Aug 7 \u2013 As they walked out for the first time as presidential running mates on Tuesday night, Tim Walz turned to Kamala Harris and mouthed one word: \u201cwow\u201d.<\/p>\n
It spoke to the enthusiastic response from the Philadelphia crowd, but also reflected the unlikely journey that the Minnesota governor has been on over the past week.<\/p>\n
Few people had Mr Walz on their early lists of possible vice-presidential choices. But on Tuesday, the dark horse won the race.<\/p>\n
In a year when \u201cvibes\u201d have been everything in politics \u2013 on the economy, on the campaign trail \u2013 that is exactly what Kamala Harris has gone for: good vibes.<\/p>\n
The Minnesota governor has a \u201cmidwestern nice\u201d appeal, even when he is throwing political punches. His background \u2013 a teacher, a football coach, an Army National Guard enlisted soldier \u2013 broadcasts \u201cmeat-and-potatoes middle America\u201d, as does perhaps his balding, rotund, slightly dishevelled appearance.<\/p>\n
All of this was on display here in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
After noting that violent crime rates went up under Donald Trump, he added \u2013 with a smile \u2013 \u201cand that doesn\u2019t even count the crimes he committed\u201d. He called the Republican ticket \u201cweird as hell\u201d \u2013a label that has become a Democratic mantra in just a matter of days. And on the topic of abortion, he said government should follow a midwestern golden rule: \u201cMind your own damn business\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mixing humour with jabs \u2013 and speaking openly of the \u201cjoy\u201d he sees in Democratic politics \u2013 may prove to be a more effective way to convince undecided voters who were simply not convinced by the dark \u201cthreat to democracy\u201d rhetoric the Biden campaign had been using.<\/p>\n
Mr Walz\u2019s aw-shucks affability stood in sharp contrast with other possible choices \u2013 the polished and ambitious Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, with his arrow-straight military demeanour.<\/p>\n
Mr Shapiro served as the warm-up act for the new Democratic ticket, and he received a hero\u2019s welcome from his home-state crowd. It was a reminder of what Ms Harris passed over in picking Mr Walz \u2013 a popular politician with a silver tongue from perhaps the most important state on the electoral map.<\/p>\n
Mr Walz was a safer pick than the Pennsylvanian, however, whose criticism of pro-Palestinian protesters and support for using public funds for private schools prompted objections from key parts of the Democratic base. These risked reopening intraparty divisions at a time when Democrats were finally pulling together.<\/p>\n
And while Minnesota is not a battleground state, the Harris campaign may hope that Mr Walz has midwestern appeal in places like Wisconsin and Michigan, which will ultimately help decide this election.<\/p>\n
By taking a Republican-held House seat in 2006, Mr Walz has already shown he can win round a significant number of rural and Republican voters.<\/p>\n
And Mr Walz has proven adept at defending his record of progressive legislation in a way that moderates and independent voters can understand.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also a native of Nebraska, which in 2020 delivered one of its electoral votes to Joe Biden. It\u2019s by far the smallest battleground, but in a close race it could be the difference between victory and defeat.<\/p>\n
Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat grandee who was so instrumental in persuading Joe Biden to step aside for Ms Harris, has been gushing in her praise of the \u201cwonderful\u201d Mr Walz.<\/p>\n
It is no surprise. His 2006 victory helped deliver the House majority to Ms Pelosi as House Speaker, and to the Democrats for the first time in 12 years.<\/p>\n
Republicans are going to try to erase these early good vibes and replace them with a darker picture.<\/p>\n