Minnesota’s Sen. Amy Klobuchar weighs in on Walz VP pick

CATHY WURZER: We are going to hear more from Tim Walz this afternoon in Philadelphia, but shortly after the news broke, he issued a statement on social media that said, a person who's had an up close-- he issued a statement on social media saying that he was very proud to be on the ticket. A person who has had an up close look at the sharp elbowed game that is national presidential politics is Minnesota's senior United States senator, Democrat Amy Klobuchar, who joins us right now. Thank you for taking the time, Senator.

AMY KLOBUCHAR: Thanks, Kathy. By the way, I love that MPR broke the fact that Walz was being considered or that he would be interested.

CATHY WURZER: Yeah

AMY KLOBUCHAR: And then you had Mark Zdechlik, man on the street in Philadelphia, that I completely enjoyed listening, including the woman that didn't even know who he was three weeks ago, but that, like his TikTok videos with his daughter. It was just a very interesting segment and I think what we're going to start seeing rolling out across the country as people get to know Governor Walz.

CATHY WURZER: Say, how do you think Tim Walz helps the Harris campaign?

AMY KLOBUCHAR: I think he helps big time. One, you need someone you can trust, both Vice President Mondale, Vice President Humphrey showed that that mattered. Two, he brings an understanding of the Midwest and rural areas, growing up in a farm in Nebraska, moving to Mankato, my husband's hometown, where my mother-in-law actually once brought Tim and Gwen a Parmesan chicken dinner when Gus was born. And grew up there, really raised his family there, and then taught high school. We all know the story.

Signed up, by the way, when he was in Nebraska, to be in the Army National Guard at just age 17. This is not the normal bio of some people that are coming up in the world right now in politics. So I think he brings that, representing rural district, Congressional District 1, which, by the way, has only had two Democrats in 100 years, building that coalition of moderate Republicans, independents, Democrats, and really allowing himself to win by good margins and govern, and then becoming our governor.

So I just think that that storyline of his understanding of rural brings a lot, and his ability to lead, whether it was troops, whether it was high school kids and football players, or whether it is our state.

CATHY WURZER: As you mentioned, Senator, the governor has this small town background. He looks and sounds like small town America. But there are some pretty sharp strategists who think Walz might not appeal to centrist swing voters because of his move toward the far left wing of the Democratic Party. Is he too progressive? Is that a potential vulnerability?

AMY KLOBUCHAR: I think the answer there is, first of all, what you said at the beginning. It is really sharp elbow politics right now we live in. It used to be there would be a day of, welcome to the ticket, and they'd say a few things instead. They are all out on this. And it is the way we are right now in our politics.

But I think what Tim Walz does so well is he responds, sometimes, with humor, which we need more of. He responds with joy, and he responds with facts. I mean, he is going to be able to go out there and say, OK, yeah, progress means making progress. But guess what? Minnesota has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. And CNBC voted Minnesota number six when it came to doing business. And that is way above average. Six in the nation out of all 50 states for doing business. That just happened last month.

And there has been a series of those kinds of numbers that have come out about our state, in part because of our great workers and businesses, that's the, of course, basis for it. But Tim Walz has been able to work with everyone, and I think those facts aren't going to lie, and is the kind of numbers that he's going to be able to make the case. And he'll have testimonials from people that have known him for a long time, from small towns and big, from farms from Duluth. You're going to hear a lot of support for what Walz has done as governor.

CATHY WURZER: One of your mentors, Vice President Mondale, changed the vice presidency. I mean, he made it into a position where it had value instead of being just a figurehead. If the Harris Walz ticket wins in November, what do you think Walz's focus might be as a vice president?

AMY KLOBUCHAR: Well, I think his background as a veteran, my guess is that will certainly continue. There's always-- we just dealt with passing the burn pit bill where Joe Biden and Kamala Harris worked with me and many others to finally get that done. I think you'll see him focus on veterans. I think you'll see him focus on rural. Just for me, just the last few years, having someone that represents the Midwest is going to mean a lot.

It's obviously going to mean a lot with Wisconsin and Michigan. And by the way, you were just talking about Pennsylvania, the Western side of Pennsylvania, very much like Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota. And then it's going to help when he governs, because he's going to get what the Farm Bill is. It's not going to seem like some foreign entity to him. As well as his trips around the world, both on security issues as well as trade missions. He gets how the world works, but he hasn't lost that sense of small town Minnesota.

CATHY WURZER: I mentioned, of course, you've had an up close look at national presidential politics. Give us a taste of what Tim and Gwen Walz are in for on the National stage.

AMY KLOBUCHAR: Well, first of all, is the glory. They're going to be in for meeting people. And they're so good at that. They like that. Last night when we did that event where I had a feeling this was going to happen today, but Tim was just his regular self, wanted to dive in the crowd. By the way, the microphone got lost because we took it off the stage, and so we had to find the microphone while Tim was walking around talking to everyone.

And I think they're going to enjoy that part of it. I do think national politics has become brutal. There's no other word for it, with the kind of attacks you see. And the thing about it, if you're going to survive that, which I believe I did, you've got to keep your head high and have a mission. Tim's used to having a mission. He had a mission when he was a soldier. He had a mission when he knew he had to get his team into shape. And he had a mission in Congress, to represent that district.

And once you both embrace that and have a plan for yourself and the people you represent, you can withstand anything, no matter what people say. The truth you can explain, but lies, you just have to sometimes make fun of them, dismiss them, move on. And I think he's going to have unique qualifications to be able to deal with that.

CATHY WURZER: There was a ton of lawmakers, some pretty big hitters, who were backing Tim Walz for this spot on the ticket. Did you get a chance to talk to Kamala Harris or the screening committee to boost the governor's chances?

AMY KLOBUCHAR: Sure. So Kamala Harris actually called me the day that everything went down, when President Biden made the very difficult decision and the honorable decision to take himself off the ticket. And she called me that day. I was in the airport stranded, like so many people were.

And I had just been talking to some guys I didn't even know. And I remember I said, well, what are you-- they're like, well-- and I go, oh, what do you think of the decision today, for President Biden endorsing Kamala Harris? Yeah, we're OK with it. The phone rings, it says blocked call. And I said, well, maybe this is her right now. And it was her. And I put them on the phone with her.

So I talked to her that day. Since that time, I've gotten calls from people around her that, of course, have asked me my thoughts on Tim Walz. And I had a lot of positive things to say. But I just didn't think-- I thought in the end, this is her choice to make. And she made her own choice. I wasn't going to call and lobby her. She had many, many people to choose from who were actually excellent, and I believed she would come to a good decision on her own.

CATHY WURZER: All right, Senator, are you going to be-- by the way, are you scheduled to make any campaign appearances with Kamala Harris or Tim Walz at this point?

AMY KLOBUCHAR: I'm sure there will be some in the future, but right now, man, I'm going to Farm Fest. That's where everyone goes.

CATHY WURZER: That's right. The cool people are at Farm Fest. All right.

AMY KLOBUCHAR: Exactly.

CATHY WURZER: There's also the State Fair.

AMY KLOBUCHAR: They're going to Farm Fest.

CATHY WURZER: There's Farm Fest, and there's the State Fair. There's the State Fair.

AMY KLOBUCHAR: And there's the State Fair. Yeah, exactly.

CATHY WURZER: All right. We'll see you there. Thank you, Senator. Bye bye. That is Minnesota's senior US senator, Amy Klobuchar.