Current Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris has officially announced her running mate for the 2024 election. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a former teacher and Army National Guard veteran, has joined her on the Democratic ticket.
The fight for the White House is officially between them and former president Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance.
Harris gave Walz the good news over a video call. CNN mentions that this has given the governor a “short but swift ascent from a relative unknown to a leading driver of the party’s attacks against the former president and the MAGA agenda”.
Walz was chosen amongst half a dozen Democrats in what can be considered a quick vice presidential search after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Other possible running mates included Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.
Harris held in-person interviews with Walz, Shapiro, and Kelly last Sunday, which seem to have held the most weight regarding the vice president’s decision. CNN lists some reasons Harris chose Walz as being the latter’s genuineness and authenticity, as well as the chemistry the two had during that final interview.
Walz and Harris appeared at a rally in Philadelphia this past Tuesday. There, Walz shared his enthusiasm about what lies ahead and thanked Harris for “bringing back the joy”. CNN also quotes Walz as saying:
“We’ve got 91 days. We’ll sleep when we’re dead…over those 91 days, and every day in the White House, I’ll have Vice President Harris’ back every single day – and we’ll have yours”.
Walz has received much support from the Democratic Party, which isn’t shocking considering how he defended Joe Biden after a devastating debate performance against Trump and endorsed Harris one day after Biden dropped out of the race.
Nervous that Harris would choose Shapiro or Kelly as her running mate, Trump’s supporters don’t consider Walz a threat, with Minnesota Republican strategist saying he “doesn’t even register on the fear-o-meter”.
Regardless of what the other party thinks, Trump’s and Harris’s backers hope their respective running mates will help garner support for their presidential candidate. With the parties’ tickets official, the debate can only get more interesting from here on out.
