Two-term Minnesota Governor Jayden Walz: a real-life experience in politics and his family’s legacy with the United States House and Senate
“You can have wishful thinking and you can hope that you know COVID wasn’t real … but that is not where the facts are,” Walz told the crowd. “And as governor, you have to deal with that.”
Walz was pressed on all three during a 2022 gubernatorial debate at an agriculture trade show. Jensen told an audience that Walz imposed restrictions on topics related to those issues and others.
In addition to framing Harris own vision for the country, the man will also have to answer for his own record in politics over nearly two decades. That spans the violence in Minneapolis following George Floyd’s murder, the pandemic and a broad swath of policy decisions as governor over the last six years.
“You’ll hear me talk about how to affect Americans and how to make sure they have the opportunity to thrive, and how we talk about that,” he said.
“The thing I think my opponent fails to realize — he speaks of the arena as the bubble inside the beltway in Washington, D.C. I’ve been in the arena of public life,” Walz said during the debate. I bring a real-life experience that knows I am not partisan, and that is what I want to bring. I do not have the luxury of being rigid.
From the start of his political career nearly 20 years ago, Walz has often emphasized his Midwestern roots and personal biography. He contrasted himself against his Republican opponent in one of their first debates in 2006 for the U.S. House.
That moment pales in comparison to what awaits Walz on Tuesday as the two-term Minnesota governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee steps on a debate stage with Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president.
“We have a chance to exercise the American gift, and that is the ability to vote and to vote for a representative who will take this country in the direction you want it to go,” he said as he finished the debate. “I’m so optimistic in this country.”
I tried to bring up two or three flaws in his leadership style, so that the audience would think he was slow to act as a leader or unwilling to do what he wanted in a prompt.
Jensen and others who have debated Walz note that the governor is affable and folksy. And they say his move to downplay expectations — a classic pre-debate tactic — could help him set up a more successful outcome.
“Maybe he didn’t get in trouble in Minnesota because he spoke off the top of his head, but if that’s the case now, it will make him into trouble,” Gazelka said.
He pointed to a comment the governor made about Minnesota National Guard members being “19-year-old line cooks” as he defended his response to the violence Minneapolis after Floyd’s death. It didn’t work out in the weeks that followed.
Vance and Walz: What You Need to Know Before You Choose Your Next White House (and Why You Shouldn’t) Read It
The Harris-Walz campaign is looking to avoid a similar trip-up during the debate. They’ve said the focus will be on Walz presenting himself to viewers and illustrating what a Harris presidency would mean for the country.
This will be the only time in this campaign that the candidates will meet on stage in front of the American public, and they will both make their policy positions known to the American public.
They are both vying for votes of working class voters in the “Blue Wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
The debate will be moderated by Margaret Brennan, a foreign affairs correspondent for CBS, and by managing editor and CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell. The debate can be watched LIVE on CBS, CBS News Streaming Network and Paramount+ without a cable login.
Follow NPR’s live blog on Tuesday for the latest updates, analysis, fact-checking and color — and also watch the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate Simulcast. You can listen to NPR debate coverage on public radio stations and the NPR app.
The first-term Senator wrote a book that blamed Biden and the Democrats for the struggles of the rural economy that he grew up in. In the Senate, Vance has positioned himself against Republican leadership at times but on issues like abortion, immigration and election integrity, he’s closely aligned with Trump.
The Presidential Debate: Representing Governor Mike Vance and his Former Marine, Coach Walz, with an audience of 24 minutes to a Media Room
Walz got the nickname “Coach Walz” for being a former football coach and teacher. In his state, Walz secured several progressive wins, including clean energy mandates, universal free school meals, family and medical leave benefits, and abortion protections.
He had to address comments about Democrats being “childless cat ladies” and jokes about being on the couch since his nomination, which likely will come up again during the debate. There is a false claim that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Ohio.
Walz, who served in the National Guard for 20 years and reenlisted after Sept. 11, only saw wartime deployment to Italy in 2003. Vance, who served in the Marines and did a six-month deployment to Iraq, also has not seen combat.
There will be no audience in attendance, and the candidates will each take a stand behind podiums. The candidates will have two minutes to make their closing statements. Vance won a virtual coin toss on Sept. 26 and elected to go second with his closing statement.
Vance and Walz will not be allowed to have prewritten notes or props, and topics and questions will not be shared in advance with campaigns. CBS News has the right to turn on the microphones, like they did in the presidential debates.
There will be two minutes for each candidate to respond and two minutes for them to answer the questions. Then, each candidate gets one minute for further rebuttals. At the discretion of the moderators, candidates may get an additional minute each to continue a discussion.
