Unlike the auditions for a stand-in that dominated Donald Trump’s vice presidential search, Kamala Harris’ review of possible running mates has resulted in the selection of second-term Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Beyond the personality and the policies and necessary pageantry of a political election, the job of vice president is supposed to be about one thing: being ready to be president. It is a bit of an oddball role, essentially a spare, someone who might have some broad rollout responsibilities in an administration but who is in effect a ceremonial figure, until they’re not.
Harris is 59 and in good health, and it seems unlikely that, were she to be elected, her vice president would be forced to step in. But the No. 2 has to be ready, even if only to take the reins as Harris recovers from some medical procedure or is otherwise indisposed.
Can Walz be ready to, at the drop of a hat, go from a high-level support role to the captain’s seat of the most complex ship in human history? We believe he can. As governor, he didn’t coast along but got his hands dirty to use the powers and the bully pulpit of the office, from universal free school lunches to enshrining a right to abortion post-Roe overturn to streamlining clean energy projects, sometimes working with Republicans to get things through.
His folksiness is a big part of the appeal, but it’s about more than just aesthetics. Walz wasn’t assembled in a lab to be a national politician, as it sometimes seems like many high-level candidates are. He never went to law school, unlike every Democratic vice presidential candidate since 1964, and spent about a decade as a high school teacher and football coach after having served almost a quarter century in the Army National Guard.
As a congressman for 12 years, Walz also intimately understands another branch of government, and has built-in Washington connections even while retaining true outside-the-beltway bona fides. Opponents are already predictably calling him a Marxist, but Walz had a moderate voting record in Congress.
Plus, he really has spent the bulk of his life in rural Nebraska and Minnesota, unlike vice presidential opponent JD Vance, who has strived mightily to present himself as a son of rural Appalachia despite never really living there himself.
Speaking of Vance, it’s far less certain that the 40-year-old, who has been in public office only for about 18 months, has the same ability to step up to the plate at a moment’s notice to take over the big job in the Oval Office.
Trump seems fit enough, but he is still 78 and both Mother Nature and Father Time are unforgiving, as we all saw what happened with Joe Biden. Are Americans comfortable that if something happens to Trump, standing at the ready will be Vance? Vance’s rollout has not been such a success and Walz has labeled him weird, a description that seems to be sticking. Now it’s Walz’s turn under the spotlight.
It’ll be up to Harris and Walz to make their case to the American public, but the VP pick is at base a serious person with real credentials, and that’s refreshing.
