On a blind date, the most difficult moment is not the first conversation, but the second. That moment of checking if the initial chemistry holds and if it has the possibility of becoming something more important. For Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota and number two of the Democratic presidential nomination, this Wednesday was the day for that second crucial meeting with his potential voters. After his presentation two weeks ago as Kamala Harris’s running mate, which had left a good taste in his supporters’ mouths, his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this Wednesday to accept the nomination was intended to convince them that, even if they barely know him, the bet on him and Harris is worth it.
In the packed stands waiting to hear Walz speak at the United Center, the Chicago Bulls’ arena that had become the convention site, there was no doubt: he had charmed his audience with a narrative in which he presented himself as a representative of the average American, a sarcastic, common-sense family man who can be identified with those who see the Democratic Party as a representative of intellectual elites or a group of “left-wing radicals,” as their Republican rivals describe them.
“It is the honor of my life to accept your nomination for Vice President of the United States,” he began. “We are here united by one beautiful reason: we love this country.”
Walz’s mission tonight was, above all, to explain to the public who he is: until just a month ago he was a politician who was almost unknown outside his state, and who only began to gain a bit more attention after his use of the adjective “weird” to describe the candidates of the rival party went viral in a televised interview.
In just three weeks he has gone from being a secondary governor, who did not figure in the initial pools of possible candidates. number two Harris’s ticket to be the Democratic vice presidential candidate. Despite the media exposure he has received since his selection, four in ten Americans admit to not having a good or bad image of the former high school teacher, according to a survey published hours before the speech by the AP agency.
Many of those who admit to not knowing much about the vice presidential candidate are part of the large coalition of minorities that represents a large part of the Democratic electoral base. Three out of ten voters of this party say they do not have a formed opinion about him. Four out of ten women confess the same; as do 40% of those under 45 years of age. Neither do half of African-American adults, nor 40% of Latinos, have him on their radar.
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Walz presented a simple and concise message, very similar to the one he delivers at each of his rallies. In it, he combined the description of his rural roots and his values as an ordinary person with a harsh criticism of his Republican opponents. His words, as he himself admitted, were less like those of a typical politician than like those of the football manager he was for years.
In this presidential campaign, he compared, “there are 10 minutes left and we are losing by one goal. But we have the ball and we are attacking: And what a team we have!” “We have to go all out, to press, to get into the kitchen, pass by pass, donation by donation, phone call by phone call, knock on the door after knock on the door,” he encouraged a devoted audience. “We will rest when we are dead!” he insisted, repeating what is one of his usual phrases at his rallies.
The former geography teacher and American football coach at a high school in a small town in Minnesota recounted his origins in a tiny town in Nebraska, a place like so many in the United States where “the people who live next door may not think like you, pray like you, love like you, but they are your neighbors and you care about each other.”
And he played up his persona as an ordinary man – the day before, former President Barack Obama joked in his own speech at the convention about Walz’s fondness for flannel shirts – who loves the same things as the average American, including the use of firearms. But in a sensible way: “I’m a hunter, I believe in the Second Amendment.” [de la Constitución, que protege el derecho a portar armas]but I am also a father. And I believe that the primary responsibility of a father is to keep his children safe” and that children should not have to fear that a shooting could occur at their school.
The night’s most tender — and most applauded — moment came when he mentioned his family: his wife, Gwen, and children Hope, 23, and Gus, 17. “You are my whole life,” he told them from the podium, as cameras showed the teenager breaking down in tears as he screamed, “That’s my dad!”
In the selection process of the number two Harris’s predictions had been for Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, considered one of the party’s rising stars and who also gave a carefully worded speech on Wednesday. But the vice president ended up choosing Walz. Partly because of a greater personal connection. Partly because she considered that his image as an average American, a lover of hunting and a veteran of the National Guard, far removed from the party elites, could attract more voters in the swing states.
The polls will tell whether the governor has achieved his goal of convincing Americans, beyond the United Center, to say “yes, I do.” For now, his first test is complete. This Thursday, it is his electoral partner’s turn. The presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, will give her own acceptance speech. And she will have to convince voters that this enthusiasm they feel, this excitement that has invaded the Democratic bases in the last four weeks, has not been a passing thing. That this is only the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
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