Until recently, Tim Walz was hardly known, but he has already become one of the favorites of the US Democratic Party Convention: The governor of Minnesota, described as a “cheerful fighter,” seems to be omnipresent at the convention in Chicago; chants of “Tim! Tim! Tim!” and requests for selfies testify to the success of his charm offensive. On Wednesday, Walz will officially accept his nomination as the vice-presidential candidate of the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
The 60-year-old former National Guardsman from the Midwest, who now wants to introduce himself to the party and the country, has already made a name for himself as one of the Democrats’ most effective communicators: Just days before Harris’s start in the presidential race, Walz criticized Republican rival Donald Trump and his vice-candidate JD Vance as “weird.” The “strange” or “odd” attribute became a catchphrase.
At a rally with Harris in the same hall where Trump and his Republicans held their convention in July, Walz said Tuesday: “Not only do we have tremendous energy at our convention, we also have much more energy where they had their convention – right here.”
Walz brings the perspective of the rural Midwest to the presidential race, but is considered part of the liberal wing of the Democrats. Many Americans do not yet know him – in his speech in Chicago he will probably give the party convention and the viewers of the television broadcast an insight into his personal story.
Walz is expected to talk about growing up in a small town in Nebraska, where he works on his family farm, and talk about his military service, his experiences as a teacher and his political career.
Walz has already appeared with Harris at rallies in several states that will be particularly contested in the November election. There they gave a first glimpse of how the duo could affect voters: a white ex-congressman from the heart of the Midwest and a black and South Asian former senator from California.
The lively events provided a striking reminder of how different the campaign looked just a month ago, when 81-year-old President Joe Biden ignored concerns about his age and mental state, withdrew from the candidacy and endorsed Harris instead.
Republicans are still shaken by the turnaround: They are trying to portray Walz as a “dangerous liberal extremist” who has made inaccurate and contradictory statements about himself. However, the attacks have not worked and the duo of Harris and Walz have set campaign donation records. The Democratic candidate is now ahead of Trump in national polls.
Walz’s nomination as vice-presidential candidate shows “that it is more than acceptable, and even praised, to embody a type of masculinity that is kind and compassionate,” says Sabrina Karim, a university lecturer at the elite Cornell University. “His form of masculinity contrasts with Donald Trump, and offers some voters, especially white male voters, an alternative way of being masculine that might be appealing.”
In addition to Walz, numerous celebrities and high-ranking party figures will speak at the party convention on Wednesday, including former President Bill Clinton.
