Democratic Voters on Tim Walz

It’s been a busy couple of weeks in American politics since Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket.

On Tuesday, he chose his running mate: Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, a former congressman, teacher and Army veteran.

Also in the running were Josh Shapiro and Andy Beshear, governors of Pennsylvania and Kentucky, as well as Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.

The BBC interviewed Democratic voters to find out what they thought of the choice.

Ms. Vaughn, who grew up in a Republican family but votes Democratic, would like to see Mr. Walz in a debate with Mr. Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance.

He’s a teacher for 20 years, he’s a rural Democrat, I’m a teacher, I’m a rural Democrat. He’s an IVF parent, I’m also an infertility parent.

This is a great choice, I think it will add a lot of energy to the campaign, it really offers a lot.

The Harris-Walz duo will be extremely competitive with the Trump-Vance duo.

I would love to see the two VP candidates debate. There’s someone who actually comes from rural America, who still works as a farmer, and there’s someone who abandoned his rural roots as quickly as he could and then started to capitalize on them after his Ivy League education.

Rural communities had [it] really tough under Trump. We lost our child tax credits, IVF is under attack since Roe [the federal right to abortion] it has been dismantled.

This gives us hope that perhaps we will have a strong advocate for those aspects of life that are so close to mothers, children and teachers.

Ms. Tye initially favored Mark Kelly for vice president, but her research on Mr. Walz changed her mind.

I’m excited. Walz brings something to the party that Shapiro doesn’t and somehow Kelly doesn’t seem to bring either.

He’s a funny, engaging guy, gives entertaining interviews, and has a background that I think a lot of Americans can appreciate.

I think she [Ms Harris] he did something really smart.

A gun enthusiast might get some people really hesitant to vote for an anti-gun liberal, but Walz has a hunting background and at one point had a positive rating with the NRA.

I really appreciate that she worked so hard with kids. I love that she facilitated a gay-straight alliance when she was a teacher and that she worked so hard to make sure people were getting a living wage.

Kamala and Walz will outclass Republicans.

Mr. Chandler believes Mr. Walz is the perfect choice to solidify Democratic support.

Considering all of Walz’s policies, it can be said that he is a very progressive choice.

I really like the fact that he stood up for unions and I really appreciate the fact that he fought so hard to get free lunches for kids in his state’s schools.

He has been very firm in his support for peace in Gaza.

I’m really happy with the choice because it seems more inspiring to me, it reminds me of a really nice grandfather, even if he is more or less the same age as Kamala Harris.

I love that someone who has been a big advocate for helping people in need is the choice. That’s what we need right now in this country.

The Harris-Walz duo is more representative of the broader American public than Trump-Vance: it makes me feel much more inspired for this election.

Ms. Mendenhall said she would reluctantly vote for Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris. She is now enthusiastic about the Harris-Waltz ticket.

I was pleasantly surprised, it seemed like Josh Shapiro was the choice, but I think Tim Walz was the better choice.

I don’t know much about him, but I know he was a great governor of Minnesota and seems to support progressive values.

I’m moderately optimistic, I know it’s going to be tough, but Walz compared to Vance… there’s really no comparison.

I would love to see them argue, I don’t know if that will happen, but I feel pretty good about it.

It is amazing how the outlook for the elections has really changed in the space of a few weeks.

With Biden and Harris there was essentially no hope of winning, but now there is at least a real chance of winning.