Progressives Are Very Excited About ‘Vibes Candidate’ Tim Walz

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) had yet to have her first cup of coffee on Tuesday morning when her phone began “blowing up.” The news that President Kamala Harris had selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate broke just before 6 a.m. local time in Seattle, Jayapal’s home city. Despite the early wake up calls, the influential chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus told TPM she was “delighted.”

“I was one of the early members of Congress to endorse Tim Walz and say that I liked the governor as the pick. And so, it was just wonderful,” said Jayapal, who had her own primary race on the calendar Tuesday.

“I think it’s such a smart pick. It’s a unifying pick,” she continued. “It’s going to continue our momentum for the now Harris-Walz ticket and it’s going to make sure that we get a real economic agenda that speaks to people.”

Other prominent members of the Democratic Party’s left flank share Jayapal’s enthusiasm about Walz.

Faiz Shakir, the chief political adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and executive director of the advocacy group More Perfect Union, told TPM he appreciates both Walz’s record and demeanor. 

“The policy is really important, but I think the character is just as important,” Shakir explained. “You’ve got a very — what I would describe as a jovial, Santa Claus-like character in his nature. You see a kind of empathy and outwardness, a desire for other people around him to succeed. You just, you feel that.”

Bill Neidhardt, a Democratic strategist who has worked with multiple prominent progressives, had a similar view of Walz’s record in Minnesota. 

“His agenda is the agenda that we have been organizing around on the Hill and in campaigns,” Neidhardt said. 

Walz’s ascension to the presidential ticket was the latest development in what has been a chaotic, at-times unprecedented race for Democrats since President Joe Biden foundered in a June debate. The President abruptly ended his campaign and endorsed Harris last month. Biden had strong support from the party’s left flank since, after being elected in 2020, he gave progressives input on policy and partnered with them to enact an ambitious agenda. As Biden faced questions about his age and mounting pressure to end his re-election bid, prominent figures on the left like Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) were among some of his staunchest defenders. 

Now, Biden has bowed out. But in Harris and Walz, progressives see a ticket poised to continue where he left off. 

“I wanted somebody who was going to be 150 percent behind the Biden-Harris agenda and what is now the Harris campaign agenda,” Jayapal said of Walz. “If you look at what he’s done as governor, it’s been these bold, popular policies from paid sick leave, to free school lunches, to expanding health care access, all of these things that are part of the Biden-Harris agenda and part of the Harris campaign agenda now. 

Shakir echoed that sentiment, saying the selection of Walz should allay concerns progressives have about Harris taking the lead spot on the ticket. 

“She’s honed in on that economic populist message, at least in the rhetoric,” Shakir said. “There have been some people doubting, well, is it going to lead to the same kind of policy actions we saw from Biden? Well, the pick of Walz gives you more confidence, right?”

In her first statement about Walz, Harris leaned into economic populism and praised him as a fighter “for middle class families,” touting his work in Minnesota to eliminate “junk fees,” enact paid sick leave, codify abortion rights at the state level, lower insulin prices, and fund police departments while passing reform measures, among other things. 

As she expressed excitement about the Harris ticket, Jayapal pointed to the vice president’s role in enacting Biden’s agenda and the campaign’s populist overtones. 

“On Biden, I think that we progressives just had a really strong partnership with the president and a lot of loyalty to each other because of the relationships and the agenda that we fought for together,” said Jayapal, adding, “In the end, it got to a place where he himself realized that he needed to step out, and he endorsed Kamala, which was fantastic because I think she was a part of the Biden Harris administration, clearly, obviously. … She had already embraced that bold working class agenda. She’s continuing to embrace it now as the nominee for president.”

Neidhardt, the Democratic strategist, was among a group of operatives and activists who worked to back Walz as Harris vetted multiple potential running mates. Walz was not on Harris’ initial shortlist, however, grassroots support for the governor — and particularly excitement around his message that former President Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are “weird” — helped propel him onto the ticket. 

“The ‘weird’ thing did kind of define an entire news cycle,” Neidhardt said, describing “elation” among Democrats at the prospect of having, in Walz, “someone who put Republicans on their heels.”

Jayapal also appreciated Walz’s use of the term to define Trump and the GOP. 

“When we talk about what we’re fighting for, when Governor Walz and Vice President Harris talk about what they’re fighting for, it’s what all Americans want, right? Expanded Social Security and Medicare, health care access, housing, universal childcare, these are things that all Americans want,” Jayapal said. 

“The idea that those are radical is just, to use Tim Walz’s word, ‘weird.’ They are weird,” she continued, adding, “This is not normal, everyday behavior to want to ban abortion, ban IVF, ban contraception, deport immigrants. That is just all weird.”

While Walz’s message caught fire organically, Neidhardt also said the progressive activists, operatives, and politicians were “following labor’s lead” as they pressed for him to join Harris’ ticket. Unions were among Walz’s key supporters during the veepstakes, with United Auto Workers leader Shawn Fain publicly naming the Minnesota governor as one of his top choices. Following Harris’ announcement, the AFL-CIO, which is the country’s largest federation of unions, released a statement dubbing Walz a “labor champion.” 

“He’s labor’s favorite pick,” Neidhardt said of Walz.

A progressive Hill aide who requested anonymity to discuss the presidential ticket described Harris’ selection of Walz as a “huge win for progressives” on two levels. 

“I think it’s a huge win both because of his progressive accomplishments and the progressive organizing that went into getting him on the ticket,” the aide said, adding, “Elections are about energy, and they’re about networks, and they’re about vibes. Walz was clearly the vibes candidate.”

While Walz’s appeal to progressives is clear, Jayapal also called him a “unifying pick” that had appeal beyond the left. That’s a view held by other progressives who cited his experience representing a red district as a Democrat in a relatively purple state. Shakir also noted the fact progressives weren’t the only ones who praised Harris’ decision.

“His coalition just extends so broadly. So many of the Democratic governors just love him as well,” Shakir said of Walz. “Even [Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)] put out this positive statement about working with him.”

Shakir said he saw personal evidence of Walz’s appeal on a recent campaign swing in Minnesota, the governor’s home state. 

“We were on the ground just this last weekend in Mankato — Senator Sanders and I were in Mankato and then in Minneapolis,” Shakir said. “When he talked about Walz, you could sense there’s such great enthusiasm from regular people about him because it’s clear they have connected with him.”

In the hours since Harris announced her decision, Trump and other Republicans have attempted to use Walz’s progressivism against the Democratic ticket. On his Truth Social platform, Trump attacked Harris and Walz, claiming they were “the most Radical Left duo in American history.”

For his part, Shakir said he appreciated that Harris was unafraid to face the fire that came with a running mate who had progressive bonafides. He also suggested Walz would be uniquely suited to defend against efforts to paint him as extremely far left. While he specified that Harris’ campaign had been “just rocking” since she secured the Democratic nomination, Shakir offered one bit of counsel. 

“My advice to … people who’ve been crushing it so far is to say, let Tim Walz be Tim Walz, because, in him, you’ve got a unique gift and ability of someone who can connect,” Shakir said. 

Jayapal also predicted efforts to paint Walz and Harris as far left would fail to do damage.

“People often think of progressive policies as being policies that only are popular in blue districts, but I would argue that they’re actually incredibly popular in red districts. Look at raising the minimum wage, look at paid sick leave, look at expanding social security and Medicare. These are not limited to just Democrats,” Jayapal said. 

Like Shakir, Jayapal believes Walz’s skills will help him “communicate that to everyone and not get pegged just as a progressive.”

“Tim Walz has the ability to just really defend those ideas as populist policies that every American deserves to have,” Jayapal said. “I think that that’s really appealing.”

Jayapal pointed to the huge fundraising numbers and influx of volunteers that have come since Harris took over the ticket to argue progressives aren’t the only ones excited. On Tuesday evening, the Harris campaign revealed it had raised more than $20 million in the hours after she announced Walz’s selection.

“The vibes are awesome,” Jayapal said. “It’s so much fun to be able to promote a candidate who is really pushing those vibes out there in a big way and is resonating with so many people.”