by Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch
Vice President Harris today has an announcement to make about her running mate hours after Democratic Party delegates completed a virtual roll call and officially made her the nominee.
She will unveil her choice following an accelerated 16-day candidacy after President Biden withdrew his bid for a second term and endorsed her.
Harris and her new election partner plan tonight to showcase the Democratic ticket on a Temple University stage in Philadelphia and are scheduled to barnstorm through at least six swing states this week to try to build party unity and mobilize voters to defeat former President Trump and running mate Sen. JD Vance (Ohio). The four-day Democratic National Convention begins Aug. 19 in Chicago.
Harris amassed an impressive war chest in the course of weeks, inspired organic organizations of supporters rooting for the first female president and tapped into a tight circle of advisers who know a lot about winning the White House, including former President Obama.
The VP field reportedly narrowed to two likely choices as of Monday: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Both bring legislative and leadership experience in important states for the Democrats in November.
Shapiro, 51, is the popular governor of the biggest swing state, an effective communicator and a fast-rising star within the Democratic Party. He has a reputation as a moderate with crossover appeal. Progressives have increasingly targeted Shapiro, who is Jewish, in recent days over his stances on Israel and handling of pro-Paletsinian protests, write The Hill’s Amie Parnes and Julia Manchester. Some Jewish Democrats on Capitol Hill say Shapiro has been unfairly maligned because he’s the only Jewish politician on Harris’s known candidate list, write The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Mychael Schnell.
“Josh’s position on Israel is almost identical to everybody else, but he’s being held to a different standard. So you have to ask yourself why,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.).
Meanwhile, Walz, 60, spoke before an energetic crowd Monday at a fundraiser in downtown Minneapolis. He didn’t drop any hints about Harris’s VP suspense, but the governor touted an upbeat focus on the future that he hopes to spread on the campaign trail in defense of the Democratic ticket.
We’ve got to run this campaign against the serious threat that’s there, but we have to do it every single day with a sense of joy,” Walz said.
Walz, who enjoys a warm relationship with Biden, governs a once-solidly blue state that has leaned purple in the Trump years. His rhetorical style connects well with votes — Walz’s characterization of Trump and other Republicans as “weird” has caught fire within the Democratic Party. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain praised him this weekend as a stalwart representative of the working class voters.
The Hill’s Niall Stanage in The Memo: The final odds in the Harris veepstakes.
