Walz under pressure to prove himself on national stage

CNN —

It’s time to turn joy into votes.

Democratic Party Hall of Famers spent the first two days of their party’s convention doubling down on their 11th hour wager on their ebullient new presidential ticket.

Now it’s all on Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

The vice president and the Minnesota governor are largely unknown to vast swaths of the country and have experienced nothing like the looming maelstrom of an election clash with Donald Trump.

Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama embrace on stage on Tuesday, August 20, during the DNC in Chicago.

Related article Takeaways from the second night of the Democratic National Convention

But they can’t have hoped for more help than the Democratic Party giants of the last 40 years.

A president, Joe Biden, drew a curtain on a 50-year political career.

An ex-president, Barack Obama, implored a polarized nation to renew what Abraham Lincoln called “our bonds of affection” and to unify behind Harris.

Hillary Clinton, who came so close to breaking the male monopoly on the presidency, peered through the cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling and envisioned Harris taking the oath of office as the first woman president.

And another former first lady, Michelle Obama, declared, “hope is making a comeback” while beseeching voters to “do something” to thwart a Trump restoration.

Harris seeks to make her catchphrase a reality

Members of the Georgia delegation wave photos of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in Chicago on August 20.

But on the next two nights in Chicago, Harris and Walz must begin to answer whether their chummy double act can evolve into a serious electoral movement as their campaign enters a critical new stage.