Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz single-handedly launched “weird” as the Democrats’ go-to insult for the MAGA crowd this summer. Now he and Vice President Kamala Harris, who has chosen Walz as the running mate in her presidential campaign, are fleshing out for voters the other side of the equation: what it looks like to be “normal.” And it’s going surprisingly well.
In short videos shared over social media in recent days, Harris’ presidential campaign has generated a series of viral clips that capture private conversations between Harris and Walz that come across as intimate and improvised. The videos are warm in tone and often funny, and they show the candidates discussing mundane, apolitical topics like food and music.
Harris’ campaign has struck upon a fresh and surprisingly engaging communication strategy.
Over the weekend, Walz posted a video on X showing the two of them searching for snacks at a rest stop during their “Road to Chicago” bus tour. Harris peruses one aisle alongside her husband while asking Walz, “Do you see corn nuts over there, Tim?” Walz then emerges from another with another snack: a big bag of Doritos. Harris gratefully grabs the bag, exclaiming “ah, yeah,” and then immediately continues to hunt for other snacks.
The clip lasts just 10 seconds, but it’s strangely arresting. It showcases a scene instantly recognizable to just about any American: hungry road-trippers looking for and discussing their favorite snacks, a familiar blend of tedium and small delights. Whether the scene was in any way orchestrated, the pair come off as relatable humans, and they comport themselves in a way one rarely sees politicians do. Walz’s snack suggestion also incidentally doubles as a reference to Harris’ recent confession that she binged on a “family-sized bag of nacho Doritos” after President Donald Trump won the White House — another recent piece of normcore rhetoric.
Every road trip needs a snack break.
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) August 18, 2024
Doritos acquired. I got you, @KamalaHarris. pic.twitter.com/5nXfEARqwF
Harris’ campaign also released video last week of Harris and Walz getting to know each other filled with some genuinely funny moments. In a one-on-one exchange, Walz discloses his affection for “white guy tacos” — that is, tacos without spice — to the consternation of Harris, who reminds him she grew chili peppers at the vice president’s residence. In another moment, the two exchange their favorite music (Harris talks about her mother’s Aretha Franklin super fandom; Walz describes his love for Bruce Springsteen). They also released video of Harris’ first attempt to call Walz to officially ask him to be her running mate, which Walz accidentally missed. It’s impossible to know how much, if any, of these exchanges may have been discussed in advance. But it’s obvious that the conversations are heavily improvised. They’re politicians, not actors, and their laughter, jokes and commentary radiate the warmth of two people with conversational chemistry and a discernible interest in the world outside of politics.
Even some of the videos capturing Harris and Walz’s campaign activities have a conspicuously casual tone, showing Harris petting dogs and campaigning once again in Converse Chuck Taylors. And Walz is a normcore warrior on the campaign trail, slamming Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance for faking kinship with the working class he scorns using references to food.
Harris’ campaign has struck upon a fresh and surprisingly engaging communication strategy. All politicians want to appear as ordinary citizens who understand the way other ordinary citizens live. But achieving that often involves awkward contrivances, such as stuffing corn dogs into their mouths in front of hordes of journalists at a county fair. Harris’ campaign has avoided hokey press spectacles and instead leveraged smart video production and social media to brandish its normie credentials.
Beyond being clever, Harris and Walz’s normcore aesthetic buttresses the emerging populist themes of Harris’ campaign as she goes about unveiling progressive economic policies on housing, medical debt and the child tax credit. And it marks a concerted attempt to contest the claim that far too many have bought: that Trump speaks on behalf of so-called real America. (It is difficult to imagine imperious billionaire Trump and his awkward, chameleon of a running mate, Vance, ever chatting it up so naturally anywhere, but especially not at a rest stop.)
Harris cannot win an election based purely on impressive social media optics and normie vibes. Nor should she. But if she can make a substantive case for how she can make America and the world more just for the masses through progressive policies, then channeling the everywoman and everyman vibes will be more than just a convincing shtick.
Zeeshan Aleem is a writer and editor for MS NOW. He primarily writes about politics and foreign policy.