What national Democrats are saying about Walz’s auditioning as vice presidential candidate

[MUSIC PLAYING] CATHY WURZER: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz seems to be everywhere, doing news interviews or in your social feed with pointed, feisty, and unguarded comments in support of Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign. Walz is rapidly rising to the top as a contender for vice president alongside Harris. Some of Walz's comments have gone viral, whether it's on cable news appearances or during a fundraising call last night.

TIM WALZ: Here's the great news. How often, in 100 days, do you get to change the trajectory of the world? How often, in 100 days, do you get to do something that's going to impact generations to come? And how often in the world do you make that bastard [BLEEP] wake up afterwards and know that a Black woman kicked his [BLEEP] and sent him on the road? And you know that's something that guy's going to have to live with for the rest of his life.

CATHY WURZER: That was on a White Dudes for Harris fundraising call, one of the many affinity groups that have been meeting, spurred by a Black Women for Harris fundraising call. Joining us right now is Meredith Lee Hill, a Minnesota native and reporter for Politico, who just reported new details about what's being said about Walz's VP viability behind closed doors. Meredith, welcome to the program.

MEREDITH LEE HILL: Hi. Thanks for having me.

CATHY WURZER: Thanks for taking the time. I know you talked to people familiar with the VP conversations being held. What do they have to say about Tim Walz?

MEREDITH LEE HILL: Yeah, I think Tim Walz is certainly proving himself to be a highly effective messenger for the Democratic Party, obviously, as we just heard from him speaking last night. He's really leaning into this and thriving amid the sense of newfound joy among Democrats, especially in the party base, for a candidate like Kamala Harris, who they see, as young, energetic, really making a play for states that were out of reach for Democrats just a few weeks ago.

So for Walz, people familiar with the conversations around the VP process, progressives really love the ambitious progressive agenda he's enacted in Minnesota, alongside the DFL majority state legislature policies, reinforcing abortion access, tuition-free college, universal school meals.

And on the flip side, a lot of Democrats in tough battleground elections that I've spoken with really do like his experience as a rural lawmaker serving in Congress for 12 years, representing the district in Southern Minnesota, a red district, rural district, that Trump won in 2016.

So there's a little bit of something for everyone to like about Tim Walz. The one thing that struck me talking to someone familiar with the conversations is that they portrayed Walz as very aggressive in a way that other candidates, in particular, Mark Kelly, who is a leading vice presidential contender, a senator from Arizona, in a way that he's not.

And Walz has proved to be incredibly effective at boxing in Republicans and really going after Republicans, not only elevating Democratic goals and messaging and Harris's vision, but really being an attack dog in a way that you would like a vice president to be, in a lot of ways, going after Republicans, calling them "weird." That's obviously been a huge viral sensation that we've seen from him, that everyone from Hakeem Jeffries to Joe Manchin to the Harris campaign themselves have adopted as ways to talk about Republicans.

So I think people involved in the conversation certainly take him very seriously. And if not for a vice presidential pick, he certainly raises his national profile to be considered for a cabinet secretary or another position in the future.

CATHY WURZER: So what do you think-- thank you for bringing up the Walz-isms in terms of the "weirdness," his "weird" comment about Republicans. What does that say about where he stands within the Harris campaign that they're kind of picking up some of his vernacular?

MEREDITH LEE HILL: Yeah I think he's at least able-- and we'll probably see him-- if he's not picked as VP, we'll probably see him campaigning for her vigorously over the next 90 or so days before the election. I think his ability-- and I've talked to people in Minnesota, Democrats and others, who have known him for a long time.

His ability, obviously, his experience being a former teacher, kind of living a whole life before getting into politics, they think, makes him really well suited to talk about issues and policy in a way that hits everyday Americans where they are. And it's not some kind of high-minded talk about policy ideals or anything like that. It's really hitting people where they are.

And the idea that there's been so much attempt, especially by Joe Biden, to describe Republicans as extreme or as a threat to democracy and use some of these higher arguments about that. The very straightforward, no frills, "straight at them" argument that they're just weird and that these policies are just weird really sums up a lot of how Democrats, everyday Democrats, certainly feel, and including some independents and others in the country who feel about the GOP right now.

So I think his ability to distill that down is something that Democrats have really been grappling for and struggling over for years to bring that kind of simple message forward. And it's at least something that they are very interested in focusing on right now as they try to propel ahead to November.

CATHY WURZER: As the vetting process is underway, obviously, it's pretty intense. The Walz administration, as you know, is not without warts. There was the feeding our future scandal, questions about a lack of guardrails on the multi-million dollar grants given to nonprofits, his COVID lockdown, that kind of thing. How much do you think some of those warts might stop his trajectory toward the vice presidency, if he, indeed, is named as her running mate?

MEREDITH LEE HILL: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think all of the candidates are going through serious vetting at this point. I think those are certainly things that will come up in the coming days, and especially if he's picked, that he'll need to answer for.

One of the things that people close to the vice president told me about kind of the things that have come up in the conversation so far is they did note that Walz, especially during his congressional years, really had a track record of being kind of gruff, being an edgy lawmaker on the Hill, sometimes brash.

And that, obviously, has tempered since he's taken over as governor, they said. But certainly we've seen him in the past few years, even, being challenged about missteps and other things by his administration. Sometimes he's dismissive, a little bit brash.

And so that is something that the vice president search is really looking for somebody who does no harm. And so somebody who can answer questions about their record truthfully and with really a look ahead at how they're going to help the ticket is something that the vice president is looking for especially.

CATHY WURZER: Let me ask you about helping the ticket. Your story focuses on Walz's rural background, and I understand you grew up on a dairy farm in southeastern Minnesota, so you know about greater Minnesota. DFLers have lost ground in rural Minnesota over the past decades. And Walz, with the DFL-controlled legislature, passed some pretty far-left legislation. Do the folks you've talked to think he would appeal to rural America, given that record?

MEREDITH LEE HILL: Yeah think his story, just as a congressional lawmaker in a red district, is very interesting by itself. Obviously he was very moderate, had an A rating from the NRA when he was in congress, took money from the NRA, and really focused on really moderate policies.

And we've obviously seen that change, a whole 180 on guns during his gubernatorial race. And he has really changed a lot of his stance on policy issues. With the help of the DFL majority legislature, he's obviously enacted a hugely progressive agenda in Minnesota.

So I think there are people in rural Minnesota who still identify with Walz as somebody who can speak to them, who maybe they don't agree with everything he's done in Minnesota, but certainly know at least where he's coming from. But I do think that there is a disconnect between his congressional record and what we've seen as governor. And that's something that he will have to talk through with rural voters and explain, essentially, as we get closer to the election.

I think one thing, things like abortion access, universal school meals, those are, obviously, generally popular ideas. And the connections, I think, to rural America and the progressive agenda overlap somewhat. And he might be able to smooth that over.

CATHY WURZER: Say, a final question for you. In your story, you were quoting someone who is familiar with the VP conversations in the Harris campaign, and they said in terms of auditioning, Walz is doing an exceptional job. And as I said in my introduction, he seems like he's everywhere. I wonder, do your sources, do they have any indication as to where Walz might stand right now among the other VP candidates like Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro or Kentucky Governor Beshear?

MEREDITH LEE HILL: Mm-hmm. I think one of the leading candidates right now, obviously, Mark Kelly, the Arizona senator, is someone that people close to the vice president are very interested in, and that he, along with Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania, seem to be in the top tier right now. And Walz, if not in the second tier, is maybe just behind that.

So, as the vice president has been vetting candidates, they've been talking about all the different qualities, obviously personal, but also policy. And one thing Mark Kelly in particular is able to talk about, immigration as a border state senator and really focus on that topic in a way that could help Harris. So that is something that they're considering as well.

CATHY WURZER: Sp, to be determined. And when do we think we may hear something from the campaign? Any idea? Anything that you're hearing?

MEREDITH LEE HILL: We're expecting her to announce a decision before August 7th, next Wednesday. So sometime early next week is likely. We're expecting her and the running mate likely to be on the trail pretty quickly. So we will see likely movement, if not late this week, early next week.

CATHY WURZER: I know you will be covering this and keeping a close eye on it. Meredith, thank you so much.

MEREDITH LEE HILL: Thank you.

CATHY WURZER: Meredith Lee Hill is a reporter for Politico, and she is a Minnesota Native.