Democrats and Republicans go to battle over how to define Tim Walz
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Despite the viral cable hits that catapulted him to being named Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate, Gov. Tim Walz is a genuine unknown for most Americans.
Why it matters: 70% of registered voters have no opinion of Walz or have never heard of him, according to new NPR/Marist polling.
- Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is at 51%, and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) is at 50%.
- GOP VP nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) was at 41% when he was introduced in July.
Zoom in: The GOP has a clear early plan to define Walz, blasting out "dangerously liberal" across their messaging.
- Republicans plan to paint Walz as far left, highlighting that he was backed for VP by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and reminding people of Walz's handling of the 2020 protests after the police killing of George Floyd, Axios' Stef Kight and Juliegrace Brufke report.
- House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) called the Walz pick "amazing" and "a great pick for us ... you can't script this any better."
- House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) praised Harris' selection of Walz as her running mate, calling him a "heartland of America Democrat."
Between the lines: Harris is seeking to define him as "Coach Walz," harkening back to his days as a teacher and football coach.
- She told of Walz serving as the faculty adviser for a Gay-Straight alliance at his high school after being asked to help by one of the first openly gay students there.
- "Tim knew the signal it would send to have a football coach get involved. ... As students have said, he made the school a safe place for everybody."
The big picture: Parts of Walz's resume as governor look like a progressive wish list.
- Walz enshrined 20 weeks of paid family and medical leave, protected abortion rights and signed a pair of "shield" laws for people who travel to Minnesota to receive gender affirming care and abortions.
- He signed legislation legalizing recreational marijuana, restoring voting rights for 55,000 felons on probation and making undocumented immigrants eligible for driver licenses.
- He pushed aggressive targets on climate change and renewable energy and created a prescription drug affordability board.
- Walz also made Minnesota one of six states that provides universal free school lunches and proposed an expansion of the child tax credit and billions in increases on some taxes.
Go deeper: Before he went viral for calling Republicans "weird," Walz was going after Iowa and Florida over "banned" books.
