Harris: ‘2 middle-class kids’ governing together; Walz wins the veep sweeps
Nita Wiggins
Author, U.S. politics commentator and essayist, university lecturer on "How African American Women Affect Policy: From Truman to the 2024 Election"
(PARIS, France) Being solid in what you do is not enough to get where you ultimately want to go, cautions Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeever,? an expert in “closing deals like a BOSS.” One potential U.S. vice presidential candidate for the Democratic Party ticket, Gov. Tim Walz, proactively put himself on the radar of the decision-maker in the selection, presidential nominee Kamala Harris. And, yes, he is selected for the Nov. 5 election.
“I guarantee you, had he not been proactive about raising his media presence in this moment, there is likely zero chance that the Harris campaign and whole machine around her would have tiptoed their way into Minnesota to go find him,” says Dr. Jones-DeWeever, previously a keynote speaker at President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Summit and at a World Bank gathering.
The Nebraska-born farm boy grabbed the bull by the horns, so to say. He came out of a field of qualified people—all of them having legitimate successes and quantifiable upsides. But, the 60-year-old longtime public servant made sure his governing record, intellect, and witty side would be up front.
Beyond his policy background and bona fides, his sharp messaging showed he had the “thought leadership” edge, says Dr. Jones-DeWeever. Additionally, “I was rooting for him because he was effective at communicating in the media.”
Voters might know him for communicating the word “weird” to describe how he views the approach of the Republican candidates for president and vice president, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, respectively. Aside from that, Gov. Walz was using "Mind your own damn business” to explain the motto of many in his state, even before the so-called veep sweeps even began.
Harris and Walz: the magic meeting
One out of three U.S. women live in a state with an abortion ban, following the actions during President Trump's time in office,?2017-2021, said Ms. Harris, on Tuesday.
She first met Mr. Walz during her tour of a reproductive services clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota, early in 2024. “This is what true leadership looks like,” she said at the time.
领英推荐
The substance behind the statement? When they had the numbers, Democratic legislators in Minnesota moved with rocket speed to write the “Protect Reproductive Options” bill. Gov. Walz signed it in Jan. 2023, becoming the first governor in the country to sign such a law.
“The PRO Act establishes that every Minnesotan has a fundamental right to make decisions about their own reproductive health, including the right to use or refuse reproductive health care, to continue a pregnancy and give birth, and to obtain an abortion.” Source: Minnesota's government website? ?
Said Harris on Aug. 7 in Philadelphia: “Tim Walz has shone up to stand up against these attacks (on abortion services)?before he stood on the stage with me [tonight]. After Roe v. Wade was overturned, he was the first governor to sign a new law that enshrined reproductive freedom as a fundamental right.”
The governing partnership's to-do checklist
Ms. Harris said she found a spirit of collaboration in Gov. Walz. And, in her declaration that “strengthening the middle class will be my defining goal when I am president of the United States,” Mr. Walz, again, was a better fit than the other potential vice presidential candidates. Following is a compressed list of policy areas on which Harris-Walz have pledged to work:
^The citation comes from Dr. Jones-DeWeever's Linked In profile. As a Race & Gender Empowerment Expert, she conducts workshops on entrepreneurship, political representation, and power. ###
Nita Wiggins writes from Paris, France, where she is a recurring political commentator on France 24 TV. She teaches "How African American Women Affect Policy: From Truman to the 2024 Election" at Sciences Po Université. Her memoir, Civil Rights Baby: My Story of Race, Sports, and Breaking Barriers in American Journalism is available for purchase everywhere, paper and E-book version. Visit www.NitaWiggins.com for more.