The stage is now set for a presidential election showdown between Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican nominee former President Donald Trump. Harris on Tuesday tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate to take on Trump and his No. 2, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).
The two No. 2s will get a chance to square off in almost real time as Walz is traveling this week with Harris to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada, while Vance will follow an overlapping itinerary to offer his own counterprogramming in some places.
Some takeaways on the race now that Harris has settled on Walz:
Walz Balances Democratic Party’s Ticket: Strategist
Some in Harris’s inner circle saw Walz as a do-no-harm choice who can keep the party unified heading into the Democratic National Convention opening in Chicago on Aug. 19.
“This is a non-controversial pick. Kamala Harris signaled just this morning that she would do no harm to the ticket,” Robin Biro, Democratic Party strategist and former regional campaign director for Barack Obama, told NTD.
“[Walz] worked for 20 years as a school teacher, and he’s got degrees in science. He is an Army veteran. He served 12 years in Congress. He balances the ticket in a way that really no one else can and he’s the least controversial pick that I think she could have made.”
Biro said Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as a pick, would come with baggage.
“There was a staffer in his office that [had] some allegation of sexual misconduct. [Shapiro] claims he never found out about it, it never got to him. But I would have been answering for the next three months, as would the Harris campaign to that allegation,” Biro said.
Biro said Shapiro’s pro-Israel stance is also an issue. “Also, you know, my party is still torn. You’ve got young people in the Democratic Party that are pro-Palestine. Most of America is pro-Israel, and that would have been a real issue, I think, with Governor Shapiro. Governor Walz doesn’t have any of that controversy.”
Both Trump, Harris Choose VP that Align With Them
Neither vice presidential pick is seen as building out his party’s coalition, according to analysts—a sign that both campaigns view this election as about boosting turnout from their existing bases.
Just as Walz hails from the solidly Democratic state of Minnesota, Vance comes from the safely Republican state of Ohio. There is a bet that each choice can radiate Midwestern appeal to the key “blue wall” states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin simply by dint of geographical proximity.
“Sometimes they pick a vice presidential candidate that’s on the other side so that they can bring other people that that presidential candidate wouldn’t normally get, but here they said, no, we’re picking people … that align with them,” Donte Mills, political strategist, attorney, and founding partner at Mills & Edwards LLP, told NTD.
“Donald Trump said, if you like my policies, you’ll like my vice presidential candidate, and you’ll vote for us,” Mills said. “And I think vice president Harris said the same thing: This is who I am, I’m going to pick somebody that aligns with me to make it easy for voters to see what they’re going to get and then let them decide.”
Vance Offering Battleground Counterprograming to Walz
Vance is set to follow an overlapping itinerary to Harris and Walz over the next two days, including stops in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. His role is to attack the Biden administration’s policies.
Vance got out ahead of the Democrats in Philadelphia on Tuesday, holding an event hours before Harris was to formally introduce her new running mate at a rally. He said during his Philadelphia stop that “I absolutely want to debate Tim Walz,” but not until after the Democratic convention.
Harris’s team seemed to be happy to have Vance making the contrast with the Democrats.
“We appreciate JD Vance providing voters in battleground states exactly the split-screen that defines the choice this November,” said Harris campaign spokesman Charles Lutvak.
NTD’s Stefania Cox and Tiffany Meier, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.