Problem emerges with Harris’ new running mate

He’s youthful, energetic, represents a swing state and even many Republican voters like him. And crucially, Americans have actually heard of him.

But Ms Harris instead opted for Minnesota governor Tim Walz to be the man who would be Vice President in a Harris White House.

He will be introduced as her running mate at a joint rally in Philadelphia on Wednesday morning, Australia time.

The decision comes with several potential issues for Ms Harris. Not the least of which is that outside of Minnesota, barely anyone has heard of him.

More than two thirds of Americans have no idea who he is.

And the Republicans are furiously trying to paint that blank canvas in a way that advantages Ms Harris’ rival Donald Trump.

Already, the folksy Mr Walz has been labelled both a “radical” and an “extremist” by the Republican Party. An email from the Trump campaign said, with typical restraint, that Mr Walz would “unleash [all capitals] HELL ON EARTH” and would “light TRILLIONS of dollars on fire”.

On paper, Mr Walz is about as patriotic and inoffensive as you can get.

He coached football, he was in the military and it’s clearly hoped the plain-spoken Midwest man will be able to engage a section of voters Ms Harris, a coastal candidate, might struggle to reach.

“It’s personal,” Ms Harris, 59, said of Mr Walz.

“As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he’s delivered for working families like his own.

“We start out as underdogs but I believe together, we can win this election,” she said.

Mr Walz, 60, said it was “the honour of a lifetime” to be picked.

“Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what’s possible. So, let’s get this done, folks! Join us.”

A Democrat source told CNN that Mr Walz “talks and looks like a lot of the voters we’ve lost to Trump”.

And Democrats are doing all they can to play up Mr Walz’s claimed down-to-earth charm, in contrast to Mr Trump’s Republicans, which the Democrats have spent a week branding as “weird”.

Indeed, it was Mr Walz who first uttered the five words “these guys are weird”, which then appeared all over the Tim Walz unknown

But who is Mr Walz? A US poll found 71 per cent of Americans were so unfamiliar with Democrat VP pick they had no opinion of him, good or bad.

The NPR/PBS News/Marist poll found Mr Shapiro, and others vying to be Ms Harris’ running mate, were far better known nationally.

‘Far left radical’

Mr Walz, set to be thrown into a dizzying spotlight as he spruiks the joint Democrat ticket to Americans, is undoubtedly about to get a lot better known.

Republican VP nominee JD Vance has said he will do a TV debate with Mr Walz.

He got his barbs in early though. On Tuesday afternoon he called Mr Walz a “far left radical” and that Ms Harris had “bent the knee to the far left of the party”.

It’s an early attack line the GOP is running with.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Mr Walz made the Democrats the “most left-wing ticket in American history”.

Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Mr Walz was “dangerously liberal” and an “extremist”.

“It’s no surprise that San Francisco Liberal Kamala Harris wants West Coast wannabe Tim Walz as her running mate,” she said.

Hard left characterisation ‘mystifying’

In Minnesota, Mr Walz has signed into law and put into place policies which are solidly Democrat.

Paid maternity leave, protecting abortion rights, legalising marijuana, climate change targets and free school lunches have all happened on his watch.

But former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi scoffed at the idea they were “extreme” policies.

“It’s mystifying to me. To characterise him as left is so unreal. It’s just not, he’s right down the middle,” she told NBC on Tuesday morning.

She instead called him a “heartland of America Democrat”.

His announcement as running mate has been applauded by Democrats of all ilks, including those on the left of the party such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. He probably could have done without that as the GOP will say he is beholden. But were they to say nothing it would look like a split in the party.

The Republicans have tried a few other Walz attacks.

One of those was his actions, or critics would say lack of action, after George Floyd was killed by police officers in 2020 in Minneapolis. The uproar led to riots, looting and burning down of property.

“Walz sat by and let Minneapolis burn,” Mr DeSantis said on Tuesday.

As Governor, Mr Walz did deploy the National Guard but Republican politicians have said it was far too late.

Mr Walz has also accepted responsibility after five people were recently convicted for their part in defrauding a pandemic relief fund of an alleged $383 million after lax oversight from the state’s education department.

There’s also the question of whether Ms Harris has gained much by opting for Mr Walz.

Minnesota is a Democrat majority voting state and it’s unlikely to change stripes. Several of the other running mate candidates came from swing states that could fall to either the Democrats or Republicans on just a few thousands votes.

However, the Democrats will be hoping that a Midwest running mate will bring a general positive glow across several toss ups states including neighbouring Wisconsin.

President Biden said Mr Walz was a “great” choice.

“The Harris-Walz ticket will be a powerful voice for working people and America’s middle class.

“They will be the strongest defenders of our personal freedoms and our democracy.”

Former president Barack Obama also chimed in.

“Tim’s signature is his ability to talk like a human being and treat everyone with decency and respect – not all that surprising considering the fact that he served in the National Guard for 24 years and worked as a high school social studies teacher and football coach before being elected to Congress.”

A man barely any Americans know is now centre stage.

How he performs over the coming weeks at rallies, in interviews and during debates, could make or break Mr Harris’ campaign.

Neck and neck with Mr Trump for the keys to the White House, she’ll be hoping she made the right pick.