Tim Walz’s background feels like it was crafted in a lab for Democrats at this moment

During their first rally together after the announcement on Tuesday, Harris leaned into her lesser-known VP pick’s biography to introduce him to voters.

The Midwestern dad image

Harris’ pathway to the presidency could be paved with the votes of Midwesterners in swing states like Wisconsin and Michigan, as well as Rust Belt voters in Pennsylvania.

And the campaign is already leaning into the vision of Walz as an average Midwestern dad.

At the rally, Harris repeatedly called her running mate “Coach Walz” — a nod to his days coaching high school football and teaching geography and social studies. During this time, he also served as the faculty advisor to the school’s Gay Straight Alliance student group.

Harris also noted Walz’s record as a veteran — he enlisted in the Army National Guard at age 17 and served for 24 years — and as a hunter. The campaign even started selling camo Harris-Walz hats on Tuesday, as the governor is commonly photographed in camouflage attire.

Photos and videos that make Walz look like an average Midwestern dad have also been going viral on social media.

Here’s Walz teaching his daughter about how to set up a stereo — and how to appreciate vinyl and Bob Seger, the rockstar and fellow Midwesterner.

Here’s Walz (wearing camo) at the Minnesota state fair with his daughter, suggesting they eat turkey after she mentions she’s a vegetarian.

“Turkey is meat,” she says.

“Not in Minnesota — turkey is special,” Walz replies without skipping a beat.

Here’s Walz casually explaining how the “headlight harness” on his Ford SUV “burned out” and how to fix it before proceeding to encourage folks to get out and vote.

Former President Donald Trump and his allies have tried to paint their opponents as out-of-touch, liberal elites, but Walz’s public image, at least at this point, stands in stark contrast to that.

In fact, when Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, tried to brand Walz a “San Francisco-style liberal,” others were quick to point out that Walz, who was born in Nebraska, hadn’t even visited San Francisco prior to last month — while Vance lived there for years.

Walz has also directly compared his Midwestern chops to Vance, an Ohioan with Kentucky roots. In his rally speech on Tuesday, Walz joked: “Like all regular people in America’s heartland, JD Vance studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and wrote a bestseller trashing that community.”

His family-man image also undermines Vance’s past comments about Democratic leaders being “childless cat ladies.”

His record on reproductive rights and support across the party

Reproductive rights are widely considered a winning issue for Democrats. While red states passed abortion bans after Roe v. Wade was overturned, Walz signed a bill that enshrined abortion rights into law in Minnesota.

Compare that with Vance, who in the past has expressed positions on abortion that would put him staunchly to the right of most Americans.

While Walz is a known progressive, he also seems to have widespread appeal throughout the Democratic Party.

Even Sen. Joe Manchin, who Republicans have praised for his moderate positions and who recently switched to an independent, praised Walz as Harris’ VP pick on Tuesday.

Just vibes

If anything, the viral clips and images of Walz being a Midwest dad could add more fuel to a campaign that is already running in part on vibes.

Walz seems to know that, given the jab he made Tuesday about being excited to debate Vance if only he was “willing to get off the couch and show up.”