Boston University professor and local political historian Thomas Whalen called Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ decision to pick Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate “a bit of a headscratcher,” but also praised him as an “effective communicator” given his popularity in a predominately conservative district.
“He has a certain appeal in the Midwest...This might be a good choice in terms of expanding the Democratic electoral base,” Whalen told Boston 25 News. “He’s already flamed the Trump-Vance ticket as ‘weird’ and that has caught on like wildfire among the Democratic base. He’s very quick on his feet, he speaks in plain language, and can sell progressive, liberal programs in a way that doesn’t make it seem out of left field.”
Whalen said Walz reminds him of Thomas Phillip “Tip” O’Neill, a Democrat from Massachusetts who served as the 47th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987.
“He’s a guy who is liberal but can talk the talk and appeal to work-class, swing voters,” Whalen said of Walz. “This ticket [Harris-Walz] might catch fire, who knows.”
Although Whalen did say Harris is “making a big gamble” by picking Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“You are making a big game by essentially sacrificing Pennsylvania. The margins are so tight in Pennsylvania and Shapiro has like a 90 percent favorability rating in his state, so Shapiro could have secured 19 electoral votes that they absolutely need for victory on Nov. 5,” Whalen explained. “I’d like to get on the inside of her campaign to figure out the reasoning behind this because I think it a huge gamble.”
Harris is expected to formally introduce Walz at a rally on Tuesday night.
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