We’ve been here before: With Walz maneuvering, there’s another Minnesotan in the VP mix
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Like clockwork, a Minnesota politician is in the discussion for inclusion on a national political ticket — a pursuit of second place that stretches back more than a half century and hasn’t resulted in much success in recent times.
This time, Gov. Tim Walz is in the mix for a spot on the Democratic ticket alongside likely presidential nominee Kamala Harris, the current vice president. An announcement could come any day but is expected prior to Tuesday.
Last week on MPR News, Walz declared himself open to the job and labeled Minnesota “the land of vice presidents.”
He added, “If I thought that there was something that I could bring to the ticket and make a difference, especially in those states that we need to win, I’m certainly listening.”
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Walz follows past Minnesotans who have been seriously vetted for the vice presidential position: Sens. Hubert H. Humphrey and Walter Mondale, who were selected, and Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who were not picked.
Walz, a second-term governor, has been tight-lipped about his contacts with Harris lately. But he’s been all over the television — talking up his rural roots and policy accomplishments and going after former Republican President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
“People like JD Vance know nothing about small town America. The golden rule there is mind your own damn business,” Walz said, underscoring his rural roots.
Harris has even picked up on Walz’s assertion that the GOP ticket is “weird” and incorporated into her own campaign messaging.
The VP selection process for Harris is dramatically compressed because she became her party’s consensus pick to lead the ticket after President Joe Biden left the race on July 21.
“We’re on this speed dating moment and doing that process in a very quick way,” Klobuchar said, reflecting last week on the need to move fast. It was a contrast to what she went through four years earlier.
Klobuchar was a contender to be Biden’s running mate when he selected Harris in 2020. She turned over materials and went through interviews for the position, she recounted recently to MPR News.
“I understand how long that took,” she said. Of Harris, Klobuchar said, “Fortunately she knows many of the leading candidates well.”
Other presidential nominees have taken far more time.
In 1976, then-Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter waited until the day he was accepting the nomination at the Democratic National Convention to announce his choice: Mondale.
“I’ve asked to serve as my running mate if the delegates will approve, Senator Walter Mondale from Minnesota,” Carter told reporters that day.
Mondale arrived mid-press conference. When Carter introduced him, the Minnesota senator joked about the waiting game.
“I heard the first part of your news conference in which you remarked that I was up when you called at 8:30,” Mondale said. ”Actually, I was up much earlier than that. Trying to fix my phone, which hasn't rang for three days. I knew there was something wrong with it. And finally, we got it fixed this morning.”
Carter revealed how much he had toiled over the pick.
“I’ve actually changed my mind three times,” said Carter, who was considering six U.S. senators for the job. “As I’ve learned more and more about the relationship that can exist between myself and the vice presidential nominee.”
In 2008, Republican presidential candidate John McCain came close to choosing Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. McCain opted for Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin instead.
Pawlenty said as a short-lister he had to compile documents about his health, his finances — his whole life.
“In our Eagan living room, which is a typical suburban house — we still live in the house — we had documents spread out across the entire living room floor,” Pawlenty explained. “Our living room looked like some sort of VP war room.”
Beyond the heaps of paperwork and interviews with McCain attorneys, Pawlenty also remembers well the media scrutiny. To avoid reporters, he would slip from his own house to a nearby getaway car.
“The press was staked out if I made a movement,” Pawlenty recalled. ”Even when I traveled out of state, they followed me numerous times.”
He went on, "They were all parked out in front. And of course, they didn't quite figure out I could just go out or walk out in the backyard, go out the sliding-glass door and walk through the backyards of my neighbors.”
Pawlenty recalls finding out he was not McCain’s choice and the moment of clarity he had while walking his dog.
“She did her business and when I picked it up I thought to myself, this is the only number two I’m going to be getting,” Pawlenty said.
Pawlenty was also considered and passed over in 2012 when Mitt Romney was atop the GOP ticket.
Once Harris settles on her pick — Walz or otherwise — the duo plans to hit the road for an introductory tour in battleground states stretching from Pennsylvania to Arizona. There are planned stops in Michigan and Wisconsin as well.