“Thank you, Madame Vice President, for the trust you put in me, but maybe more so, thank you for bringing back the joy.”
That’s how Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota began his first speech as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, the latest development in a seismic two-and-a-half weeks in American politics. This week, thousands gathered in Philadelphia to see Harris and Walz introduce themselves as a ticket.
They cheered for the governor’s zingers and heaped praise upon Harris, nearly blowing the roof off Temple University’s Liacouras Center with the rallying cry, “We’re not going back.”
They cheered for the governor’s zingers and heaped praise upon Harris, nearly blowing the roof off Temple University’s Liacouras Center with the rallying cry, “We’re not going back.”
In the City of Brotherly Love, it soon became evident the joy Walz was talking about: the joy of a party that had found its footing after a contentious and, at times, bitterly divided month. A party that had coalesced into a singular force with a unified purpose: defeating Donald Trump in 90 days.
As the first “Harris-Walz” branding was still rolling off the presses, political heavy-hitters of all stripes praised Harris’ pick.
Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York called it an “excellent” decision. Joe Manchin, the independent (formerly Democratic) senator from West Virginia, said Walz would “bring normality back to the most chaotic political environment that most of us have ever seen.” Even Larry Hogan, the former Republican governor of Maryland who’s running for the U.S. Senate, praised Walz’s “dedication to public service.”
Though former President Donald Trump’s campaign insisted Walz would “UNLEASH HELL ON EARTH,” Trump himself appointed Walz in 2019 to serve on the Council of Governors, a bipartisan advisory group that consists of five Democratic and five Republican governors. And ABC News recently unearthed audio of Trump praising the governor’s handling of the 2020 George Floyd protests.
Though Twitter isn’t necessarily real life, social media platforms brimmed with praise for Walz, including playful memes and musings that if Harris is “Brat,” Walz is “Midwest Princess.”
It’s impressive considering that this time last month, Walz was a virtual unknown outside of Minnesota. A Marist poll released Tuesday found that 71% of Americans had never heard of him. That’s despite a consequential five years as governor and six terms in Congress, where at one point he was rated the seventh most bipartisan member of the 435-member body.
But Walz’s unifying ability didn’t begin when Harris chose him as her running mate. Even with a narrow Democratic majority in his state’s Legislature, Walz has managed to enact a host of progressive policies in Minnesota without alienating his rural constituents.
He’s secured child tax credits and paid family leave for Minnesotans. He was the first governor to sign abortion rights into law after the fall of Roe v. Wade. He’s championed the safety of trans kids. He’s made roads safer by ensuring undocumented immigrants are eligible for driver's licenses.
Nowhere are Walz’s progressive bona fides more evident than his education policy.
But nowhere are Walz’s progressive bona fides more evident than his education policy, likely because Walz was a teacher. While Republican governors like Arkansas’ Sarah Huckabee Sanders were signing bills to roll back child labor regulations, Walz was literally embraced by elementary students as he signed a bill ensuring them free breakfast and lunch on school days.
Republicans have complained that Walz ensured free menstrual products in student bathrooms (the horror!), but conveniently omit that the policy was secured as part of a $2.2 billion education spending package he signed last year, averaging to $400 in extra funds per student, one of the largest education investments in Minnesota history.
These investments don’t stop with grade school. In just a few months, graduating Minnesota students will begin reaping the benefits of North Star Promise, a program Walz signed into law that covers public college tuition and fees for families making under $80,000 thousand a year, regardless of immigration status.
Walz seems to realize that even the most divisive policy proposals become popular if they result in tangible benefits. Long gone is the “death panel” fearmongering around the Affordable Care Act; now it enjoys a 62% approval rating, according to KFF, and sees record signups year after year. Opponents of same-sex marriage vowed it would lead to the breakdown of society, but nearly 10 years after marriage equality became law of the land, a Gallup poll found 69% of Americans support it without a second thought.
This might be the secret sauce to Walz’s big tent: improvements to people’s lives guided by an appeal to our better natures. Maybe the key to the Harris-Walz campaign’s momentum — and the key to Democrats keeping the White House — lies in bringing back sanity, and with it, the joy.
For more thought-provoking insights from Alicia Menendez, Michael Steele and Symone Sanders-Townsend, watch “The Weekend” every Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. ET on MSNBC.