EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — “Folksy.” “Down to earth.” Like the “dad Fox News took away.”
Those were just some of the impressions Democratic supporters offered of Vice President Kamala Harris’ new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, at a Wednesday afternoon rally on the outskirts of Eau Claire. Minnesota supporters who made the trip to western Wisconsin said they hope his record will impress voters in other states.
An estimated 10,000 people attended the event, according to area law enforcement who cited information from the U.S. Secret Service. It was Walz and Harris’ first campaign stop in the Midwest just one day after Walz’s debut as vice presidential candidate at a rally in Philadelphia.
Wisconsin is a crucial battleground state in presidential elections, and it’s believed the state is a tossup between Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Harris and Walz continued their “battleground state tour” with a stop in Detroit on Wednesday evening. They’re also scheduled to visit Arizona and Nevada in coming days; events in Georgia and North Carolina have been postponed because of flooding caused by Tropical Storm Debby.
Long lines in the sun
Walz greeted the crowd and kicked off his speech with a nod to his regional tie.
“Hello, Eau Claire!” he said as he took the stage. “Isn’t it good to have a candidate who can pronounce the name correctly?”
Walz then launched into a speech where he hit familiar themes — casting Republican opponents Ohio Sen. JD Vance and former president Trump as “weird,” calling for gun control legislation, and touting Democrats’ defense of abortion and in-vitro fertilization. It was similar to a speech he delivered the day before in Pennsylvania.
Rallygoers in Eau Claire braved hours waiting in line in traffic and in the heat waiting for Walz and Harris to arrive, with some taking shelter under semi-trailers.
Many said they didn’t know much about Walz before this week — and an equal number said they were surprised by the pick.
‘What he brings’
Lisa Herrmann, of Eau Claire, an Army veteran who cast her first presidential vote in 1980, said she didn’t even know Walz was on Harris’ vice presidential shortlist and was under the impression Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro would end up clinching the No. 2 spot on the Democratic Ticket.
Lisa Herrmann, an Army veteran from Eau Claire who cast her first ballot in a presidential election in 1980, called Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “the quintessential American guy.” (Alex Derosier / Pioneer Press)
Herrmann, 61, said she was excited when she learned Harris opted for a Midwesterner who was a teacher and served in the military, rather than another “guy from out east.”
“I think what he brings is he brings a tone of real America,” she said. “It’s not about politics anymore. It’s about being nice people. It’s about trying to understand people who you don’t agree with. I think that’s what he brings.”
Some attendees said they hope Walz might be able to persuade their undecided friends, but most doubted that a vice-presidential pick would move their conservative or Republican friends any closer to their side.
Many other rallygoers said they felt Walz had a sort of “Midwestern dad vibe” and said they were excited to see their region take the national stage.
“He’s a replacement for my dad that Fox News took away,” said Ruth Rice, of Hudson, Wis., echoing an internet meme that has gained traction since Walz’s selection.
Denise Machack, who drove with her sister nearly two hours from the Wausau, Wis., area, said she didn’t know much about Walz before he gained the nomination, and was initially a fan of U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, of Arizona, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
But she said she’s happy to see her region represented.
“The way he talks. You know, it’s just the way we talk,” she said. “He just says it like it is.”
Denise Machack, left, and her sister, Julie Yirkovsky, at a Kamala Harris-Tim Walz campaign rally in Eau Claire, Wis. on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Both traveled nearly two hours by car from near Wausau, Wis. to see the vice president and her running mate. (Alex Derosier / Pioneer Press)
Many Minnesotans already familiar with Walz made the drive from Minnesota to attend the rally. Paige Boulger, 33, of West St. Paul, said she thinks the governor’s record will tell people in other states that he cares about people.
“I hope people understand what he’s doing for Minnesotans, and how it appears, at least, that he’s genuinely caring about his citizens,” she said. “I hope it would help other people in swing states or other Midwest states. I would hope that they would look at his record as positive.”
JD Vance also in town
It wasn’t just the Democratic candidates in town on Wednesday: Republican Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance held a separate competing event at a factory in Eau Claire. There, he shot back at Walz’s continued jabs about him being “weird,” the Associated Press reported.
“If those people want to call me weird I call it a badge of honor,” Vance said.
Trump, Vance and other Republican allies have been attempting to paint Harris and Walz as liberal extremists bent on spreading West Coast progressive ideals to the rest of the country.
Earlier in the day, when Vance and Harris arrived at the Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Eau Claire, Vance reportedly approached Harris’ plane, though the vice president left in her motorcade before Vance reached her.
“I just wanted to check out my future plane,” Vance later said.
This story contains information from the Associated Press.
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