How 'weird.' One word put Kamala Harris on the path to selecting Tim Walz to be her running mate

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, tapped by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris to be her running mate Tuesday, catapulted from being a relative unknown on the national stage to a vice president contender in a matter of days — largely on the basis of a single word gone viral in various iterations.

The word? "Weird."

Walz used it to describe former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee and his vice president pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. In a July 23 MSNBC “Morning Joe” segment, Walz said, "These guys are just weird."

The one-word framing caught fire. It spoke to people. And it caught on. Democrats used it. Vice President Harris embraced it. At a rally last week in Atlanta, she said the GOP ticket was “just plain weird.”

In this 2024 election, where people have an overload of choices of how to receive political information, it turns out that one word spoke volumes across generations. "Weird" struck the right tone. More punch, in its own way, than the school boy insults Trump uses to taunt Harris, like calling her “low IQ.”

And "weird" pushed Walz to the front of the line and in a position to prevail over very capable rivals.

Observations:

‘Hi, this is Tim’

The campaign put out a video of Harris calling Walz on Tuesday morning to give him the news. It was evocative of the video Joe Biden’s campaign produced when he called Harris in 2000 to offer her a spot on his ticket.

Walz picked up on one ring. “Hi, this is Tim,” he said, as if he did not have a clue who was phoning.

Said Harris, “Listen, I want you to do this with me. Lets, lets do this together. Would you be my running mate and let’s get this thing on the road?”

He accepted. What Walz was wearing — whether planned or not — showed the image the newly minted Harris-Walz ticket hopes to convey to middle class folks in the crucial swing states. The former Army National Guard reservist was wearing what appeared to be a camouflage cap, black T-shirt, khaki pants and white sports shoes.

Every day since Biden announced on July 21 he would not seek another term has been head-spinning. The underestimated Harris locked up the nomination in a day.

And something remarkable happened, perhaps grist for political history books. Depressed Democrats saw sunlight. They contributed stunning amounts money, signed up to be volunteers, joined thousands on Zoom calls and recaptured that intangible political exuberance not experienced in years, even before Biden’s decline.

The Harris-Walz ticket debuted Tuesday night in Philadelphia. The road to the White House — to 270 electoral votes — goes through swing states Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. The folks in the packed Philadelphia hall affirmed her choice. As for others, they were applauding and validating the Walz selection with their pocketbooks. On Tuesday evening, the campaign reported more than $20 million had been raised since the morning Walz announcement.

In Philadelphia, the message was: ‘It’s a fight for the future’

On Monday night, with the virtual roll call complete, Harris became the official Democratic nominee. There will be a symbolic roll call on the second evening of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, running Aug. 19-22.

Harris understands what she wants her campaign to be, since fighting over the past Trump seems mired in is not the best formula for winning the White House.

“Our campaign is not just against Donald Trump,” she said. The campaign “is a fight for the future.”

You’ll be hearing that a lot. At least for now. Harris, by necessity moving fast, did not have the luxury of using months to road-test lines.

In talking about Walz, Harris summarized his bio by running through his many titles in easy to remember ways.That’s important, because Walz needs to be introduced to voters.

There’s no need, by the way, to be embarrassed if you never heard of Walz before today.

A tell on me: In 2008, when Sen. John McCain, the GOP presidential nominee, announced his running mate — then Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — I had never heard her name.

Harris told the story about what you should know about Walz. He’s a governor. A husband. To his kids, Hope and Gus, “he’s a dad.” He is Sgt. Major Walz. For those in his old House district in southern Minnesota, he was Congressman Walz. To his former high school students he was Mr. Walz. To his ex-football players he was Coach.

Said Harris, “And in 91 days he’ll be known by another name. Vice President.”