Harris’s smile is complete

Harris’s smile was complete.

The US election accompanied by the Harris-Walz team.

Kamala Harris chose Tim Walz as her deputy nominee. This Democrat who opened the Philadelphia rally has thrown a challenge to Trump and Pence.

The US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has chosen her deputy. Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz, the Democratic ticket, was officially launched on Tuesday at the Philadelphia rally in Pennsylvania, immediately creating the perception of political harmony and a very different approach between these two and the more institutional approach of President Biden.

Harris and Walz officially challenged their opponents Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Walz is a progressive and liberal politician who supports abortion rights and legalizing recreational marijuana.

That is why his rival Pence called him a radical leftist with classic right-wing rhetoric full of lies.

In turn, the vice presidential nominee spoke about rights, while Harris tried to introduce Walz’s profession, which to some extent reflected American stereotypes, as a traditional American, a high school football team coach.

After weeks of twists and turns, the election tickets have finally been finalized, and the campaign can now prepare for its final push and surge.

Here, a ticket refers to a political group or party, and it refers to the candidates competing with the party’s ticket.

Who is Tim Walz?

Tim Walz, born 60 years ago in Nebraska, reflects a change that usually indicates the profile of a deputy in relation to a presidential candidate. He is a white man from a rural community in a Midwestern state.

Traditionally, a presidential ticket tries to be as representative as possible. However, in this case, a nominee with contrasting personalities, Harris, a black woman from California, a coastal state, was chosen.

Walz, who is married and has two children, is busy teaching social sciences and coaching an American football team. Politically, he has a short but convincing track record in defeating Republican candidates.

In 2006, he was first elected to the House of Representatives by defeating Gil Gutknecht, a Republican, and was re-elected five times.

In 2019, when he was elected as the Governor of Minnesota against Jeff Johnson, a Republican nominee, he left the House of Representatives.

His term in office was not easy despite the imposed lockdowns due to the COVID pandemic and the death of George Floyd, who was choked by a police officer in Minneapolis in May 2020.

On that occasion, Walz tried to confront violent protests by deploying the National Guard and engaging in dialogue with the protesters.

In 2022, he was re-elected and in his second term as governor, he removed the restrictions on abortion imposed by Republican lawmakers, legalized recreational marijuana use and improved funding for new childcare facilities.

What do the polls say?

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz started their joint election campaign with a strange word that was as effective in describing their Republican opponents as it was odd.

Donald Trump strongly offends them and in response, he said that they themselves are strange and unusual people.

It seems that the Democrats’ communication strategy, which is expanding in the virtual space and creating taunts and behavioral patterns on the internet, is paying off.

According to a polling website, Harris is expected to be ahead in several swing states close to the conservative positions, for example in crucial states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin where Democrats will have 48% of the vote and Trump will have 45% and 46% respectively, which traditionally have unpredictable outcomes.

Even in Michigan, another battleground state, the race is completely open with competitors tied at 45%.

However, based on other polls, Harris will have an 11% lead in Michigan.

On the other hand, this capitalist is recognized as the more popular candidate in Arizona with 48% to 43% and in Nevada, where polls show him one percent behind Harris, although polls should always be taken with caution, there is a clear shift in preferences compared to a few weeks ago when Biden was still a nominee.

Voter issues show that they have the most interest or concern about inflation, border security, threats to American democracy, and abortion.

What is the agenda of Harris and Walsh?

When they took the stage at the Philadelphia rally, they immediately showcased a democratic approach by playing the song ‘Beyonce Freedom’.

The Welsh team will strongly focus on advocating for reproductive rights, including abortion, which has been widely attacked by the American right.

In uncertain times last March, the two had visited a pregnancy termination clinic in Minnesota.

Overall, Harris and Welsh talked more about bringing the country together and fighting for its future.

In Philadelphia, Trump was attacked without compromise and accused of the increase in violent crimes during his presidency, to which Welsh later referred, saying that the actions he committed are not hidden from anyone.

Of course, the toughest challenges facing the Democrats will be related to foreign policy. Large sections of progressive voters strongly oppose Biden’s support for Israel and demand that the US stop financial support for what they call genocide in Palestine.

According to some analyses, a potential Harris administration will continue Biden’s foreign policy but with subtle differences.

For the Middle East, this means repeating support for Israel’s right to self-defense but striving for a solution that guarantees sustainable peace.

In comparison to Biden, it seems Harris wants to emphasize more on the rights of Palestinians, while the White House prefers to avoid speculating on the potential consequences of a possible war in Ukraine with a democratic re-election, but multiple trips by the Vice President to Asia indicate that one of his government’s main goals will be to confront Beijing decisively and assertively in the South China Sea.

The selection of Tim Walz as a Democratic candidate for Vice President responds to different needs.

In many ways, Walz shows that he is somewhat similar to his counterpart DJ Vance, meaning that Walz is also a manifestation of a democratic populism that is widely prevalent within the party and in many states across America.

A white man with a significant background in progressive policies but a reassuring ordinary image, Walz can also compensate for what are perceived as the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of Kamala Harris.

It seems that choosing Walz could at least somewhat bridge the gap that Biden’s situation has created within the Democratic Party.

It could mend a gap that could have widened with the selection of a more prominent name.

Ultimately, Walz can serve as an effective mediator to compensate for something that many see as a lack of charisma in the presidential nominee without necessarily casting a shadow over it, as other contenders for his position faced this risk.