Mixing humour with jabs – and speaking openly of the “joy” he sees in Democratic politics – may prove to be a more effective way to convince undecided voters
As they walked out for the first time as presidential running mates on Tuesday night, Tim Walz turned to Kamala Harris and mouthed one word: “wow”.
It spoke to the enthusiastic response from the Philadelphia crowd, but also reflected the unlikely journey that the Minnesota governor has been on over the past week.
Few people had Mr Walz on their early lists of possible vice-presidential choices. But on Tuesday, the dark horse won the race.
In a year when “vibes” have been everything in politics – on the economy, on the campaign trail – that is exactly what Kamala Harris has gone for: good vibes.
The Minnesota governor has a “midwestern nice” appeal, even when he is throwing political punches. His background – a teacher, a football coach, an Army National Guard enlisted soldier – broadcasts “meat-and-potatoes middle America”, as does perhaps his balding, rotund, slightly dishevelled appearance.
All of this was on display here in Philadelphia.
After noting that violent crime rates went up under Donald Trump, he added – with a smile – “and that doesn’t even count the crimes he committed”. He called the Republican ticket “weird as hell” –a label that has become a Democratic mantra in just a matter of days. And on the topic of abortion, he said government should follow a midwestern golden rule: “Mind your own damn business”.
Mixing humour with jabs – and speaking openly of the “joy” he sees in Democratic politics – may prove to be a more effective way to convince undecided voters who were simply not convinced by the dark “threat to democracy” rhetoric the Biden campaign had been using.
Mr Walz’s aw-shucks affability stood in sharp contrast with other possible choices – the polished and ambitious Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, with his arrow-straight military demeanour.
Mr Shapiro served as the warm-up act for the new Democratic ticket, and he received a hero’s welcome from his home-state crowd. It was a reminder of what Ms Harris passed over in picking Mr Walz – a popular politician with a silver tongue from perhaps the most important state on the electoral map.
Mr Walz was a safer pick than the Pennsylvanian, however, whose criticism of pro-Palestinian protesters and support for using public funds for private schools prompted objections from key parts of the Democratic base. These risked reopening intraparty divisions at a time when Democrats were finally pulling together.
And while Minnesota is not a battleground state, the Harris campaign may hope that Mr Walz has midwestern appeal in places like Wisconsin and Michigan, which will ultimately help decide this election.