Let's Wal(t)z

Kamala Harris has knocked it out of the park. Again. Just when you might expect Democrats to be running low on energy, she ignited another fire underneath her supporters with the pick of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to join her on the ticket. This honeymoon isn’t over yet.

Everyone from AOC to Joe Manchin jumped online to support Walz. So did the folks he beat out, including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro who, at the first rally for the Democratic ticket in Philadelphia this afternoon, said that he was “going to be working my tail off to make sure we make Kamala Harris and Tim Walz the next leaders of the United States of America.” Pete Buttigieg tweeted his support and then retweeted the campaign’s announcement and a tweet of Walz’s (is that how we’re doing that possessive?) about his measures to cut poverty in Minnesota. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer tweeted, “I'm so excited that my friend @Tim_Walz will be the next Vice President of the United States!” But my favorite so far has been the enthusiastic responses from people who aren’t in politics.

Republicans will try to brand Walz as, well, one of my friends down here said it like this, “He’s a Commie lockdown tyrant who let Minneapolis burn while Kamala raised money to bail out the few who were arrested. This is a gift.” But it’s going to be hard to make that stick. Walz doesn’t fit that stereotype.

For one thing, Walz is a hunter. Kyle Rittenhouse’s claim Walz is coming for your guns is going to have a tough time surviving this.

Walz is a gun owner and apparently an avid pheasant hunter. Like many gun owners, he supports the Second Amendment and laws that do more to tackle gun violence. He signed measures into law in Minnesota that established universal background checks for gun purchases.

Walz served in the military, was a teacher and a coach, loves both dogs and cats (and apparently much of the animal world), and believes in making sure school kids don’t go hungry and gay kids don’t get bullied at school. He fulfills the prime directive for a Vice Presidential nominee: do no harm. But it’s more than that; he’s reasonable, and he’s progressive, an unusual pairing. He has the ability to make programs that lift Americans up, policies MAGA belittles, seem decent and reasonable, not off the charts to the left.

He is a solid partner to support Kamala Harris. When they walked out together tonight at the rally, it was clear that although he stands half a head taller than she does, Walz was there to support. Unlike the signs behind J.D. Vance at the Trump rally in Atlanta over the weekend that read, “You’re fired,” the signs behind Harris and Walz read, “We win.”

“We need to level set,” Harris said. “We are the underdogs in this race.” “But,” she continued, “we have the momentum.” The crowd cheered its agreement. There did not seem to be an empty seat in the venue.

It’s a new kind of brat summer now!

What can we expect from Walz? Is he really a lefty?

• If supporting voter rights is now ultra-liberal, well then, yes, Tim Walz signed a bill last year expanding voting rights in Minnesota for an estimated 55,000 formerly incarcerated residents.

• If protecting women’s rights is lefty, well, there’s this: Governor Walz signed a bill into law that codified abortion rights in Minnesota after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, the first one in the country.

• Huff Post Reporter Arthur Delaney wrote on Twitter that he had the chance to ask Governor Walz about IVF politics last February. His response: "My wife and I used Mayo Clinic reproductive services, and my daughter Hope was named Hope for a reason," he said. "Because we were married for eight years, had no children, and wanted children, we got Hope because of this type of stuff."

• Making communities safer seems pretty liberal. Governor Walz funded Minnesota police departments so they could hire more officers and invest in body cameras. He banned chokeholds and warrior training and expanded de-escalation training for officers designed to reduce the use of deadly force.

Governor Walz is a mensch. You could almost say he’s an honorary cat lady.

The rally tonight continues as I finish writing—it’s an early evening here for me. “We fight for the future,” Harris is saying, and surrounded by her new running mate and the rest of the team, it resonates.

Will there be a debate between Walz and J.D. Vance? I’d like to see it.

We’re in this together,

Joyce