‘He has a proven track record’: behind Tim Walz’s appeal to workers

Vice-presidential picks have little effect on who wins a presidential election, many political scientists say. Tim Walz, Kamala Harris's choice as her running mate, could prove the exception to that rule. Not least because of his track record of successfully appealing to working people.

Angela Ferritto, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, voiced confidence that Walz will help the vice-president win in three pivotal states: Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin: "I strongly believe that Governor Walz will help the ticket. He has a proven track record of accomplishing things for working people."

Ferritto noted that as Minnesota's governor, Walz enacted paid sick days, guaranteed more protection to construction workers against wage theft, and gave teachers greater negotiating power "over class sizes so they can give students the attention they need".

Celinda Lake, a longtime Democratic pollster, said Walz had an underappreciated strength that is political gold. "He gets policies out of the left-right divide and gets people to agree that this is the right thing to do," she said. "Who's for large class size? Who's for poorly paid teachers? Who's not for letting Mom and Dad have time with their new baby? He has a way of taking ideology out of policies and making them seem like things we can get together on."

Steve Rosenthal, a political strategist and former political director of the AFL-CIO, the nation's main labor federation, said Walz had another important trait - he is the type of candidate blue-collar workers would be happy to have a beer with. Walz likes to hunt and fish, he was long a union member while a teacher, and his financial disclosure forms show he owns no stocks or bonds.

"What the two parties' vice-presidential picks say is that both sides recognize the critical nature of winning Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania," Rosenthal said. "I think Walz is a huge addition in those states."

He explained that people normally focus on who is at the top of the ticket, but "to the extent Harris has someone who can represent her in those three states, he can be a big help. He can camp out in those states. He can walk a picket line and go to union halls. He can be a huge plus."