Tim Walsh has the ideal profile to appeal to middle
a former school teacher,
successful high school football and National Guard marksman and Minnesota's
Democratic governor also previously managed to hold down a congressional
seat in a largely Republican district for 12 years.
But will this translate international success?
Walls has been a generally popular governor of Minnesota,
garnering up to 65% approval in polls.
But he's relatively unknown outside the state,
meaning he may not be quite.
Talisman to win over voters in all important Midwest swing
states.
In going with Walls, you were you were giving up
on that sort of immediate electoral benefits that might have
come from picking someone like Mark Kelly or Josh Shapiro.
Walls record as governor has been impeccably liberal,
with strong support for education,
trade unions, LGBT rights and stronger background checks for gun
owners.
But there are also other aspects Republicans point to that
they say show him to be a dangerous.
Radical one was signing into law a bill that allowed
illegal immigrants to have driver's licenses,
and conservatives accuse him of being too slow to deal
with Black Lives Matters protests following the death of George
Floyd in 2020.
What may have drawn Kamala Harris to walls is the
combative way in which he has taken on Donald Trump
and Trump's vice presidential pick JD Vance in recent weeks.
Bully has no self-confidence. A bully has no strength.
They have nothing.
The fascists depend on fear,
the fascists depend on us going back,
but we're not afraid of weird people.
We're a little bit creeped out,
but we're not afraid. Walls is also a skilled political
operator.
He was known as a bipartisan legislator during his time
in Congress,
and as governor, he's managed to push laws through a
state Senate in which the Democrats had only A1 seat
majority,
suggesting that he might just have what it takes to
appeal to undecided voters once they get to know him.