Walz Ticks All The Right Boxes For Harris – OpEd

By Dr. Amal Mudallali

In choosing a little-known Midwestern governor to be her running mate, Democratic US presidential candidate Kamala Harris bypassed three other powerful governors and angered their supporters, but avoided a fight within her party and its campaign, and probably secured the Arab American and Muslim American vote.

Tim Walz — governor of Minnesota since 2018, a former congressman, and a white liberal labor champion — fits Harris’s campaign strategy to win the presidency by securing the working and middle class vote, and his strong record of liberal policies also aligns with her vision for the future of America.

In her first speech as a candidate last month, Harris said: “Building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.” This is what she saw in the policies that Walz has enacted in Minnesota, and persuaded her to choose him over Josh Shapiro or Andy Beshear, the governors of Pennsylvania and Kentucky, and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.

The choice of Walz was a win for the progressive and left wing of the Democratic Party, which opposed Shapiro even though Pennsylvania is a crucial swing state. Opposition focused on his support for school voucher programs for private schools, and on natural gas infrastructure, but above all because of his close relationship with Israel and his views on the protest movement against the war on Gaza: protesters called him “genocide Shapiro.” In addition, while Walz has no wish to be president, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman warned the Harris campaign that Shapiro was “excessively focused on his own personal ambitions.”

Walz was also chosen because Harris feels comfortable with him and they have good chemistry. Watching their first joint rally, it was clear that they enjoyed campaigning together. He thanked her for “bringing back joy” to the campaign. He is also a plainspoken anti-Trump attacker who made the description “weird” stick to Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance.

A moderate Democrat in Congress, Walz turned liberal when he ran for governor, a pivot that has earned him praise this week from both wings of the party. Sen. Joe Manchin, who quit the Democratic Party in May, said Walz would restore balance to it, and progressive New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke glowingly of his achievements.

Polling suggests that more than 71 percent of Americans do not know enough about Walz to have an opinion on him, which could be a blessing: it means Walz and the Democrats have the chance to define him themselves instead of letting the Republicans do so.

The Democrats pointed to Walz’s record as a decorated veteran of 24 years in the National Guard, a man who brings Midwestern appeal to a campaign that must win Wisconsin and Michigan to win the election. His social policies include paid family and medical leave, protecting abortion rights, and free school meals. Although a hunter, he went from being a supporter of firearms to a champion of gun reform and measures such as universal background checks.

For the first time in this election campaign, thanks to the Harris-Walz ticket, the Democrats can see a path to victory.

Dr. Amal Mudallali

A well-liked governor, a former football coach, and a social studies schoolteacher with rural roots, Walz enjoys the full support of the labor movement.

The Republicans have been quick to brand him a radical liberal and a socialist. Rep. Tom Tiffany described Walz and Harris as “the socialist dream,” while the Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said they were “the most radical, far-left ticket in the history of our country.”

The Trump campaign called Walz a “rubber stamp” for a “dangerously liberal agenda,” while others went so far as to say that choosing him was “a signal to the flag burners and Hamas lovers that they still have a seat at the table.”

Walz is known to support Israel and has voted to send aid there, but his stance is similar to that of Harris and many other mainstream Democrats who also support a two-state solution and care about the humanitarian situation of the Palestinian people. He was one of the earliest to call for a permanent working ceasefire in Gaza, as Harris did in March.

About the ceasefire, he said: “We need a two-state solution. The atrocities of Oct. 7 are painful and real, and Israel’s right to defend itself is real, but the situation in Gaza is also intolerable. The humanitarian crisis must be brought to an end.”

Walz has visited the Middle East once, in 2009, when he traveled to Israel and the occupied West Bank and met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; and to Syria, where he met President Bashar Assad. He told the Israelis that the growing number of Jewish settlements in the West Bank were hampering the prospects for peace.

A year later he told AIPAC, the powerful Israeli lobby group, that Israel was “our truest and closest ally” in a tough neighborhood. “A workable solution in that region can be a catalyst for stability throughout the region. And stability in the region brings stability throughout the world. The US has a proper role as a world leader being part of the solution,” he said.

The choice of Walz as running mate seems to have been received well by both Arab Americans and the uncommitted movement. Elianne Farhat, a senior adviser for the Uncommitted Campaign, said: “Gov. Walz has demonstrated a remarkable ability to evolve as a public leader and unite a diverse group of Democrats.” She hoped he would support an embargo on weapons sales to Israel. Leading Michigan politician Abraham Aiyash said Harris’s choice of Walz signaled that she was “listening to the voices of young, grassroots, pro-ceasefire, and other voters.”

For the first time in this election campaign, thanks to the Harris-Walz ticket, the Democrats can see a path to victory — but it will be a close and hard-fought election and it is still anyone’s guess who will win.

• Dr. Amal Mudallali is a consultant on global issues, and former Lebanese ambassador to the UN.