Kamala Harris’ ascension to the top of the Democratic Party’s ticket for the US presidential election underlines why the choice of running mate matters, says The Guardian. So her pick for vice-president was always going to get more attention than usual.
However, her choice of Minnesota’s governor Tim Walz shows the party’s new-found confidence that it is possible to beat Donald Trump. Walz has proved himself “adept” at winning over moderate Republicans in his home state, while the selection of “a folksy Midwestern man who loves hunting” will make it even harder for the Republicans to portray the Democratic ticket as “extremist”.
Did Kamala Harris choose well?
Not so fast, says The Wall Street Journal. The Harris campaign hopes that Walz’s “plain-spoken personality” and “Midwestern background” will appeal to voters in swing states, including some Trump voters.
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But Walz “has moved Minnesota sharply to the left”. His response to the 2020 riots “will be scrutinised in particular, as poor areas in Minneapolis burned and many business owners lost everything”. Thus Harris’s choice confirms the impression she gave in 2019 “when she ran for the White House as a left-wing Democrat”. That could put off moderate Republicans, who would otherwise have doubts about Trump. Walz’s record as governor of Minnesota means that he “is not without baggage”, says The Economist. And Minnesota isn’t a key swing state: it last voted Republican over 50 years ago.
Still, unlike Pennsylvania’s governor Josh Shapiro, who was seen as Walz’s main rival for the second spot, Walz’s status as “a leading light of the left of the Democratic Party” will help keep the Democrats united and the base enthused.
What’s more, Walz has already won plaudits for being an “energetic advocate for Harris on television”, as well as for his “punchy” attacks on the Republican ticket, some of which have been adopted by the Harris campaign.
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