Walz takes on fellow midwesterner JD Vance ahead on popularity, but the economy remains the critical issue
Tim Walz has had a meteoric rise to the national political stage, advancing from state governor to Democratic running mate, bolstering Kamala Harris’s presidential chances, invigorating the party’s base, and re-popularizing the term “weird” along the way.
On Tuesday night, the avuncular Minnesota governor will face his next challenge: taking on Ohio senator JD Vance, in a much-anticipated debate in New York. Both men have long sold their experiences of growing up in rural midwest towns as proof that they represent middle America, and both were recruited to augment their parties’ chances in November.
With Harris and Trump hailing from large coastal cities, Tuesday’s debate will see which of the small-town vice-presidential candidates can best appeal to the sort of blue-collar workers who could swing the vote in November.
So far, Walz seems to be doing the most convincing job. The 60-year-old is more popular among the American public than Harris, Trump or Vance, and has received rousing receptions on the campaign trail, where his rallies and events showcase his ability to act like a regular person. Vance, by contrast, can come across as stiff and awkward, and has managed to alienate large sections of the American public via criticisms of immigrants and women who do not have children.
“The selection of Tim Walz as the vice-presidential nominee was sort of designed to help Kamala Harris reach midwestern voters – and midwestern white voters in particular. He’s the type of midwesterner that people can identify with,” said Emmitt Riley, a professor of politics and African and African American studies at Sewanee University and the chair of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists.
“I think Tim Walz has done what he needed to do, because if we think about Kamala Harris’s favorabilities, they’re up, I think poll numbers are shifting – she’s not pulling ahead of Donald Trump with respect to issues on the economy, but voters are now warming to her economic message. So I do believe he’s been able to attract the support he needs.”
An event at a high school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in late September showed Walz’s appeal. Wearing an open-necked blue shirt and a gray suit, the former schoolteacher came out to the song Small Town by John Mellencamp. There’s nothing disingenuous about the music choice: Walz was born and grew up in Valentine, Nebraska, a town of about 2,500 people, a point he makes on the campaign trail.
