Kamala Harris Chooses Running Mate

All right, I want to get back to our breaking news this morning. Kamala Harris has reportedly chosen a running mate. CNN, the Associated Press, and NBC News report, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will appear on the ticket with her in November. Of course, this is all according to sources close to her campaign.

Harris has not confirmed this herself yet, but this pick could be a make or break decision in her race for the presidency. This morning, Seth Masket, a professor of political science at DU, joins us to talk about what this means for Harris’s campaign. Good morning.

Good morning.

So, we knew that he was in the final running. Why do you think that she picked him in the end?

It’s interesting. In some ways I think she seemed to go with him, less of the promise of delivering a state, I think it was reasonable to think she was probably going to win Minnesota anyway, as Democrats have in recent years. But more about a regional effect, that he’s someone who seems to speak the language of upper-Midwestern whites. It might help her ticket somewhat in some of the crucial upper-Midwestern states, like Wisconsin and Minnesota. And more generally, he seems to be very good at connecting progressive policy wins with a pretty folksy and moderate appearance and tenor, and that seems to be just the kind of thing she was looking for.

When you take that mix, Seth, that you were just describing, of course his appeal for his progressive policies, but also the fact that they hope that he appeals to the working class in Rust Belt states, how do you think that’s going to have an impact on votes from battleground states dates?

I mean, it’s hard to say. The literature on this is a little mixed. It’s hard to know just how many votes this will move. But what this looks likely that it’s probably not going to cost for any votes. He seems to be an energetic campaigner. He’s very good on the stump and has won a number of impressive victories in that state. So, all that speaks well of him and his potential contribution to the ticket.

(02:01)
Also, he seems to be someone who reinforces her message in a number of areas. I think probably most importantly is that this is something that younger and more left Democrats were excited about and they were, I think, leery of some of the other candidates. So, it seems to be leaning into the idea that the problem that the Biden ticket had was that it was not exciting its base. It was not getting people to turn out. And this seems to be leaning in on getting people excited to turn out to the Democratic side.

Seth, we know that Walz is a veteran and a former teacher, but talk a little bit more about what Walz is known for politically.

Well, politically, he has managed to achieve a number of things with the Democratic legislature in Minnesota. He actually got some national attention for pushing through school meals, paid-for meals for school children. He’s been very outspoken in protecting abortion rights and rights for LGTBQ students and children. These are things that have been a little bit lightning rod, but he has mostly managed to sell them in a very effective way, and seem like just simply the reasonable person in the room.

(03:17)
I think most recently, he seems to be the one most credited with labeling the 2024 Republican ticket as “weird”, which is something that the Harris campaign has really run with, and a lot of folks on the Democratic side have really embraced, just portraying the Democrats is kind of the normal people in the room and the Republicans is somewhat bizarre. That seems to be a message the Harris campaign wanted to run with.

Of course, Seth, as we’ve been reporting, we are expecting to see Harris and Walz appear together tonight for the first time. Going forward, what do you think voters can expect to hear from this ticket?

I mean, I think you’re going to see this as a very active ticket. He will, in particular, be campaigning all throughout the Midwestern and Appalachian states that look even remotely competitive. They’ll be trying to expand the board a little bit and figure out just what they’re capable of, where they’re able to actually move the needle a little bit.

(04:22)
And I think while they will be appearing together for now and appearing somewhat together at the convention in a few weeks, I think for the most part, the two will be running very separately from each other, each trying to excite different parts of the country. And so it’ll be a very active group of campaigners here.

Seth, one more question for you. I’ve got to ask you about the other side with the Trump-Vance ticket. How do you think that this pick affects that side, if at all?

I mean, immediately, I’m sure they have a fair amount of research on Walz and they’re going to try and portray him as relatively extreme. There’s already been some things where they’re criticizing Harris for not picking some of the other candidates, not picking Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, or not picking Mark Kelly in Arizona. I don’t know how much truck that will actually have, but they’ll be looking for ways to portray them just as out of touch with regular Americans. But that’ll be a hard sell, I would think, but it the go-to playbook.

All right, well, Seth, we appreciate you taking time out of your morning to help us understand this pick just a little bit more, especially as we can expect more headlines to come from this announcement. Again, this is Seth Masket, a political science professor at DU joining us on the phone. Seth, thank you very much.

Good talking to you.

All right, you too.