In the United States, Kamala Harris and her new running mate were at a rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, a key state for the November presidential election. The Democratic duo’s first campaign event came just hours after the vice president, who is running for the White House, announced that she had chosen Tim Walz as her partner. This rally was an opportunity to introduce him to the general public.
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Tim Walz officially introduced by Kamala Harristo applause in Philadelphia on August 6, 2024. For their first public appearance, the vice president devoted a large part of her speech to the life and career of her political partner, whose profile she particularly highlighted ” Mister everyone “, reports our correspondent in New York, Lubna Anaki.
” He’s a husband, a dad. To his high school alumni, he’s Mr. Walz. He’s a patriot, a Nebraska native who grew up on a farm. “.
Tim Walz, unknown to the general public
Kamala Harris knows that Tim Walz remains unknown to a large majority of citizens of the UNITED STATES who say they have never heard of him. At his side, the sixty-year-old nevertheless appeared very comfortable, faithful to his frankness. He did not hesitate to attack the opposing camp.
” Donald Trump doesn’t fight for you or your family. He never had to sit, like I did, at the kitchen table wondering how to pay the bills. He sat in his Mar-a-Lago, wondering how to lower taxes for his wealthy friends. I have to tell you, these people are scary and yes, they are super weird “.
After Pennsylvania, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will now travel to six other key states, starting with Wisconsin on Wednesday, August 7. States in which the profile of the Democratic running mate should help attract rural white voters.
Read alsoUnited States: Kamala Harris chooses Tim Walz to be her vice president
By appointing Tim Walz, the White House candidate has chosen a complementary running mate, supposed to compensate for her weak points. Kamala Harris corresponds to an urban, Californian America, very left. He comes from a rural world, he was a teacher, he posts videos on X to explain how to repair his lawnmower, but he has, at the same time, a political project quite to the left, which can reassure the left wing of the party for this campaign. He rebalances the team “, underlines Fanny Lauby, interviewed by Anastasia Becchio from RFI.
After Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy on July 21, Harris had little time to make her choice, a process that typically takes months. The list of possible running mates included several other white men, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and former astronaut-turned-Arizona senator Mark Kelly.
Tim Walz the least risky choice for Kamala Harris
Tim Walz’s nomination was the least risky, according to Fanny Lauby, the other candidates having more divisive positions on several subjects: ” Tim Walz does not offend the Democratic team and he is able to reassure the centrists, both Democrats and Republicans, tired of the identity arguments brandished by Donald Trump. “.
Tim Walz has been governor of Minnesota, in the Great Lakes region, since 2019, a Democratic state where rural voters largely voted for Donald Trump.
” As a governor, coach, teacher and veteran, Tim Walz has championed the interests of working families like his own “, Kamala Harris argued.
Seen as rather moderate, the candidate for the vice-presidency of the United States has also taken measures labeled progressive, such as the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana or the establishment of free meals in school cafeterias. He is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Worker Party. Democrats praise his record on protecting the right to abortion.
After the Supreme Court ruled in June 2022 that abortion was protected under the Constitution, he pledged to make his state a sanctuary for women seeking abortions. In March 2024, he participated in the first trip by a vice president to an abortion clinic, Kamala Harris.
Trump camp calls Walz a dangerous leftist
Donald Trump’s campaign team has already called Tim Walz a ” dangerous extremist leftist ” and his supporters launch the first barbs.
A year after becoming governor of Minnesota, he is faced with two crises: the Covid-19 pandemic and the death of African-American George Floyd, under the knee of a white police officer. Minneapolis, the state’s largest city, is ablaze. It is the starting point of a huge movement of anti-racist demonstrations that shakes America for many months.
As soon as Kamala Harris’ decision was made public, images of the 2020 riots resurfaced on social media. This episode could be exploited by Donald Trump’s camp, which accuses the governor of being too lax in his management of crime: ” This fits with the image that Republicans like to portray of Democrats, that is, a weak party that does not know how to respond to violence, particularly urban violence. “, notes Fanny Lauby, recalling that at the time Tim Walz had hesitated to send the National Guard against the demonstrators.