The race is on to define Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) after Vice President Harris tapped him as her running mate.
The rollout for the Harris-Walz campaign has unfolded seamlessly so far:
- Harris introduced Walz to an exuberant crowd of more than 14,000 in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, underscoring the electric atmosphere around the new Democratic ticket since President Biden stepped aside.
- Harris leaned into Walz's experience as a teacher and football coach who "makes people feel like they belong and then inspires them to dream big."
- The Harris campaign raised more than $36 million in the 24 hours after the Walz announcement.
- Tens of thousands have RSVP'd for the Harris-Walz rally at an airport hangar in Detroit on Wednesday night. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) will be on hand.
- Progressives cheered the Walz pick, believing the ticket landed a candidate that can speak authentically to the working-class voters that have drifted to the right in recent years. The straight-talking Walz is not Ivy-League educated, and he has no stocks, securities or real estate.
But the honeymoon won't last forever, and the GOP mobilized quickly to launch stinging new attacks on what they're describing as the most liberal ticket ever.
Former President Trump called the Walz pick "shocking," indicating he believed Harris would pick moderate Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), the popular governor of the most important swing state.
"I could not be more thrilled," Trump told "Fox & Friends."
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in an interview with The Hill's Mychael Schnell that he is "pleased" by the selection of Walz, saying it will lead to "a decisive victory in both the House and the Senate for the Republican party."
Walz's 24 years in the Army National Guard are coming under new scrutiny from the GOP.
Trump's running mate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), a U.S. Marine who served in Iraq, attacked Walz on Wednesday for leaving the Army when his unit was about to be deployed to Iraq.
"When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him…I think it's shameful to prepare your unit to go to Iraq…and then to drop out right before."
→ Related: Carville: Vance doesn't want to get 'within 50 miles' of Walz (Read here) ←
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), a Green Beret who served in Afghanistan, said that Walz continued describing himself as a Command Sergeant Major, the highest rank in the Army, even though he retired at a lower rank because he didn't finish coursework.
"A lot of questions there on how he should be describing himself and I think those are fair to ask and he should answer them."
Walz's former unit members have criticized him for leaving before their deployment to Iraq.
The Harris campaign defended Walz's service in an email to The Hill's Caroline Vakil:
"After 24 years of military service, Governor Walz retired in 2005 and ran for Congress, where he chaired Veterans Affairs and was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform — and as Vice President of the United States he will continue to be a relentless champion for our veterans and military families."
Many of the new GOP attacks have focused on Walz's tenure as governor of Minnesota at the height of the social justice movement.
- Republicans are calling Walz "Tampon Tim" for a bill he signed into law requiring period products to be available in school bathrooms for both boys and girls.
- The GOP is attacking Walz for being slow to deploy the National Guard to protect a Minneapolis police station that was burned to the ground during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020. Harris later promoted a bail fund for some of those who were arrested.
- Republicans have zeroed in on Walz signing legislation in Minnesota to provide driver's licenses, health care and education to undocumented immigrants.
Democrats are fighting back against allegations Walz is too liberal, pointing to his moderate voting record in Congress.
Walz bucked his party on several occasions, including on votes to reauthorize the Bush tax cuts and to hold former Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.
"To characterize him as left is so unreal... He's right down the middle." — Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)
Walz unseated a Republican incumbent in 2006 and survived a red wave election that swept many Tea Party conservatives into office.
But election analysts say there are real questions about Walz's appeal to rural voters, and the data is mixed.
- Walz represented one of the "pivot counties" that voted for former President Obama in 2012 and Trump in 2016. Many of those counties span the Midwest, with clusters in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
- In his 2022 governor's race, Walz won only 13 of the 87 counties in Minnesota, running up the score in urban areas but falling short in rural areas on his way to 52 percent support statewide.
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