Takeaways from Tim Walz's introduction to the national stage

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Welcome to the presidential race, Tim Walz.

He’s a name few, if anyone, was thinking could be Vice President Harris’ running mate two weeks ago after President Biden stepped aside.

Harris didn’t know the Minnesota governor and former congressman well, if at all, before this process. But his speech with Harris in Philadelphia Tuesday introducing the Harris-Walz ticket to the country made his appeal clear.

Here are some takeaways from what he had to say and what it means for the race:

1. He’s a clear messenger who balances the ticket.

He’s the guy who coined “weird” as an attack line against former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, but he didn’t dwell on that in the speech.

He no doubt went after Trump and Vance, but a VP is also supposed to make the top of the ticket look better and bring balance. Walz certainly did that. He said, for example, Harris brings “joy,” but he’s the one known for being joyful. He is giving that to her by proxy.

2. He spoke for the heartland — and for “white guys”

Walz ain’t from San Francisco. He made that clear Tuesday night. And in one off-the-cuff comment, he hit on what could be considered the elephant in the room.

He’s a white guy. Harris is a Black woman, and part of his job — the job of all running mates — is to testify, to bring reassurance to groups that might be skeptical of the person at the top of the ticket. That might be ideological or — when there hasn’t been a woman as president, let alone a Black or South Asian woman in the office — it might be the white guy’s job to reassure other white guys.

“I see you down there. I see those old, white guys,” he said, jokingly pointing to others