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“Media changes how we evaluate candidates,” says Katherine Haenschen, a Northeastern political media expert. “It’s all about authenticity.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate Tuesday, a move that experts say highlights the role cable TV appearances, social media and “authenticity” play in the vetting of a running mate.
“Media changes how we evaluate candidates, and there’s something true about how the public responds to, for example, organic social media content,” says Katherine Haenschen, a Northeastern University political media expert.
“It’s all about authenticity,” she says. “That’s what people really take their cues from in organic social media content from politicians and elected officials — are they real?”
Walz, a former high school teacher, football coach and six-term congressman, seemed to quickly become the darling of a largely progressive corner of the internet after he called Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, and former President Donald Trump “weird.”
I'll just say it: Donald Trump and JD Vance are creepy and, yes, weird. We are not going back.— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) August 6, 2024
I'll just say it: Donald Trump and JD Vance are creepy and, yes, weird. We are not going back.
Videos, appearances seemed to resonate with users
Walz viral comments, together with his down-to-earth videos featuring his daughter Hope, seemed to resonate with people in much the way that Harris’ embrace of meme culture served her own popularity online, Haenschen says.
His appearances on cable TV news shows — widely shared on social media — prompted many to refer to him as an “attack dog” capable of going after Trump. All of it helped propel him into the national spotlight as a potential progressive option for vice president in a “veepstakes” where vibes — in addition to the electoral map — can make or break a candidate.
“The word politician is not a favorable word in the society, and there are stereotypes of who politicians are and how they behave,” Haenschen says. “[Pennsylvania Gov.] Josh Shapiro and [Transportation Secretary] Pete Buttigieg really ping that politician vibe a lot more than Tim Walz.”
Those close to Harris’ campaign say it was ultimately her chemistry with Walz that sealed the deal.
“[Walz’s] the kind of guy who will cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate, then … show you how to fix some part of your car and remind you to change your windshield wipers at the right time of the year,” Haenschen says. “That’s just who he is — and that comes across.”
It’s all about authenticity. That’s what people really take their cues from in organic social media content from politicians and elected officials — are they real?Katherine Haenschen, a Northeastern University political media expert
It’s all about authenticity. That’s what people really take their cues from in organic social media content from politicians and elected officials — are they real?
“I could imagine him on a farm or at the local county fair,” says Martha Johnson, an associate professor of government at Northeastern. “He definitely fits the ‘someone I’d like to have a beer with’ criteria that is sometimes applied to American presidential candidates.”
But, Johnson adds, “he’s remarkably progressive in his politics.”
Harris’ decision comes hours after officially becoming the Democratic nominee for president. Reporting in the lead-up to the decision suggested that she had narrowed her search to Walz and Shapiro.
Criticisms of Shapiro
It’s been widely reported that Shapiro — the likelier pick for vice president, as of last week — would have helped deliver Pennsylvania, a key swing state.
But criticism of Shapiro mounted in recent days. His college-era writings about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resurfaced in which he suggested that Palestinians were “too battle-minded” to work with Israel to achieve a two-state solution.
When asked about his views from when he was in college in the early 1990s, Shapiro maintained that “for years, long before Oct. 7,” he has favored a two-state solution to the conflict.
Johnson said Shapiro could have jeopardized a swing state like Michigan, which has one of the highest shares of Muslim voters. Waltz, with strong rural roots and progressive appeal, nicely balances out the ticket, she says.
“I think he’s a strong choice because he helps balance out Kamala’s California roots,” Johnson says. “He advances a progressive agenda with a decidedly mid-Western persona. He seems less ‘elite’ than Harris or some of the other VP options. He should be able to appeal to swing state voters without putting a swing state gubernatorial position [Shapiro] or Senate seat [U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly] at risk.”
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The Democrats still have to navigate some rough seas ahead of November. President Joe Biden’s response to the war in Gaza had been a sticking point for many progressives within the party. Polling dating back to May found that more than half and as many as two-thirds of U.S. adults disapproved of his stance on the war, a fracture in popular support that some speculated would sink his candidacy before he withdrew from the race after a disastrous debate against Trump.
Though it’s unclear how those party divisions will impact the outcome of the 2024 election, they’ve already started to follow Harris as she gets her campaign underway. In the days after Biden’s departure from the race, Harris stated that she supported Israel’s right to exist — but vowed that she would “not be silent” about the suffering in Gaza.
Pennsylvania ‘likely to be the tipping-point’
In a tightly contested presidential race, David Lazer, university distinguished professor of political science and computer science at Northeastern, says that Pennsylvania “is likely to be the tipping-point state” in November.
Picking Walz, he says, may seem like an attempt to appease progressives and avoid undermining the enthusiasm Democrats have enjoyed after Biden’s exit — a risk that would have accompanied the selection of Shapiro over Walz.
But, Lazer reminds that elections are decided on the basis of the presidential nominee — not his or her running mate.
“The conventional wisdom is generally that the vice presidential nominees have made very small differences over the years, and generally I would expect that they’ll matter less in 2024 than they had in earlier years,” Lazer says.
That’s because of just how polarized the country is, and the fact that voter positions have stayed relatively stable, he says.
“I don’t think it’s a question of enthusiasm, and at the moment Harris is riding a wave of enthusiasm, which may result in higher voter turnout, more campaign volunteering, more contributions, et cetera,” Lazer says.