Tim Walz is officially running for vice president
The Democratic Party convention continues in Chicago, where Vice President Kamala Harris was officially nominated as a presidential candidate. On the third day of the convention, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is officially nominated as the vice presidential candidate.
The election is only 11 weeks away, but for the most part, Americans still don’t know much about Walz, and his convention speech will be an opportunity for him to spread the word.
Tim Walz, 60, a National Guard veteran, former schoolteacher and soccer coach, will talk about his childhood on a Nebraska farm and his family, as well as the freedoms Democrats say are threatened by Donald Trump’s renewed bid for the White House.
Speaking in support of Harris and Walz on Wednesday, the third day of the convention, are former President Bill Clinton, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigich and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s former security and foreign policy adviser, is also speaking, part of the Democrats’ program to attract Republicans.
On Tuesday, former President Barack Obama came out in support of Harris and Walz.
Harris campaign officials are betting that, as a native of the Midwest, Walz will attract some of the rural whites who voted for Trump in the last two elections. That will help Democrats win states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
“Not only do we have tremendous energy at our convention, we have a lot more energy where the Republicans held their convention – right here”, Walz said at a joint rally with Harris on Tuesday, in the same Milwaukee arena where Republicans held their convention in July.
On Wednesday, Trump is co-hosting a campaign event in North Carolina with Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance, where national security will be the theme of his speech.
Republicans have sharply criticized the Democrats’ economic plans, calling dangerously liberal Walz’s progressive policies that have made school meals free, specified goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, expanded paid leave and protected union workers’ collective bargaining and overtime.
The criticism has had little effect, however, and the Harris-Walz campaign has broken fundraising records and is raising ratings among voters.
Harris and Walz have appeared together at numerous events in the states with the most intense electoral battles, trying to appeal to voters – Harris as a politician with African-American and South Asian roots and a former California attorney general, Walz as a white ex-congressman representing the blue-collar Midwest.