traveling all across the state to unite Pennsylvanians behind my friends Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and defeat Donald Trump,” he said in a statement. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Nancy Pelosi among other party veterans also welcomed the choice of Walz as the veep nominee, noting his progressive credentials.
Both Shapiro and Walz are scheduled to appear with Harris at rally on Tuesday evening in Pennsylvania, followed by events in six other competitive states — Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada — in the run-up to the Democratic Convention in Chicago on August 19.