Democrats ‘privately worried’ about Tim Walz.They should worry more about Kamala' choices!
Dems privately worry how Walz will fare against Vance in VP debate
Some Minnesota Democrats wonder how Walz will handle the barrage of attacks from Vance, given the governor’s tendency to shut down conversations when he’s pressed about missteps in private.
Gov. Tim Walz is not known as a gifted debater.
Behind closed doors, the folksy, fun-loving governor, can be overly defensive when confronted about his mistakes, according to fellow Minnesota Democrats.During his first campaign in 2006, he also developed a reputation for speaking so quickly that an ally characterized him as “a bit manic.(maniac)” A former constituent and supporter recalled that at one of Walz’s first fundraisers in Minnesota that year, the vice presidential hopeful rambled for 45 minutes without notes and seemingly without taking a breath.
And ahead of his debate with JD Vance Tuesday — by far Walz’s most high profile event of the presidential campaign — some of his allies privately say they worry he won’t live up to Vice President Kamala Harris’ debate performance against former President Donald Trump. Harris, who drew Trump into traps and delivered biting quips, was widely viewed as the winner of that Sept. 10 debate.
“She did so strong. She’s actually made it very difficult for Walz, because I don’t see any way that he could match her level of intensity and humor,” said a Walz ally who was granted anonymity to speak freely about the governor.
With no further debates scheduled, the Oct. 1 debate may be the most significant national campaign event remaining before November, upping the pressure on both campaigns to deliver a strong closing argument. With Harris and Trump in a virtual dead heat, both sides will use the debate to burnish their accomplishments while going after each other’s records.
For Walz, that likely means defending his handling of the 2020 riots in Minneapolis in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and his administration’s role in awarding $250 million in Covid recovery funds to what turned out to be a fraudulent nonprofit. House Republicans have subpoenaed Walz over the pandemic-era funds.
Harris’ campaign is already setting expectations for Walz, noting in public and private that Vance, a Yale Law School graduate who has served two years in the Senate, is an adept debater who can argue the finer points of policy.
Brian Fallon, a top Harris campaign aide, acknowledged that Vance was “a very sharp, skilled debater,” in a recent podcast interview with POLITICO. “But he’ll have to defend the Trump record,” Fallon added.
Walz’s team is preparing for an onslaught of attacks from Vance, who has already been blasting the Minnesota governor as a radical leftist and serial “liar” over key pieces of his biography. Walz and his team have downplayed many of the accusations as a resuscitation of debunked attacks that Minnesota Republicans have hurled at Walz since his days representing a rural district in Congress.
But Walz is still largely untested and has never faced the intense, direct questioning that Vance is sure to launch, including about the governor’s inaccurate use of his retired military rank — a line of attack some of his allies worry will trip up Walz.
“We’ve never seen him on the national scale before,” said a Minnesota Democratic operative, who was also granted anonymity to speak candidly.
A spokesperson for the Harris-Walz campaign declined to comment on the specifics of this story, but reiterated the debate would provide “another clear opportunity” for Walz to contrast Harris’ vision for the country with Trump’s.
Walz has been stepping up his debate prep at home in Minnesota and on the campaign trail in the past two weeks, with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg playing Vance during a session last Tuesday afternoon in Minneapolis. On Thursday, Walz, Buttigieg and the team kicked off a formal debate camp in the tiny northern Michigan town of Harbor Springs along Lake Michigan, according to three people familiar with the matter. Walz and Buttigieg ran through their final, most extensive preps Monday in Harbor Springs, before the governor flew to New York Tuesday morning.
There remains some concern among Walz’s allies that he can be overly defensive and shut down conversations when he’s most stressed and pushed on his missteps in private, even by members of his own party in Minnesota. That’s something he can get away with as a governor with majorities in the statehouse.But, they note, he needs to avoid it in the upcoming debate with Vance….
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/01/democrats-worry-walz-vp-debate-00181732
So both Kamabla and Walz can't debate