Kamala Harris picks Tim Walz: Why her choice checks one very important box

The selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the vice-presidential nominee for Kamala Harris checks a number of important boxes for the Democratic nominee and is likely to draw none of the controversy that, on the Republican side, has been attracted by JD Vance or might have attached itself to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro or Sen. Mark Kelly.

Beyond being the safe choice, Tim Walz is a logical choice. He hits a number of key constituency groups in ways that can only benefit the nominee. First and foremost, he has been a teacher. Given the importance of the teachers' unions, and educators more generally, to the Democratic Party, it’s significant that he has been a social studies teacher as well as a football coach. 

Beyond that, another positive is that he served in the Army National Guard for 24 years. 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. That might not seem like a big deal all these years later but for Harris to have a running mate from the Midwest who has been a teacher, a coach and served in the military – well, that checks a number of boxes that the former prosecutor and senator does not have and will not be able to easily attract on her own. 

There’s one other obvious benefit to Walz based on demographics. He has successfully represented a rural district and a rural swing district that has both been a tossup and leaned Republican in recent years.

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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. These are the same people who Hillary Clinton infelicitously called "deplorables." With the addition of Tim Walz on the ticket, the so-called "deplorables" become a key target audience.

Walz has a number of other strengths that neither Gov. Josh Shapiro nor Sen. Mark Kelly had. He’s got an avuncular way about him that is very appealing and non-confrontational. At the same time, we’ve already seen on the campaign trail that he is able to deliver tough messages against Republicans with a smile on his face. I’m not sure that I would go so far as to compare him to Harry Truman, but it’s the same small town, wide-eyed partisan appeal that’s served my party well in the past.

The other advantage that Walz has is the apparent absence of scandal. Josh Shapiro had a sexual harassment case in his office that attracted a good deal of attention, pre-selection. And Mark Kelly, an extraordinary man, with an extraordinary resume, had also created a fair amount of grumbling about some of his own personal business dealings. I don’t believe either man should have been disqualified for those reasons, but as far as I can tell, Tim Walz is a near scandal-free, everyman type of VP candidate. 

And, of course, there’s the political. Last, but certainly not least, Walz’s candidacy immediately takes Minnesota off the table – if it was ever in play – and will no doubt be helpful to Kamala Harris in the neighboring swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin. 

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Walz takes mainstream Democratic positions on abortion, health care, education and will undoubtedly be labeled as a Democratic progressive. But given his low-key nature, the district he represented in Congress and the issue positions that Harris has taken previously, I think the Republicans will have far more success and credibility attacking the presidential nominee as a far-left liberal than they will her vice-presidential choice.

Democrats are obviously betting that they can win Pennsylvania without Shapiro. I suspect that they felt, on political and personal grounds, that Walz was a safer choice, with a richer, more varied personal and political history than the governor from the Keystone State.

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So, the question then emerges. Will Tim Walz help Kamala Harris win the election? If I had to say, my best guess would be that he will not. But I also believe that he will check one of the most important boxes in presidential politics – doing no harm. That’s something that it is still not clear can be applied to Republican nominee JD Vance.

In all, Harris has made a good pick because it’s a safe pick. And it’s one that, worst case, will be of no impact and best case, could help Democrats at the margins.

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