US Elections: Kamala Harris Picks Tim Walz as Running Mate
Kamala Harris has picked Tim Walz as her running mate for the presidential election
The Minnesota Governor and former high school teacher will become vice-president if Harris beats Donald Trump in November
The vice president is said to have liked Mr. Walz’s policies, his Midwestern appeal, and the likelihood that he would be a loyal running mate and governing partner.
Walz gained national attention for his strategy of calling Trump and JD Vance "weird", a phrase Harris has adopted when talking about her rival.
The Harris campaign will be hoping Walz's plainspoken and small-town Midwestern demeanour could appeal to independent and conservative voters
JD Vance, Donald Trump's running mate, has called Walz a "far-left radical" and said he would debate his opponent when he is "officially the nominee".
His Populist Ideology
As governor, Mr. Walz championed a host of liberal policies in Minnesota that are popular with Democratic and independent-leaning voters.
Ms. Harris and her team believed that measures such as a statewide child tax credit and a paid-leave program would aid lower- and middle-income Americans. They aimed to implement similar legislation on a national level, according to two individuals familiar with the vice president’s decision-making. In 2023, Mr. Walz signed a bill into law providing free meals for schoolchildren, making Minnesota the fourth state to do so.
Beyond economic issues, Mr. Walz also enacted a 2023 bill codifying the protections of Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion, into state law. Abortion rights have been a key focus of Ms. Harris’s advocacy as vice president.
Additionally, Mr. Walz has a personal connection to in vitro fertilization, a procedure targeted by some conservative groups who argue that frozen embryos could be considered “extrauterine children.” He and his wife, Gwen, underwent treatments for seven years to conceive their daughter.
Of course, the selection of Mr. Walz as running mate does not guarantee that any of his work at the state level could be replicated nationally should Ms. Harris win election in November.
President Biden has called for an expanded child tax credit. He has tried to add a paid-leave initiative to a far-reaching social spending bill. And he has all but begged voters to elect more Democratic lawmakers who could help him get the congressional majority needed to get the protections once afforded by Roe passed into law.
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