Yesterday, Kamala Harris chose my former colleague Tim Walz to be her running mate.
Before he became the popular governor of Minnesota, Walz flipped a red district in Congress. When I chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he was a frequent and reliable source of help. I know firsthand just how much he brings to the Harris campaign as an electoral and governing partner.
Walz was always a workhorse. Behind the scenes, he was quiet, thoughtful and constantly focused on delivering for his constituents. I used to keep a list of “drama-free” members of Congress: those who were “quietly operational” and would pursue a legislative or political mission to its conclusion, without taking unnecessary pitstops in front of microphones. Tim Walz was on that list.
I once joked to Walz that he reminded me of a high school football coach in a rural town. He shot back something along the lines of, “Well, yeah actually, I was.” In fact, Walz helped lead Mankato West High School to its first state championship in 1999. Where other legislators lavished attention on the grandstands, Walz left it all on the field.
Yet beneath the unassuming veneer, he showed an ability to throw a bare-knuckled punch to advance our agenda. From his inspiring 2006 campaign ad on healthcare to his quotable lines in interviews, he wasn’t shy about defining his opponents before they could define him. What has made Walz so effective in these press appearances is that he’s always stayed true to his roots as a former teacher, coach and member of the armed forces.
Walz proved invaluable in identifying strong candidates in competitive districts who could connect with voters on both the left and the right. As polarization grew worse cycle over cycle, he was one of the rare members of Congress who knew how to speak to Americans of all ideological persuasions.
There’s always a delicate balancing act required when selecting a running mate. The presidential nominee needs someone who they can trust as a partner in governing and to lead the nation if called upon. But they also need someone who can add another dimension to the ticket’s electoral prospects, speaking to new pockets of voters and exemplifying the nominee’s values.
That takes chemistry. And as we’ve seen on the Republican side (you may recall Trump promoting violence against Vice President Mike Pence during the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot), that chemistry is not always a given. In contrast, Harris and Walz are likely to have a stable and productive working relationship.
Additionally, Walz offers an advantage that few other Democratic politicians hold: national security bona fides. I’ve long argued that Democrats have run behind the GOP on these issues, but Walz offers a strong rebuttal to GOP attacks. He was the highest-ranking enlisted soldier to serve in Congress and the ranking member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Nobody can question Walz’s commitment to keeping our nation safe.
Reports suggest that Harris was impressed by Walz’s ability to deliver an effective attack on Trump. When he tagged the Trump/Vance ticket as “weird,” he launched a news cycle that took the fight to MAGA without succumbing to the doom-and-despair talking points that many voters have grown tired of.
Where Democrats tend to resort to 42-point plans designed to appeal to voters’ sense of rationality, this was a one-word message that felt true in everyone’s gut. Those off-the-cuff instincts win campaigns.
Even many Republicans agree that the rollout of JD Vance has been, well, weird. Most vice presidential candidates introduce themselves to the public by telling feel-good stories about their families and promoting their records in office. Vance bafflingly decided to attack “childless cat ladies” and has fixated on Mountain Dew. In contrast, Walz will soon hit the trail for Harris focusing on the kitchen-table issues that matter to voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Ultimately, the electoral importance of vice presidential candidates tends to be overestimated, as many political scientists have concluded that the choice only matters on the margins. But vice presidential candidates can have critical moments, from Biden helping to resurrect the 2012 Obama campaign with a dominant debate performance over Paul Ryan to Lloyd Bentsen’s evisceration of Dan Quayle with his “No Jack Kennedy” line in 1988.
Walz’s pick does not dramatically reshape this knife’s-edge race, but it does set the Harris campaign up for continued success by adding yet another experienced, authentic and charismatic candidate to the stump.
That’s more than can be said for Trump’s pick of Vance. And to paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen: I know Tim Walz. Tim Walz is a friend of mine. Tim Walz is no JD Vance.
Steve Israel represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives over eight terms and was chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2011 to 2015. Follow him @RepSteveIsrael.
