In Tim Walz, Harris tries to check all the boxes in a running mate: ANALYSIS
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Democrats' new presumptive vice-presidential nominee, is many things.
He's an unapologetic progressive. During his more than five years in Saint Paul, he's expanded abortion access, legalized recreational marijuana, provided free meals to schoolchildren and allowed some low-income residents to go to college for free.
He's also, at least according to several Democrats who spoke with ABC News, like an uncle. He's a gunowner and Army National Guard veteran who comes off as Midwest nice -- an appeal that helped him win six terms in a rural, Republican-leaning House district in Minnesota.
In picking Walz as her running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris opted to forgo rising stars in swing states -- such as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro or Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly -- and instead run alongside a balding, 60-year-old executive from a blue-leaning state who had a resume that could appeal to various parts of her coalition, all while focusing on the country's marquee electoral region and balancing out her roots in liberal California.
"In Gov. Walz, the Democrats get the full far-left agenda from somebody who often looks like he just climbed down from his deer stand. And that's not the package, the wrapping that people expect when they think about, sort of, socialism. It's clever," said former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican.
"Harris was probably going to win Minnesota anyhow," he added. "So, I think what she was trying to get, by way of a political balancing from Walz, was not so much different policies, but somebody who brought some geographic and style difference so that you get Bernie Sanders in hunting gear."
Harris will introduce Walz as her running mate at what's anticipated to be a raucous rally in Philadelphia Tuesday evening, setting off on a 90-day sprint to Election Day. And Democrats are touting the breadth of his appeal.
Walz received plaudits from progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and avowed centrist Sen. Joe Manchin and he's expected to be used in various ways.
Already, Walz has been a pioneer in Democrats' electoral messaging this year, doubling down on the claim that Republicans, under former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, are "weird." And he's so far deftly defended his progressive record against GOP attacks.
"What a monster. Kids are eating and having full bellies, so they can go learn, and women are making their own healthcare decisions," Walz said sarcastically on CNN last month when asked if his record would be a magnet for Republican criticism. "If that's where they want to label me, I'm more than happy to take the [liberal] label."
One source close to the veepstakes process told ABC News that Harris likes Walz's executive experience and a "strong record of accomplishment for middle-class families that models what we want to do nationally." Specifically, the campaign plans to highlight his fight for expanded child tax credits, junk-fee ban, paid-leave policies, gun safety legislation and codifying abortion protections.
But the campaign also recognizes the importance of the upper Midwest this election and the appeal of Walz's military background -- all of which will be on display this year.
"I think he continues to expand the map and expand the tent, and that's what you want," said Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright. "There's not a place in the country that I think he can't go on behalf of the ticket to speak to what Americans are hungry and thirsty for, but also the solutions to the things that they're hungry and thirsty for."
Still, Democrats predicted that Walz will be deployed chiefly as a magnet for votes in the Midwest, and particularly for white voters, while Harris continues to make inroads with young and racially diverse voters, particularly in Sun Belt and Southern swing states like Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina.
One source familiar with the Harris campaign's strategy said they anticipated Democrats to emphasize Walz's "military service, that he's a hunter and former football coach, and his record representing a conservative, rural district."
"In short, more Mankato, less Minneapolis," the person said, citing a smaller town in Minnesota where Walz once taught high school students.
The campaign forecasted Tuesday that it indeed seems to be the early play.
In its first ad featuring Walz, the governor touts his upbringing in a small town in Nebraska, noting, "my high school class was 24 people. I was related to half of them."
"He looks like everybody's uncle, he sounds like everybody's father and he talks about a commonsense approach to governing that resonates with everyone," said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist who worked on Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign.
But perhaps most of all, Walz, at least early on, appears to have abided by the top rule for presidential running mates: do no harm.
In the end, the veepstakes are believed to have come down to Walz and Shapiro. But Shapiro was hit with a wave of criticism from progressives, including over his approach to the war in Gaza and school vouchers and the handling of a sexual misconduct claim against a staffer in his gubernatorial office. Walz avoided such a bruhaha.
"A former football coach, veteran and Midwestern dad with progressive bona fides. He is the perfect 'do no harm' candidate," said Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha.
That's not to say Walz is without risk.
He, like some running mates before him, is a national unknown, leaving him open to being defined. And in an election cycle when Republicans are already trying to frame Harris as a "California liberal," his governing record could prove fertile ground for Republicans to pounce. Already, Trump and Vance are seizing on protests that roiled Minneapolis in 2020 after the killing of George Floyd, some of which saw looting, arson and other violence, and a 1995 drunken driving arrest of Walz is again making the rounds on social media.
"By picking Tim Walz as her running mate, Kamala Harris not only bent the knee to the radical left, she doubled down on her dangerously liberal, weak, and failed agenda. Walz would be a rubberstamp for Kamala to wage war on American energy, continue aiding and abetting an invasion on our border, and embolden our adversaries as the world is brought to the brink of World War III," said Brian Hughes, a senior advisor to Trump's campaign.
Democrats rebuffed that argument, saying that Republicans would launch the same attack against any running mate and that being nationally unknown is not the same as being unvetted, pointing to his congressional victories in territory typically hostile to Democrats.
But the race to define Walz is on, and it's unclear who'll come out on top.
"We'll see," Pawlenty said when asked whether Trump's attacks or Walz's vibe would come out on top. "That's what the campaign is going to be about."
"He's capable as a campaigner, he's capable as a speaker, he's energetic, he can be both friendly and folksy in the Midwestern style, but he also is willing and able to throw punches when needed, which is part of this job as the No. 2 in the campaign," he added. "But there is a bunch of stuff there that I'm sure the Trump campaign is going to grab on to and try to use against Gov. Walz."
