Philadelphia (USA), Aug 6 (EFE).- US Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday formalized her Democratic candidacy for the White House by choosing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate for vice president in the event of her victory in November over Republican Donald Trump.
Harris and Walz will appear in public for the first time today at a rally in Philadelphia, the major city in the key state of Pennsylvania, after having built a candidacy in record time, just two weeks after President Joe Biden gave up running for re-election.
Kamala Harris received the support of 4,567 party delegates, 99% of the total, in the telematic vote to formalize her candidacy, which lasted five days, the Democratic National Committee announced on Tuesday.
However, the vice president, the only candidate in this emergency process, had already obtained enough votes last Friday to win the nomination.
The party used the unusual voting method instead of electing Harris at the Democratic National Convention in two weeks in Chicago because Ohio state rules required candidates to be known by Aug. 7.
Also today, Harris chose her running mate: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, 60, the favorite of the party’s more progressive wing.
Walz thus beat out Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, who were on the shortlist until this morning.
The Democratic candidate waited until the last minute to choose her number two and did so just hours before the rally in Philadelphia, scheduled since last week, to kick off a tour with her running mate through the seven swing states that will be key to the race for the White House.
In a post on social media, Harris said Walz was a champion for the middle class and working families.
“One of the things that struck me about Tim is how deeply he feels about defending the middle class. It’s personal,” he explained.
Walz accepted the assignment and declared himself “honored” by the choice: “Count on me,” he said on social media.
The Minnesota governor was not among the first polls. In fact, a recent NPR poll placed him as the least known of the national candidates, but he went viral in a public appearance in which he called his Republican rivals “weird,” which catapulted him into the vice presidential race.
Walz was the party’s progressives’ favorite for the post and was immediately attacked by the Trump campaign, which called him a “radical leftist.”
The new Democratic vice presidential candidate, who enlisted in the National Guard as a young man and was a teacher and football coach at a rural Minnesota high school, boasts of having promoted free school meals in his state. He is also known for his affable character and sense of humor.
The governor, however, has been under fire for his response to the Minneapolis riots in 2020 following the death of George Floyd and the controversy over the misuse of federal funds during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Traditionally, the vice president’s profile complements that of the president to create a winning coalition, so the number two usually appeals to a specific group of voters, serves as an ideological counterweight or helps win in a key state.
Harris is counting on Walz’s presence to help her win working-class votes in the country’s Midwestern industrial belt, especially in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
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2024-08-10 11:04:42
