PHILADELPHIA — Vice President Kamala Harris finished her two-week sprint to find a running mate by formally introducing Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota to the Democratic Party and the nation during a jubilant rally on Tuesday evening in Philadelphia.
Harris hailed Walz, an affable former high school football coach whose elevation to the national ticket seemed hard to imagine when President Joe Biden left the race, as the governing partner she had searched for.
“Tim Walz was the kind of teacher and mentor that every child in America dreams of having and that every kid deserves,” Harris said. “The kind of coach — because he’s the kind of person — who makes people feel like they belong and then inspires them to dream big. And that’s the kind of vice president he will be. And that’s the kind of vice president America deserves.”
The presentation of the Harris-Walz ticket before an adoring crowd, an estimated 12,000 people between the arena and an overflow room, began the next chapter in one of the most turbulent periods in modern American politics.
Just 40 days ago, Biden was preparing to debate former President Donald Trump in what his campaign described as the kickoff to the general election. But Biden delivered a performance so alarming that his party exploded in revolt, ultimately pushing him out of the race just over two weeks ago.
In short order, Harris’ emergence as the nominee has transformed what had been a Democratic Party depressed by the prospect of scrounging up votes for an unpopular 81-year-old candidate. Instead the party has revived itself behind Harris, who has injected new hope into her party heading into the highly competitive homestretch of the election.
“The promise of America is what makes it possible for two middle-class kids — one, a daughter of Oakland, California, who was raised by a working mother, the other, a son of the Nebraska plains who grew up working on a farm — it’s the promise of America,” she said in Philadelphia. “Because only in America — only in America — is it possible for them together to make it all the way to the White House.”
Walz catapulted himself from little-known Midwestern governor to a national Democratic star just as he was being embraced by the party’s progressive wing. He delighted key elements of his party with punchy appearances on cable television and down-home videos on social media, along with his record of enacting liberal policies as governor.
He turned himself overnight into one of the party’s chief messengers by labeling Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, as “weird” characters.
Mayor Cherelle Parker of Philadelphia, who over the weekend posted on social media a video supporting Gov. Josh Shapiro as Harris’ running mate, sought to disabuse any hurt feelings among the locals about Harris’ decision to choose the Minnesotan.
“Our Democratic nominee has spoken,” she said. “That’s it, period, end of story.”
Shapiro, who like Harris is a former state attorney general, kicked off the rally with a fiery speech warning about the prospect of a Trump-Vance White House. He also spoke warmly of Walz and nodded to the Minnesota governor’s signature jab against Republicans.
“Tim Walz, in his beautiful, Midwestern, plain-spoken way, he summed up JD Vance the best: he’s a weirdo,” Shapiro said exuberantly, before praising Walz as “an outstanding governor,” “a great patriot” and “a dear friend.”
In his speech, Walz praised Harris’ career in law enforcement and as vice president, saying she had “fought on the side of the American people” and “never hesitated to reach across the aisle if it meant improving people’s lives.”
He emphasized his blue-collar roots, growing up in small rural towns, spending summers working on his family farm, and how joining the military gave him purpose.
Walz also jumped quickly into attacks on his Republican opponents.
“Donald Trump sees the world a little differently than us,” he said. “First of all, he doesn’t know the first thing about service. He doesn’t have time for it because he’s too busy serving himself.”
At another point, he said, “Violent crime was up under Donald Trump.”
“That’s not even counting the crimes he committed,” he added after a pause, prompting the crowd to erupt in applause and chants of “Lock him up.”
The campaign said that since Walz had been announced as the running mate, it had raised more than $20 million from supporters. It was one of its best fundraising days this election cycle, the campaign said, signaling that Harris’ pick was resonating.
Walz started out as a dark horse in the race but beat out more prominent Democrats by proving himself as a loyal, effective messenger broadly acceptable within his party and seemingly well positioned to take on Trump and Vance.
A person close to the selection process said Harris had chosen Walz based on a record of policy accomplishments benefiting middle-class families that reflect what Harris has supported and wants to champion nationally, such as a child tax credit, eliminating junk fees, paid leave and codifying abortion rights.
Harris also saw in Walz someone who could broadly appeal to white, working-class voters in Midwestern battleground states like Wisconsin and Michigan. Walz, who notably won his House race in a district Trump carried in 2016, is a veteran of the Army National Guard and a gun owner who has backed gun safety laws.
Harris, who also prized loyalty and trust in her search, also developed a strong rapport with Walz and came to believe he would be a good partner in Washington, the person said.
At the rally, supporters donned bracelets with blinking red, white and blue lights, and some supporters in the crowd wore T-shirts that read, “Old white men for Harris & Freedom.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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