Harris has made her choice for the position of VP and he is a governor, Tim Walz.

But just who is Tim Walz for most Americans have very little knowledge of this guy….and I can help….

Now that Kamala Harris has settled on Tim Walz as her running mate, the question becomes: Who is Tim Walz? A look at coverage of the Minnesota governor:

• Profiles: The 60-year-old Nebraska native enlisted in the Army National Guard at 17, served 24 years, and eventually settled in Mankato, Minnesota, where he coached the high school football team and taught geography and social studies, report the Star Tribune and New York Times. Walz and his wife, Gwen, have two children, Hope and Gus, and Walz has spoken of his and his wife’s use of IVF, per USA Today.
• Congress: While still teaching, he flipped a GOP congressional seat in rural Minnesota in 2006 and served in Congress until being elected governor in 2018.
• As governor: Walz, working with narrow majorities in the state Legislature, “spent billions of dollars on schools, infrastructure, and other programs while passing a long list of progressive priorities such as marijuana legalization, universal school meals, paid family and medical leave, and abortion rights protections,” per the Star Tribune.
• The image: “He comes across as what he is: a straight-talking teacher, America’s youth football coach,” writes Rachel Leingang at the Guardian. He’s “right out of central casting as the way you think [a] Minnesota governor would be like,” adds Michael Brodkorb, former deputy chair of the Minnesota Republican Party.
• Interview: New York Times columnist Ezra Klein interviewed Walz before his selection, under the headline, “Is Tim Walz the Midwestern Dad Democrats Need?” Klein takes note of Walz’s recent claim to fame that speaks to his persona—the governor described top Republicans as “really weird” in a slam that went viral. “This is where I take offense to JD Vance and Hillbilly Elegy,” Walz tells Klein of the Republican’s memoir. “Those are my people. I come from a town of 400—24 kids in a class, 12 cousins, farming, those types of things. And I know they’re not weird. I know they’re not Donald Trump.”
• Big moment: Watch the Morning Joe interview that raised Walz’s national profile.

This goes to show the lengths the Trump machine will go….

The Trump campaign on Tuesday immediately tried to tag Walz as a far-left liberal. “It’s no surprise that San Francisco Liberal Kamala Harris wants West Coast wannabe Tim Walz as her running-mate—Walz has spent his governorship trying to reshape Minnesota in the image of the Golden State,” said Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s campaign press secretary. Trump sent a fundraising email Tuesday calling Walz “Dangerously Liberal” and saying he would “unleash HELL ON EARTH.”

Sounds like they may be running scared to me.

Now we have our VP candidate but is he the right person for the job?

Harris was also impressed with Walz’s biography, as well as his accomplishments as governor that she “wants to replicate in her presidency—access to reproductive health, paid leave, child tax credits and gun safety,” Politico’s sources say. Other takes on the choice:

The “nice” choice, but perhaps not the best. Nate Silver believes Harris didn’t make the best choice. At Silver Bulletin, he writes that while Walz is a safe, inoffensive, and “nice” choice, Shapiro would have been a better pick because he “increases the likelihood you win Pennsylvania, he has a demonstrated track record of popularity in the most important swing state, he’s obviously an extremely talented politician and perhaps a future standard-bearer for the party himself.” Minnesota, he notes, is highly unlikely to be the “tipping point” state that decides the presidency.

• Broad appeal. Harris had some strong options from swing states, including Shapiro, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, but she “instead went with someone from a somewhat competitive state who will ideally appeal more broadly to middle America,” writes Aaron Blake at the Washington Post. Blake notes that other candidates could have had the same broad appeal, but “none of them demonstrated the kind of folksy appeal that Walz has in recent weeks.”
• His previous career. Walz’s potential appeal to Midwesterners includes his background as a military veteran and a hunter who has often spoken about his gun ownership, Katie Rogers writes at the New York Times. She says that according to a person close to the process, Walz’s “previous career as a high school teacher and football coach also appealed to Ms. Harris, who has gained the support of the nation’s teachers unions.”
• The “cool dad.” Farnoush Amiri at the AP writes that Walz, who went viral after calling Donald Trump and JD Vance “just weird” a few weeks ago, has been labeled the “cool dad” online and Democrats see him as an “effective messenger.” “Walz’s ability to speak in layman’s terms about policy and politics coupled with his knowledge of the internet zeitgeist has helped propel the little-known politician to the national stage and on the ‘For You’ social media pages of millions of Gen Z voters whose support will be crucial for Democrats come November,” he writes.

My thoughts so far…I like the idea that he is a possible progressive but like Harris I want to see if he pushes back on his progressive ideas…..I am thinking they both will flip-flop on issues to try to influence as many voters as possible.

Since like most Americans I know very little about this person I will reserve my more scathing analysis until I hear more from him and his running mate.

This is what I know as of 06Aug24…. I am sure there is more to come.

Stay Tuned!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”