Vice President Kamala Harris, Democratic candidate for Presidentand her new running mate, Tim Walz, held their first race together in Philadelphia on August 6, just hours after she announced him as her running mate. Getting Walz out to voters right after the announcement and showcasing the pair’s chemistry was of course strategic, especially with just three months until the election.
After the rally — during which Walz thanked Harris for ‘bringing the joy back’ — Harris and Walz headed to one swing state campaign tour of Michigan and Wisconsin. These are critical battleground states, to be sure, but also a book tour for the vice presidential nominee as Democrats try to make up ground. So who exactly is the man who can be the next vice president of the United States of America but current king of memes?
Walz, a former high school teacher and football coach, veteran and gun owner, is widely seen as a choice intended to bring in moderates, undecideds and independent voters who have voted for Republican challenger Donald Trump in the past. The decision ended two weeks of speculation over who Harris would ultimately pick after President Joe Biden withdrew from the July 21 election, with other leading contenders including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly .
“There was a lot of real trepidation, and dare I say fear, in the Democratic Party after the first debate between President Biden and former President Trump,” he says. Dr. Imani M. Cheersassociate professor of digital storytelling in the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. “We’ve seen the energy in the last two weeks.”
It’s easy to turn a blind eye to this pick (a white guy from the Midwest who appeals to voters who might be uncomfortable with the idea of the first black woman president), but so far there are some reasons to feel optimistic about Walz .
It’s easy to turn a blind eye to this pick (a white guy from the Midwest who appeals to voters who might be uncomfortable with the idea of the first black woman president), but so far there are some reasons to feel optimistic about Walz .
He’s a smart choice for the Harris campaign, with seemingly broad appeal to both moderates who will be reassured by his Midwestern “aw shucks” demeanor and progressives who will be impressed by his political record. In TV appearances and campaign videos (like the one where he teases his teenage daughter for being a vegetarian), comes off as an unassuming guy, an all-American dad who might offer to mow your lawn since he already owns the lawnmower. Before entering politics, Walz spent 24 years in the Army National Guardgiving him the distinction of the vice president with the longest military record. In 2006, Walz won a seat in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District and served until 2018, when he was elected governor.
Under Walz’s tenure, Minnesota signed into law a free college program for families making under $80,000 a year. As governor, Walz signed a bill to provide free breakfast and lunch to public school students. (ICYMI, he also loves a good soundbite: In a Show on CNN On July 28, Walz joked that he would be a target of the decision. “What a monster! Children eat and have full bellies so they can learn,” he said. “Look, they’ll label whatever they put in.” He also coined calling the Republicans “Strange,” a message that has taken on a life of its own.)
He enshrined the right to abortion in Minnesota law with a bill intended to preserve the protection regardless of future court rulings. Signed, Minnesota became the first state to codify abortion protections after his overthrow Roe v. Wade. Walz also founded the Minnesota Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girlswhich is the first of its kind in the country. Black women are three times more likely to be murdered than white women in Minnesota.
Nourbese Flint, president of the pro-abortion justice group All* In Action Fundsaid the Harris-Walz ticket has an opportunity to empower black voters on reproductive rights. “We know the issue of abortion access is very important to black voters,” she said in a statement to Refinery29. “Black voters are an important voting bloc for the Democratic Party and should not be taken for granted. Every candidate vying for our vote must show us the concrete action they will take to protect our rights, freedoms, families and communities.”
Harris and Walz know they need to capitalize on the youth vote — eight million Gen Z are aging into the voting demographic over the last four years — which is why we’ve seen a heavy reliance on Brat green, memes and celebrity endorsements. “We know that young people are the margin of victory for many candidates,” says Marianna Pecora, director of communications for Voters of Tomorrow, a youth-focused voting organization, specifically talking about swing states like Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia. “Tim Walz was a VP candidate for a grand total of 24 hours. But he has done so much for the young people of Minnesota and has always made it clear that young people are at the top of his list of priorities.”
Cheers, the George Washington University professor, sees reproductive rights and domestic and international politics as the biggest issues for Gen Z voters. According to a Pew Research Center survey As of April 2024, 33% of young people say their “sympathy lies either entirely or mostly with the Palestinian people, and many Gen Z. they disapprove of Biden’s policies around the Israel-Hamas war. Until today, Harris called for a ceasefire while Walz has remained mostly silent on the conflict. “I think that will be the very key point. If they can enter much more moderate [on the Israel-Hamas conflict] than their predecessors, I think they have a chance to win,” Cheers says. Refinery29 has reached out to Walz for comment.
Walz will also have to answer criticism of the call in Minnesota The National Guard after the killing of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020, potentially inciting more violence against protesters and separate criticism from the right who called out the National Guard too late. Refinery29 has reached out to Walz for comment. Cheers notes:[Republican critics] he might point out, “you should have brought out the National Guard 48 or 24 hours earlier.” We can all look back with hindsight and say, “I could have done XYZ differently,” but the larger conversation I hope is that we need serious police reform in this country… The bigger issue is how African Americans in the United States are disproportionately targeted and killed at the hands of the police.”
So what’s next? It’s early days for the Harris/Walz strategy, but memes, soundbites, and a Beyoncé signs (sources told CNN that Harris got approval from the singer’s reps to use “Freedom” in her presidential campaign) only so far. Harris and Walz face the challenge of proving themselves to an electorate disenchanted with politics and the electoral system.
They should come up with basic, actionable strategies on many issues — from how to expand access to abortion to a post-Roe v. Wade America to deal with rents that have risen faster than wages to record heat and climate change. And they have only a few months to win every vote in an election that is widely predicted to be held a blast.
“I think it’s very important for them to focus on battleground states, but the reality is you can’t take any voting block in any state for granted,” Cheers says. “The next 90 days are going to be critical and exhausting for both the candidates and their teams as they try to focus and rally and not only try to rally their base, but pay attention to some of these independents and swing voters who haven’t made up their minds yet.”
Walz, for one, seems optimistic. “How often in 100 days do you change the trajectory of the world? How often in 100 days can you do something that will impact generations to come?” he said at a “White Dudes for Harris” fundraiser before being announced as Vice President. He added: “And how many times in the world do you make that bastard wake up later and know that a black woman kicked his a**, sent him on the street?”
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