By Jeff Mason and Joseph Ax
EAU CLAIRE, Wisconsin (Reuters) – Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her new running mate Tim Walz kicked off a rally in the battleground state of Wisconsin, the first of two stops on Wednesday that could offer an early test of Walz’s Midwestern credentials.
The trip to Eau Claire in Wisconsin followed by a stop in Detroit later on Wednesday is part of the introductory campaign swing for Walz, the governor of nearby Minnesota. Harris named Walz as her vice presidential pick on Tuesday in the biggest political decision of her nascent White House bid, which has energized Democrats and shaken up the race.
The selection of Walz – an Army National Guard veteran and former teacher and football coach – adds geographic balance to a ticket with a Californian at the helm who needs a strong showing in the Midwest to win the Nov. 5 election against Republican rival Donald Trump.
A former congressman who won elections in a Republican-leaning district before becoming governor, Walz has a record of appealing to the white, rural voters who have increasingly turned to Trump over the years.
Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, have rushed to portray Walz as too left-wing, echoing their criticisms of Harris.
In an interview on Fox News on Wednesday, Trump called Walz a “radical” liberal and said he was “thrilled” Harris had picked him.
Trump also said he would debate Harris in the “pretty near future” and that details would be announced soon. He said his preference was for Fox to host the debate.
Last week, Trump proposed a debate with Harris on Fox News on Sept. 4. The Harris campaign said Trump was trying to back out of a debate that had already been set with ABC on Sept. 10.
Vance was visiting Detroit and Eau Claire on Wednesday, continuing an unusual tour trailing Harris and Walz this week. On the tarmac in Wisconsin, Air Force Two sat just yards away from a Trump/Vance airplane that taxied in the distance.
In Detroit, Vance tried out some attack lines on his Democratic counterpart, criticizing Walz’s handling of the protests in Minneapolis following the killing of George Floyd there by police in 2020.
Critics have accused Walz of being too slow to mobilize law enforcement to stop looting, arson and violence that accompanied the protests. Walz’s aides have pushed back against the charge, saying he deployed the National Guard to respond to the protests.
“He allowed rioters to burn down Minneapolis,” Vance said.
Leading civil rights advocates, however, have credited Walz for his decision to have Minnesota’s attorney general lead the prosecution of the police officer who was convicted of murdering Floyd.
Vance, who served in the Marine Corps and was a public affairs officer during a six-month stint in Iraq, also slammed Walz’s military record, saying he abandoned his National Guard battalion right before its deployment to Iraq in 2005. Walz, who served in the Guard for 24 years, retired to run for Congress.
WALZ’S DEBUT
Democrats regard Wisconsin and Michigan as near must-wins in the 2024 election. The states have loomed large for the party since Hillary Clinton’s unexpected defeats there helped clinch Trump’s 2016 win.
Biden beat Trump in both states in 2020. But opinion polls showed him facing a close battle in Michigan before he dropped out of the race last month, with much of the state’s significant Arab and Muslim American population fuming over his administration’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attacks.
The Democratic candidates are expected to travel in coming days to more than a half dozen states likely to determine the winner of the election.
At the pair’s first rally together on Tuesday night in Philadelphia, Harris devoted much of her speech to highlighting Walz’s background as a small town native, a high school social studies teacher and football coach and a Guard member.
Walz, a folksy, affable speaker, nevertheless did not hold back on Trump and Vance, repeating his viral comment that they are “weird” and criticizing them over abortion, crime and the economy.
Harris’ rise to the top of the Democratic ticket two weeks ago has dramatically reshaped the race. Polls show she has erased the lead that Trump had built during the final faltering weeks of Biden’s campaign, and a re-energized Democratic Party has flooded her campaign with donations.
The Harris campaign said it raised $36 million in the 24 hours after announcing Walz as the vice presidential pick.
Walz, who was first elected Minnesota governor in 2018 and again in 2022, has pursued progressive policies, including free school meals, measures to combat climate change, middle class tax cuts and enhanced paid leave for workers.
Harris had considered several other candidates for her running mate, notably Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who some Democrats had backed given the importance of his home state in November’s election.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Joseph Ax, additional reporting by James Oliphant and Doina Chiacu, editing by Colleen Jenkins, Deepa Babington and Jonathan Oatis)
