EAU CLAIRE, Wisconsin: Arab American community leaders and key labor unions in the Midwest said Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris made the right decision by choosing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate in November's election.
Some Democratic leaders in Michigan are concerned that picking the wrong running mate could slow momentum and erode a coalition that had only recently begun to coalesce after President Joe Biden decided to drop out of the race, paving the way for Harris.
Walz's addition to the ballot eased some tensions, signaling to some leaders that Harris had heard concerns about another potential vice presidential contender, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who they felt was too supportive of Israel.
“The party is recognizing that there are alliances that need to be rebuilt,” said Abdullah Hammoud, Mayor of Dearborn, Michigan. “The election of Walz is another sign of good faith.”
On Wednesday, Harris and Walz spent their first day campaigning together across the Midwest, where they got a bizarre glimpse of just how fiercely competitive the region could be when they faced Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance on the tarmac in Wisconsin.
Democrats are visiting Wisconsin and Michigan, hoping to bolster support among young, diverse and labor-friendly voters who were instrumental in helping President Joe Biden win the 2020 election.
“Tim Walz likes to point out that we are cheerful warriors,” Harris said at the day’s first rally in Eau Claire. Harris’ campaign has backed that sentiment, saying it raised $36 million in the first 24 hours after announcing Walz as her running mate.
The vice president said both are looking to the future with optimism, unlike former President Donald Trump, whom she has accused of being stuck in the past and of using confrontational politics, even as she has criticized her opponent.
“Anyone who suggests that we should repeal the Constitution of the United States should never again sit behind the seal of the United States,” Harris said to applause from a crowd her campaign said numbered more than 12,000.
Wednesday's campaign rally was particularly important for her and Walz, as the coalition that Biden won four years ago showed signs of faltering over the summer, particularly in Michigan, which has become a center of division within the Democratic Party over Biden's handling of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
In a speech to a Democratic rally in Wisconsin before Harris arrived, Walz had some criticism of Vance but used his harshest words mostly on Trump, saying the former president “flouted our laws, he caused chaos and divided our people, and that's not even mentioning the job he's done as president.”
Republicans have tried to portray Harris and Walz as too liberal for the Midwest, with Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a Republican, saying on a conference call that Walz is “part of the radical, rabid left, just like Vice President Harris.”
Increased enthusiasm
But Democrats' enthusiasm has been growing since Harris announced her candidacy and chose Walz as her running mate.
“We love Joe. Joe’s a great president, but he’s not the same messenger anymore, and sometimes you need a better messenger,” said Dan Miller of Pelican Lake, Wisconsin, who attended the Walz-Harris rally. “And that’s Kamala.”
This momentum could be a turning point in Detroit, home to nearly 80 percent black people, where leaders have warned administration officials for months that voter disinterest could cost them a chance to remain in a city that is typically a stronghold of their party.
Pastor Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit NAACP, called the excitement in the city “mind-boggling,” and compared it to Barack Obama’s first presidential run in 2008, when voters waited in long lines to elect the nation’s first black president.
Some Democratic leaders in Michigan are concerned that picking the wrong running mate could slow that momentum and erode the fledgling coalition.
The Arab-American leader, who has significant influence in Michigan due to his influence in the Detroit area, has spoken out against Shapiro over his past comments on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
These leaders pointed to comments he made earlier this year, particularly about university protests, which they felt unfairly drew comparisons between student protesters and white supremacists. Shapiro, who is Jewish, has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while remaining a staunch supporter of Israel.
Osama Siblani, publisher of the Dearborn-based Arab American News and a prominent leader in Michigan's large Muslim community, was among those who met with White House Counsel Tom Perez in Michigan last week.
Even though Perez is in the state on official business, he has kept in touch with some Dearborn leaders since he and other senior officials traveled there with Biden to try to improve relations with the community.
Siblani said he met with Perez for more than an hour on July 29 and told him that if Harris chose Shapiro, future conversations would be “off.”
“Not selecting Shapiro is a very important step because it opens up a lot of opportunities,” Siblani said, adding that any meaningful conversations must include policy discussions.
Duel Schedule
Trump has also emphasized appealing to Midwestern voters by selecting Ohio Republican Sen. Vance as his running mate. Vance also matched up Harris-Walz with Michigan and Wisconsin candidates on Wednesday.
The duel schedules overlapped enough that while Harris was still greeting the Girl Scouts who had picked her up at the Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Wisconsin, Vance's campaign plane had landed nearby and was flying in the distance.
Harris posed for a group photo with the girls at the same time Vance was getting off the plane, and he walked to Air Force 2 with security following behind.
The vice president eventually got into her motorcade, and the motorcade drove away before the two could interact. However, it was unusual for the two to almost do so on the tarmac, given the carefully planned campaign schedule.
Vance later told reporters, “I just want to see my new plane,” implying that he would travel on Air Force Two if he and Trump are elected in November. He also criticized Harris for not answering reporters’ questions, although she has sometimes responded to shouted questions as she boards or exits the plane to campaign.
“Actually, we just saw the vice president's plane,” Vance later told the crowd at his event in Eau Claire, and joked about the reporters traveling with him, saying, “I think they must be lonely because Kamala Harris didn't answer any questions.”
Vance hit back at Walz’s nickname for him, which made the Minnesota governor an online sensation in the days before Harris chose him as her campaign running mate, saying, “If those people want to call me weird, I’m going to call it an honor.”
