Democrats hope that having Walz on the ticket will help shore up support in key battleground states such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
by Matthew Rusling
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who has won enough delegate votes to secure Democratic presidential nomination, on Tuesday chose a running mate who could appeal to myriad voting blocs, experts said.
Harris, 59, on Tuesday named Minnesota Governor and former Congressman Tim Walz as her running mate.
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| U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (C) attends an event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, on July 22, 2024. (Xinhua/Hu Yousong) |
“One of the things that stood out to me about Tim is how his convictions on fighting for middle class families run deep. It’s personal. As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he’s delivered for working families like his own,” Harris said in a statement.
Walz, 60, previously served as a U.S. House representative. He was elected governor of Minnesota in 2018 and re-elected in 2022.
“Walz is broadly acceptable to the various groups that make up the Democratic party and doesn’t provoke any schisms or dissension within the ranks,” Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College, told Xinhua.
“Walz appeals to different groups for different reasons. Progressives and liberals like his record as governor,” the scholar said.
“Walz also has a cultural appeal. As a Democrat from a rural area who served in the military and coached high school football before running for Congress, he can appeal to voters in the Rust Belt states that will be crucial in this election,” Galdieri said.
Democrats hope that having Walz on the ticket will help shore up support in key battleground states such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Those are strongholds of the Democratic party, although Harris’ opponent and former President Donald Trump flipped them when he clinched the White House in 2016. Biden flipped them back to the Democrats with his 2020 victory. This time around, the three states are crucial to winning the election.
Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West said Walz helps Democrats in the Midwest.
“He comes from that part of the country, knows how to talk to ordinary Midwesterners, and talks about ways to boost economic opportunities for the middle class,” West told Xinhua.
“He has a wide range of political experience, having been a legislator and an executive and should help Harris draw the contrasts with Trump,” West said, noting that Harris has come up “quite a bit” in the polls and the race now is very competitive between Trump and Harris.
According to polling data compiled by the U.S. election information website Real Clear Politics, as of Tuesday, Harris leads Trump by an average of 0.5 percentage points in national polls, but Trump still leads in several key swing states.
The possibility that Walz will be the No. 2 leader in the United States is growing by the day. Prior to Harris’ nomination, President Joe Biden was getting crushed in the polls by Trump.
Trump was leading by leaps and bounds in key battleground states such as Georgia and Pennsylvania, according to Real Clear Politics’ average of polls.
While Trump retains the lead in most key swing states, Harris is closing the gap.
Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua that Walz has effectively attacked the Republican nominee for vice president, J.D. Vance.
“If there is a debate, it will be widely watched. The value of vice-presidential candidates in winning an election is greatly exaggerated, but Walz is a very skilled campaigner,” Ramsay said.
Walz ran for the House of Representatives as a Democrat in a usually Republican district, and won it many times before running successfully for governor, Ramsay added.
Meanwhile, critics blast Harris as simply an extension of the Biden administration, whose time in office has seen food inflation skyrocket.
Critics also blast Harris for, they claim, allowing millions of migrants to illegally pour over the U.S. southern border during Biden’s tenure.
In reaction to the selection of Walz, Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that “this is the most Radical Left duo in American history. There has never been anything like it.”
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