Citing integrity, union support, ‘normality,’ Dems rally around Walz as VP choice
Republished from Kentucky Lantern
Democrats moved quickly Tuesday to back Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the running mate of their presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Party leaders, including President Joe Biden, and figures across the Democratic political spectrum, from progressive favorite U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to independent U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin III, a centrist West Virginian who left the party earlier this year, praised Walz’s record and character.
Republicans largely dismissed Walz as too liberal, saying the pick showed Harris was not interested in appealing to voters in the ideological middle.
As statements poured in before noon Tuesday, Walz took a call from Biden, a former vice president himself, congratulating the Minnesota governor on the selection, according to the White House.
“The first major decision a party nominee makes is their choice for Vice President,” Biden said in a tweet. “And Kamala Harris has made a great decision in choosing Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an MSNBC interview Tuesday morning that Walz is “wonderful” and praised his record as the top Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Walz represented a southern Minnesota swing district in the U.S. House from 2007 to 2019.
Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama said in a statement that Walz’s record in office and personal character would make him a great candidate and vice president.
“Governor Walz doesn’t just have the experience to be vice president, he has the values and integrity to make us proud,” the Obamas wrote.
Uniting the party
Walz’s appeal as a running mate resides at least partly in an image of a straight-talking Midwesterner.
In a statement, Manchin, who shares with Walz a history of winning elections as a Democrat in rural, socially conservative areas, highlighted the Minnesotan’s “normality.”
“My friend Governor Tim Walz will bring normality back to the most chaotic political environment that most of us have ever seen,” Manchin wrote. “All of the candidates were strong and any one of them would have been a great pick, but I can think of no one better than Governor Walz to help bring our country closer together and bring balance back to the Democratic Party.”
Walz also appealed to the other end of the party’s ideological spectrum, through his record as Minnesota governor.
Ocasio-Cortez alluded to Walz’s support for a state law to provide free meals to all public school students and to expand reproductive rights.
“Vice President Harris made an excellent decision in Gov. Walz as her running mate,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Together, they will govern effectively, inclusively, and boldly for the American people. They won’t back down under tight odds, either — from healthcare to school lunch.”
GOP response
Republican leaders, including the GOP candidates for president and vice president, former President Donald Trump and Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, said Walz’s record was too liberal.
Talking to a CNN reporter on a campaign plane, Vance attacked Walz’s response to the unrest following George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, including a reference to a Harris tweet in 2020 supporting a bail fund for protesters arrested in that aftermath.
“They make an interesting tag team because, of course, Tim Walz allowed rioters to burn down Minneapolis in the summer of 2020,” Vance said. “And then the few who got caught, Kamala Harris helped bail them out of jail.”
At the request of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Walz deployed the Minnesota National Guard to quell rioting in the aftermath of Floyd’s killing, but much damage continued.
The Trump-Vance campaign debuted an ad that called Harris and Walz “dangerously liberal.”
“Kamala Harris just doubled down on her radical vision for America by tapping another left-wing extremist as her VP nominee,” the ad begins.
Also-rans
Other Democrats who’d been on the Harris short list for running mate congratulated Walz and signaled their support for the ticket.
“Vice President Kamala Harris has my enthusiastic support – and I know that Governor Tim Walz is an exceptionally strong addition to the ticket who will help Kamala move our country forward,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in part of a lengthy written statement.
Shapiro, whose office said Monday night he was scheduled to appear at the Tuesday evening rally in Philadelphia that will be Walz’s first official campaign appearance, was reported to be the runner-up to Walz.
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, another finalist whom Harris interviewed in Washington Sunday, praised Walz’s record as governor and in the U.S. House, where he was a colleague of Kelly’s wife, Gabby Giffords.
“Tim has years of experience representing Minnesota both in the House of Representatives, where he served with Gabby, and as Minnesota’s governor,” Kelly wrote in an email to supporters, later tweeted by a spokesman. “He has shown up time and time again for working families and I know he’ll continue that work in the White House.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, another potential pick, said he was honored to have been considered.
In a post to X, he called Walz “a great friend and a great choice.”
“I fully support this new ticket and will work to elect Kamala Harris as our next President of the United States,” he wrote.
Climate, labor groups
Several groups representing organized labor and supporters of efforts to address climate change quickly enthusiastically backed the selection of Walz.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said in a statement the union, which is crucial to Democrats in the key swing state of Michigan, would work to elect Harris and Walz.
“Tim Walz has been a great governor and is going to make a great Vice President,” said Fain. “He’s stood with the working class every step of the way, and has walked the walk, including on a UAW picket line last fall.”
Fain said in a CBS interview on Sunday that Walz and Beshear were his two favorites for the position.
United Steelworkers International President David McCall said Tuesday that Walz, who was a union member as a public-school teacher, was a working-class champion.
“Vice President Harris couldn’t have chosen a stronger champion of workers to be her running mate, and the USW applauds her decision,” McCall wrote. “From his many years of service in Congress to his time as governor of Minnesota, Gov. Walz has fought for working families every step of the way. A former union educator, he’s enacted some of the most significant pro-worker reforms in our nation’s history.”
Davie Kieve, the president of EDF Action, the political arm of the Environmental Defense Fund, called Walz “a proven leader and climate champion.”
While Walz, like Harris, will be 60 on Election Day, groups representing young voters supported him.
Sunrise Movement, a far-left youth-led climate group that had kept the Biden administration at arm’s length, endorsed Walz in a statement from communications director Stevie O’Hanlon that called Walz “an excellent choice” and highlighted Walz’s work to enact a law to move Minnesota to 100% clean energy by 2040.
“As Governor, Tim Walz has made huge strides to address the climate crisis,” O’Hanlon wrote. “He has done this by pitching climate action as a way to make people’s everyday lives better, create good-paying green jobs, and invest in making communities stronger. That is a winning message, and one the Democratic ticket should put at the forefront of their agenda.”
One group that supported Walz when he represented his rural U.S. House district criticized the pick.
A tweet from the National Rifle Association said Walz would be “a disaster for our right to bear arms.”
“Tim Walz is a political chameleon – changing his positions to further his own political agenda,” Randy Kozuch, the chairman of the NRA Political Victory Fund, the group’s political action committee, said in a statement.
The NRA had awarded Walz, who has professed a love of hunting, an “A” rating as a U.S. House member. But Walz began supporting tighter gun regulations while running for governor in 2018, after the February shooting at Parkland High School in Florida. As governor, he has signed some gun control legislation.
House members
Members and former members of the House Democratic Caucus heaped praise on their former colleague.
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas described Walz as a great friend and an effective lawmaker who reached across the aisle.
“Met Tim Walz on my first day in Congress, sat next to him on Veterans Affairs committee for the following six years,” O’Rourke wrote on X. “No one fought harder for veterans. And he did it by bringing Democrats and Republicans together to get the job done.”
Former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said Walz was an “invaluable” member of the caucus.
“Governor Walz’s work ethic helped him to be a pragmatic, effective leader in the House,” Hoyer wrote in a statement. “His plainspoken, common-sense approach to governing allowed him to deliver for Veterans and Minnesotans. I know he will bring that same dedication and empathy to the Vice Presidency.”
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