The Tribune

Chicago, Illinois

In one of the thousands of chance meetings that are the lifeblood of a gathering like the Democratic National Convention that continued yesterday, a couple of reporters from Wisconsin’s largest circulation daily newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, were talking about the Democratic ticket. A delegate from Florida overheard their conversation, approached them, and inquired about Tim Walz.

The Floridian asked if Kamala Harris’s choice of the Minnesota governor as her vice-presidential running mate gives her an edge with voters in Wisconsin, just next door.

The reporters smiled, and one of them answered. “Not really. We Wisconsinites are fond of Minnesotans, don’t get me wrong. But no. Voters in Wisconsin aren’t going to give the Democratic ticket any special favors because Walz is from Minnesota. We’re like a lot of Midwesterners. We tend to take stock of people and judge them as individuals.”

Nevertheless, the prospective appeal of Walz, in many respects a quintessential Midwesterner, in the key states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, had to be a major factor in his choice as Harris’s election partner. Bluff, outspoken and friendly, Walz looks and talks like someone from America’s heartland. He projects the kind of unscripted spontaneity that characterises his region.

Fresh from a successful rally in neighboring Milwaukee the previous evening, Walz took the stage on Wednesday as the featured speaker for the evening. He appeared at 10: 20pm Eastern time, and while he was far from the most dazzling speaker on this night, he definitely did deliver what the Harris campaign expects from him.

“Neighbours look after each other; Donald Trump doesn’t,” Walz repeated to thunderous applause. And he used a couple of his other now-familiar lines: “The Republican ticket (of Trump and JD Vance) is weird – but they’re also wrong about the issues, and they’re dangerous.” And, finally: “Out here in the Midwest, we have a kind of golden rule – Mind your own damn business!” He was referring mostly to the Republican push to circumscribe women’s reproductive rights.

Walz is a sympathetic everyman. He is clearly eager to adopt the attack dog stance that many presidential candidates, certainly including Kamala Harris, prefer in their running mate. But some cracks in the wall of praise for Walz are appearing.

For example, he keeps hammering at his opposite number JD Vance for “going off to Yale”. A couple of things about that. Vance went “off to Yale” to attend its law school, which is among the very most selective in the US. Vance got his bachelor’s degree not in the Ivy League but from Ohio State, where he graduated summa cum laude.

Bill and Hillary Clinton both attended Yale Law School. That’s where they met. So the “elite tag” isn’t accurate or very likely to be effective. And if Walz persists, he risks looking foolish.

Secondly, Minnesota’s senior senator Amy Klobuchar, who introduced Walz on Wednesday evening as the “plaid dad”, actually did go off to Yale, as an undergraduate. So did many of the leaders of both American political parties.

Vance may have turned into Trump’s own attack dog for this campaign, and his behaviour doesn’t bespeak a surpassing intellect. But he has earned what he presently enjoys. Walz is going off the rails if he persists with this line of attack.

And by comparison with the true oratorical superstars on the DNC stage on Wednesday evening, Walz frankly falls short.

Consider the Democratic line-up: TV and culture goddess Oprah Winfrey. Former president Bill Clinton. Transportation Secretary and media darling Pete Buttigieg. Hard-charging Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro. Future presidential candidate and present Maryland governor Wes Moore. House of Representatives minority leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Clever Saturday Night Live star Keenan Thompson, who trotted out the now-infamous Project 2025 that outlines possible GOP strategies for a second Trump administration and is actually scary. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who was the first Muslim elected to the House of Representatives, assured the crowd that anti-Zionists are “heard” by Harris and Walz.

Except for Buttigieg and Pelosi, every one of these personalities outshone Walz. Buttigieg, looking youngish and a bit dorky, had a couple of good lines (“my life choices have moved from impossible to possible to real to, maybe, ordinary”), but overall, he seemed flat.

And Pelosi, now 84, is really showing her age. While she has been perhaps the most consequential female politician in American history, Pelosi seemed weary and a bit frail on the big stage. She has reportedly been very active at and around the convention, and maybe she’s tired. But her endorsement of Harris was tepid and lackluster.

Jeffries, in a lengthy address that notably gained intensity and momentum as he spoke, pushed hard on the notion that a Harris administration will transform the country. This theme, also sounded by several others on this night and previously, seems to aim to portray Harris-Walz as a brand-new administration, not a continuation of most if not all of the major Biden-Harris administration policies.

Such an approach could get problematic as the weeks roll by, but it had the enthusiastic crowd believing in Chicago.

Then Bill Clinton appeared. The effect on the audience was one of awe. Clinton left office almost 25 years ago, and while his wife has been in the spotlight for many of those years, he has gradually receded from public view.

Now 78, much thinner and clearly older, and speaking now with a raspy voice and some hesitation resulting from the failure of the teleprompter system, Clinton’s stature and rather careful, measured delivery hushed the crowd. They were rapt.

While praising Harris, Biden and Walz appropriately, Clinton assured his audience that he had “triple-checked” the following statistic – “The Democratic Party has presided over creation of 50 million new jobs in the past 25 years; the Republican Party has been in power for the creation of one million jobs.” We’ll see how long this remains in the party’s rhetorical playbook.

Clinton also offered the following: “With Trump, don’t count the lies. Count the I’s.” And: “Your children and grandchildren will be proud of you for electing Kamala Harris.”

It was like old times for the Dems with the former president at the podium. He retains an uncanny ability with small trademark gestures to attract and compel the attention of an audience. There’s still a feeling with him of a personal connection with every individual in the crowd.

Shapiro and Moore were good with their speeches, building on events in their states to praise the Biden-Harris administration and promising more and better under Harris-Walz. Nothing extraordinary there.

In the midst of all of this, a real legend and John Legend both offered rousing musical performances that had the grateful audience rocking in their seats and in the aisles. The real legend was the prolifically creative Stevie Wonder, now 74 years old.

But the undisputed highlight of the evening was the unannounced appearance of a woman who many believe could easily run for president herself and sweep to victory – if only she could accept the practical demotion such a step would entail!

The incomparable Oprah Winfrey, long a resident of Chicago, appeared without introduction and was serenely confident in her tature and her influence. This woman whose book club endorsement can enrich authors overnight took the stage without seeming overly impressed with the rapturous applause of the crowd.

Winfrey has been careful with her involvement in politics over her lengthy, peerless career in American television, so her agreement to join Wednesday’s program was a clear sign that she is jumping off the political fence to get involved in the current campaign.

It’s hard to imagine anything bigger, except perhaps for Taylor Swift following in Oprah’s footsteps, as has been rumored for a while.

Oprah obviously has no use for Trump. “Stand up to life’s bullies,” she told the crowd. And “when we stand together, it’s impossible to conquer us. Complicated times require adult conversations, not childish rants. Vote your values. Choose common sense over nonsense.”

Winfrey did draw some personal comparisons with Harris and praised her “grace and guts”. But the biggest impact of Oprah was simply her surprise appearance.

The euphoria at the Democratic Party National Convention continues. But as many speakers have warned, it’s still a long campaign.