How fascinating and quickly inspirational has the news been that the Democratic candidate for President in 2024, Kamala Harris, has chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate. I had just written a commentary on “Kamala Harris for an Inclusive Presidency” to share my enthusiasm about her dual identity as an Indian-American and as an African-American – and my own personal identification with her capacity to translate that into an inclusive Presidency. And here she comes with a resoundingly personalized addition to my appreciation for her powerful image of inclusiveness!
Yes, here is another very personalized reminiscence – this time, a Minnesota connection! Objectively speaking, I had assumed, as did many in the media, that Kamala Harris would choose either Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania or Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. And I do see that the media are exploring the potential of portraying Kamala Harris as anti-Semitic for not choosing Governor Shapiro – in spite of her own husband being Jewish! And we may be seeing other negative commentaries for her not choosing Senator Kelly, as well, although I’m not sure what they might be. In a sense, the high visibility of the candidate-selection process does open up the potential for more scrutiny over why Governor Shapiro and Senator Kelly “lost out” to Governor Walz.
Within twelve hours of the choice of Governor Walz being announced, however, I have come around to appreciating both the wisdom and the strategic merits of her choice. Independently of the credentials of any of the other prospective candidates, Tim Walz has a lot going for him. It’s good, of course, that Harris appears to have a personal rapport with him and that he may be less of a competitor for the limelight that she needs to control for the sake of building her gravitas than either Shapiro or Kelly might have been. The key to me, though, is that Walz strengthens the vision of inclusiveness that the Harris campaign – and Presidency – can represent for a divided America.
I have been reminded, for example, of the media attention stimulated by former President Barack Obama in May when he tweeted, “If you need a reminder that elections have consequences, check out what’s happening in Minnesota.” This tweet has reappeared in the context of Obama’s quick endorsement of Walz joining the ticket with Harris. But I do remember reading about it several months ago. The point was that a Democratic Party “trifecta” (majority control of lower and upper houses and the governorship) had enabled the passage in Minnesota of a long-blocked agenda in support of things like abortion rights, paid family and medical leave, environmental protections, access to voting rights, state aid to public schools, legalizing recreational marijuana, strengthening union organizing rights, gun safety protections, LGBTQ+ protections – you name it! “These laws,” Obama had said, “will make a real difference in the lives of Minnesotans.”
While the attention then might have been on how fortunate it was that narrow election wins had produced the turn-around in the upper house as the pivotal element for a trifecta (since the lower house and the governor were already Democrats), the fact is that the governor in position to sign all these bills into law happened to be Tim Walz. In retrospect, then, his successful re-election to that position in 2022 was also a pivotal element. And the result is that the enactment of an impressively progressive – and popular – legislative agenda is now operating as the latest example of his standing as a truly progressive Democrat.
Governor Walz may – will – encounter criticism about how he handled the turmoil around the tragic murder of George Floyd in May 2020. And, yes, I do remember that the tragedy had triggered protests in Minneapolis. Critics have said that Governor Walz could have controlled the protests more quickly, that he took too long to call in the Minnesota National Guard. I would note here that it is interesting that Walz is himself a 24-year veteran of the Army National Guard. The protests against racism throughout the summer of 2020 that were worldwide after this tragedy seem to have faded from our collective memories, much like the lockdowns over Covid-19 also seem to have faded from our collective memories. But we can expect Walz’s candidacy will bring both developments from 2020 back into renewed focus.
Other aspects of Walz’s biography have also caught my eye. I have a personal interest in all things Minnesota, especially when it comes to politics, since I was born and raised in a staunchly Scandinavian-American culture there. Having found it to be much too mono-culturally progressive, I had resolved at an early age not to live the rest of my life there – and left with almost no regrets. On the other hand, I have retained a soft spot for the civic-mindedness and respect for human rights that I associate with the state’s political reputation. I admired and supported both Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale, both of whom actually ended up serving as Vice President! And don’t forget either of Minnesota’s current US Senators – Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith!
In a sense, the fact that Walz is not himself a Minnesota native works in his favor for me – as does that fact that he isn’t himself of Scandinavian-American origin, either. He is a native of Nebraska, with a mix of family heritages that seem mostly to be German-American. He only moved to Minnesota in 1996, when he was in his 30s, to work as a high school teacher and coach in the relatively small town of Mankato in 1996. It so happens that his wife, whom he met in Nebraska, is from Minnesota, and I assume that that was probably the main reason they moved. So much the better, then, that he was subsequently elected so many times to a Congressional seat in southern, rural Minnesota and then twice as governor, thus successfully adapting a different kind of Midwestern growing up experience to the Minnesota political climate. What I appreciate, then, is that he does bring that kind of success in the Minnesota political climate to the campaign but also brings more of a mosaic in his ethnic heritage (even if it’s still mostly a white European-style heritage).
Governor Walz’s physical appearance, his cheerful demeanor, his rural Midwestern connections, his being a veteran, his being a parent of two children through IVF fertilization, his being an anti-NRA gun-owner, but also his legislative and gubernatorial record and commitment to inclusiveness all work in his favor for me. I’m OK with Kamala Harris’s choice. Oh and, by the way, he spent a year early in his career teaching English and American history in China, and he and his wife also ran a program for high school students to spend a summer in China. Wow, that, too, is impressive. I’m ready for the Harris-Walz ticket to the White House!
