The joyful Minnesota governor is a valuable spokesperson for Harris whose background and personality can help the Democratic ticket undermine Trumpā€™s efforts to woo Americaā€™s men.

Tim Walzā€™sĀ first official speechĀ on the Democratic ticket displayed all the reasons thatĀ Kamala HarrisĀ has been lauded for picking the Minnesota governor as her running mate. Personally, I think one outshines all the rest.

Walzā€™s military background and his work as a high school teacher and football coach, along with his palpable joy andĀ open expressions of compassion for people in need, offer America a vision of what manhood can look like ā€” heā€™s a ā€œjoyful warriorā€ offering a vision in contrast with whatā€™s being offered by Donald Trumpā€™s bravado-driven campaign.

And heā€™s clearly willing to challenge Team Trump on that front. He displayed that even before he received the call to join Harrisā€™ campaign, using public appearances to refer to Trump and his allies asĀ ā€œbulliesā€ who are truly weak at heartĀ and by mocking the GOP ticket for ā€œrunning for He-Man Women Haters Club or something.ā€

  • @fine_sandy_bottom
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    6ā€¢3 months ago

    I agree with everything youā€™ve said, the optics and the ā€œfeelsā€ are at an all time high.

    That said, a lot of reporting is saying that the choice of VP doesnā€™t have a significant impact on election day.

    IDK how that can really be true though. For the next several months Walz will be shaping the publicā€™s opinion of Kamala. Obviously on election day people will vote for Kamala or Trump, but Walz can convince people to vote for Kamala.

    • @MutilationWave@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Usually true that they donā€™t have much of an impact. But there are outliers. At one time in my youth there were two Republicans that I respected. Colin Powell and John McCain. I lost that respect for Powell when he went on TV and lied to get us into Iraq war 2.

      But to the point, I lost my respect for John McCain when he took Sarah Palin as his running mate. Weā€™ll never know but it very well could have cost him the election.

    • KillingTimeItself
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      3ā€¢3 months ago

      yeah historically thatā€™s the case, but trump also literally picked a candidate willing to overthrow democracy as well. I think it matters more this time, because historically VP picks are almost always swing state candidates, because they generally have a lot of pull in either direction. In this case, it breaks that norm, and i think as long as it influences voters enough now, and they continue campaigning together up until the election, it should help to energize voters quite a bit.

      Walz is a really good public speaker, and so is kamala, having them play off of each other is only going to further improve things IMO.