Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris introduced her running mate Tim Walz at a rally Tuesday night in Philadelphia, where the duo pledged to secure the freedom and hope they say would be stripped away if former President Trump were to win a second term in the White House.
The Minnesota governor, little known nationally before Harris named him as her No. 2 on Tuesday, told a raucous partisan audience that he is a product of small-town America and believes in traditional values.
“I was born in West Point, Nebraska, and grew up in Butte, a small town of 400 people where community was a way of life,” said Walz, 60. “As a child, I spent summers working on the family farm. My mom and dad taught us to show generosity to our neighbors and to work for the common good.”
Walz said community strength is important in Minnesota, the state he has governed since 2019, and he plans to bring that culture to the White House.
“Minnesota’s strength comes from our values, our commitment to working together, to seeing beyond our differences and to offering a helping hand,” he said.
Introducing Walz, Harris portrayed her running mate as a kind, common-sense alternative to Republican policies she said had eliminated fundamental rights.
“We are fighting for a future where we defend our most fundamental freedoms,” she said. “We are fighting for the freedom to vote, the freedom to be safe from gun violence, the freedom to love who you love openly and proudly, and the freedom for women to make decisions about their own bodies, without the government telling them what to do.”
Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz attends a campaign rally in Philadelphia.
(Matt Rourke/Associated Press)
Democrats have been encouraged by Harris’s entry into the race two weeks ago after President Biden dropped out. Polls have shown a narrowing of an already tight race. Her campaign had reported more than $300 million in donations, and a spokesperson said an additional $20 million came in after Harris announced on social media Tuesday morning that Walz would join her on the ticket.
The new partners plan to visit key Midwestern states before heading west to campaign in Arizona and Nevada. These two states are expected to be key to victory in the election, along with the key states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia.
Harris, 59, on Tuesday ran through Walz’s resume, presenting him to the crowd as an everyman who understands the travails of ordinary Americans. He described his youth on a family farm in Nebraska, his two decades as a high school social studies teacher and his work as an assistant coach for the school’s football team when it won the state championship.
He noted that Walz had simultaneously coached linebackers and supported students who wanted to start a gay-straight alliance at Mankato West High School.
“At a time when acceptance for LGBTQ students was hard to come by, Tim knew the signal that a football coach’s involvement would send,” Harris said. “So he signed up to be the group’s faculty advisor. Students have said he made the school a safe place for everyone.”
His supportive stance led to a student vote naming Walz as the most inspiring faculty member, Harris said.
“We both believe in helping people, not tearing them down,” he said. “When we look at people, at our fellow Americans, we see neighbors, not enemies.”
Walz repeatedly said Harris had brought “joy” back to the American public scene, but the easygoing politician showed he had no qualms about throwing punches, either.
He rebuked his main rival for vice president, noting that Republican JD Vance's rural roots led to a very different life than the one Walz acknowledged in the American Midwest.
“Like all ordinary people, I grew up in the heartland of America. JD went to Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then wrote a best-selling book criticizing that community,” Walz said, before throwing up his arms and rebuking: “Come on! That’s not what middle America is.”
Walz drew knowing laughter from the crowd gathered at Temple University’s Liacouras Center when he repeated one of his early attacks on the Republican ticket, calling Trump and Vance “creepy and, yes, just plain weird as hell.”
He found another joke in the multiple criminal cases against Trump.
Walz said the former president “was paralyzed by the COVID crisis. He bankrupted our economy. And make no mistake: violent crime increased under Donald Trump.” After a round of applause, he added: “That’s not even counting the crimes he committed.”
After saying he appreciated the opportunity to debate Vance, Walz made a thinly veiled reference to a salacious and seemingly unfounded rumor involving his rival and certain living room furniture.
“I can't wait to debate this guy, if he's willing to get off the couch and show up!” Walz said.
Both Harris and Walz suggested that a second Trump term would deal a devastating blow to progressive government programs.
They said the Republican would again try to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, the law known as Obamacare that brought health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans; that he would “dismantle” Social Security and Medicare; and that he would continue to crack down on abortion, a procedure that is much harder to obtain after Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices helped overturn the long-standing Roe v. Wade right to terminate pregnancies.
“Today in the United States, one in three women lives in a state where Trump bans abortion,” Harris said. “Some of those bans date back to the 19th century, before women had the right to vote.
“We have a message for Trump and those who want to roll back our freedoms,” he continued: “We are not going back!”
This prompted a prolonged chant from the crowd: “We are not going back!”
