PHILADELPHIA — Kamala Harris’ en Tim Walz‘s first campaign stop as running mates offered a preview of how they will present the Democratic ticket to voters in their 91-day sprint to Election Day — as the candidates of the “future.”
The vice president and Minnesota governor took the stage before a raucous crowd at Temple University just hours after Harris announced him as her pick. Democrats are hoping the balance of the former California prosecutor and a former high school football coach from the Midwest could boost the party’s chances with Rust Belt voters.
“We need you, every single one of you,” Walz said. “My God, you came here tonight to sit at the very top [in the stands] because you love this country and you are not going back.”
It was reminiscent of parts of Harris’ speech, in which he argued that their campaign isn’t just about defeating former President Donald Trump in November, but also about the future of the country. Walz, who stood behind Harris as she spoke, clapped and enthusiastically engaged with the audience, at one point joining the crowd in a chant of “not going back.”
But it also showed how Walz can complement the vice president, as they hit the road after a snap vice presidential election. Walz, a veteran and former teacher, presented himself as a small-town man who grew up in Butte, Nebraska, where “community was the way of life.” He spoke about his military service, his family’s farm growing up, the values he tried to instill in his students and his family. He touched on how he and his wife underwent IVF to have their daughter, Hope.
He fulfilled his role as evangelist of Harris’ credentials and policy achievements while scrutinizing Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio in the candid, Midwestern manner that Democrats praise.
“Trump is weakening our economy to strengthen his hand. He’s making a mockery of our laws. He’s sowing chaos and division, and that’s not to mention his record as president. He froze in the face of the COVID crisis,” Walz said. “He’s run our economy into the ground. And make no mistake, violent crime has increased under Donald Trump — and that’s not to mention the crimes he’s committed.”
The new phrase prompted cries of “Lock him up.”
Walz also repeated his “weird” description of his opponents that he used in a cable news interview that went viral — and was widely picked up by Democrats.
“JD went to Yale, his career was funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and he wrote a best-selling book bashing that community. That’s not middle America. And I’ve got to tell you, I can’t wait to debate this guy — if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up,” Walz said, referring to memes on social media that falsely suggested Vance had intimate relations with a bank in his youth.
The rally was the campaign’s largest event so far, with more than 14,000 people in attendance at the venue and overflow area, according to Harris’ campaign. Tuesday also marked one of the biggest fundraising days this cycle — with Harris and Walz raising more than $20 million from grassroots supporters since the Minnesota governor was added to the ticket.
They were joined by DNC Chair Jaime Harrison and local and state leaders, including Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, Senators John Fetterman and Bob Casey, and Governor Josh Shapiro, who Harris was also considering as a running mate. The crowd chanted “he’s a weirdo” during Shapiro’s speech as the Pennsylvania governor took aim at Vance — a nod to the attack Walz had first launched.
Harris devoted part of her speech to thanking Shapiro for his leadership and friendship. She promised that he would still help the ticket winner win Pennsylvania, albeit as an alternate. She also received a prolonged round of applause from the arena.
The vice president, speaking before Walz, described them as two people who grew up as “middle-class kids.” She touted the governor’s legislative record in Minnesota — from reproductive rights to paid leave to voting rights and gun control. She said she was looking for a partner to help build a “better future,” and highlighted his former role as a football coach — she called him “Coach Walz” during her speech and referenced the popular TV show “Friday Night Lights.”
“Coach Walz and I may come from different corners of this great country, but our values are the same,” Harris said.
In the snaking line of people waiting to get into the rally, there was evidence that the vice president had mobilized a particularly online and young group of voters, many of whom were disgruntled by the presence of President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket. And, in a sign of how Walz has also resonated, many young voters were eager to point to a number of his accomplishments as governor, ranging from free school meals for schoolchildren to the legalization of recreational marijuana.
“Just the way he talks, the way he’s been in public: very direct, a little funny,” said Nora Spurrier, 24, who is from Shapiro’s hometown of Abington, Pennsylvania. “He’s just respectable and sensible.”
Debbie Medina, 31, traveled to the Harris rally from New York, where she works in state government. She registered as an independent in March out of disillusionment with the Democratic Party — but she felt Harris lacked energy in the 2020 and 2016 campaigns.
“It was just crazy to see that energy in a positive light, and it’s fun — it’s not scary,” Medina said. “I think there’s something wrong with the Democratic Party, which is they use fear tactics to get you to the polls. And for the first time, we’re seeing someone having fun with it.”
Democrats believe the new energy Walz brings to the campaign could be a boon in the Blue Wall states, as well as among white, working-class and male constituencies that Democrats have struggled to reach.
Harris and Walz followed up Tuesday’s rally with a national grassroots fundraiser and will fly across the country over the next five days to rally in critical states. A pair of East Coast stops were canceled because of a hurricane on the Atlantic coast, but they will visit Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and Detroit on Wednesday and Phoenix and Las Vegas later in the week.
Holly Otterbein contributed to this report.
