Kamala Harris Picks Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as Her Running Mate

As Harris was narrowing down her choice of potential running mate, Gov. Tim Walz’s economic policies in Minnesota, including a statewide child tax credit and a paid-leave program, as well as his Midwestern background, brought him to the front of the pack.

The selection of Walz, a 60-year-old former high school football coach with a thick Midwestern accent, has become a liberal favorite on social media. The National Education Association, the largest labor union in the country, announced its support for the democratic ticket on Tuesday after Walz’s selection was revealed.

Many politicians and commentators on the right framed Walz as too liberal to appeal to middle America. Some commentators on the right equated Harris’ decision to an act of antisemitism, as many believed Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, to be the more favorable candidate. Some on the left are hopeful for Walz, seeing Harris’s decision not as politically radical, but a sensible one, citing his communication skills and appeal among midwestern voters.

In MSNBC (Left bias), Clarissa-Jan Lim wrote, “Harris' choice of Walz as her running mate could broaden the ticket's appeal: Harris as a Black, Asian woman from California with experience as a prosecutor, and Walz as a white, folksy Midwesterner with a record of enacting progressive policies.”

A writer for Fox News Opinion (Right bias) argued that “First and foremost, he has been a teacher.” The writer added that “When he was sworn in as a U.S. representative, Walz was the highest-ranking retired enlisted soldier to ever serve in Congress from either party…The weakness of the Democratic Party and particularly for the Democratic presidential nominee from San Francisco, has been a failure to connect with small-town Americans.”

The Guardian Opinion (Lean Left bias) columnist Moira Donegan said, “If the last few weeks have shown us anything, it’s that vice-presidential running mates do, in fact, matter…The move may reflect a shift away from the strategy of pivoting to the center that the Democrats have been pursuing for decades and towards a new policy and messaging strategy that seeks to attack the sadism and bigotry of Republicans and make an affirmative case for progressive values.” Donegan concluded that “In the quick but comparatively much more thorough vetting process of Harris’s vice-presidential search, an array of liabilities emerged,” referring to Shapiro’s controversial statements about the Israel-Hamas War. “Placed against Vance, his [Shapiro’s] contrast would have been minimal: the VP contenders would have been two elite lawyers from fancy schools, slick and ambitious and weird about women.”

A piece by Wall Street Journal Assistant Opinion Editor James Freeman (Lean Right bias) stated that “The selection of Mr. Walz is bound to reignite the debate on whether Kamala Harris has managed to get to the left of Bernie Sanders…even in Minnesota, traditionally the furthest left politically among Midwest states, Mr. Walz is not overwhelmingly popular…Years of hard experience have turned off Minnesota moderates. Voters nationwide now have limited time to study Mr. Walz and understand the threat to American prosperity he represents.”