CBS Hot and Bothered by Kamala Choosing ‘Amiable’, ‘Centrist’, ‘Scrappy’ Tim Walz

Curtis Houck
August 6th, 2024 2:22 PM

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Like we saw on ABC and NBC, Tuesday morning’s CBS News Special Report heralded Vice President Kamala Harris’s pick of Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) as her 2024 running mate, calling him an “amiable” “centrist” with a “scrappy” but “easygoing” demeanor. On top of that, he was even seen as dreamy given he’s equally “comfortable talking in a t-shirt and a baseball cap as he is talking in a suit as he is talking in a tuxedo.”

Senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang went first in boasting of Walz as “very popular” and “has a voting record on the issues that really lines up with Harris” and ensured there was “no abortion [ban] under his watch” and “passed a massive police reform package.”

Jiang also trumpeted how Walz embodied “the power of one word” in political messaging with Walz allegedly coining the term “weird” to describe Republicans.

CBS Mornings co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King repeatedly went to former Harris aide-turned-CBS News contributor Ashley Etienne to sing Harris’s praises (even though, like many who work for Harris, never stick around long).

Etienne laughably said Walz “rallied his state and moved his state through incredibly tough times” and, in a dig at Governor Josh Shapiro (D-PA) (since she couldn’t say he wasn’t picked because he’s Jewish), said Walz “can speak to [voters] on their level about issues that matter most to them in a way that I think Shapiro and the others could not.”

“I know him, as you put earlier, to be very scrappy...I will tell you he’s incredibly funny. He’s, you know, direct — well, you know, plain spoken and I think that’ll jive very well with the Vice President and her personality,” she added.

In response, King gushed that he’s someone people will appreciate since they “like” those who are “plain speaking without being mean.

If that’s the case, then why does he think, for example, half the country is “weird” and a bunch of “fascists”?

Chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa was also enthralled, calling Walz “fun” and possessing “wit” who will be able to serve as Harris’s “attack dog” and “do it with a smile.”

Costa later boasted of “centrist” Walz as someone “who seems amiable, easy-going, can crack a joke, talks about hot dish up in Minnesota, that famous dish they love to do — the casserole, can talk about fishing, but he’s also someone, it must be noted, who politically is well liked by progressives”:

King showed how she felt about Walz:

King let Etienne close things out by promoting Walz under the false notion that Republicans want to ban IVF (click “expand”):

ETIENNE: Well, I think there’s one little tidbit we should be aware of and that both his children were conceived via IVF. So, the campaign is saying that he’s going to lean into the reproductive rights fight with the Vice President. This is the year of the woman. This is an advantage that she has over Donald Trump, and he’s going to be an active player, leaning into this issue as — as well. And so, to have a man with this level of conviction and his personal story lean in on this issue is going to be interesting to see on the campaign trail. But they think that he will be an asset when it comes to conveying that message to women, the threat that Donald Trump and Vance pose to their reproductive rights and other rights.

KING: I — when you joined us on the broadcast earlier, you said this would be personal for Vice President Harris. This is someone you know well. So, if you could just take us behind the curtain a little bit, personally feelings — how — what do you think that it really — when she went to bed last night, and she woke up this morning, what do you think her first thought was when she woke up and said, Tim Walz is the guy for me?

ETIENNE: I think it’s — I think it’s two things that, one, he’s proven that he can win tough races. And secondly, he’s got a deep compassion and conviction for the American people and the plight of the American people and he’s seen it on every end of the political — in every end of the political realm and field, so I think those were the things that probably took her over the edge.

To see the relevant transcript from August 6, click “expand.”

CBS News Special Report
August 6, 2024
9:17 a.m. Eastern

WEIJIA JIANG: He is very popular, and he has a voting record on the issues that really lines up with Harris. After George Floyd was killed in his state, he passed a massive police reform package. He said there would be no abortion under his watch in 2022. And, on economics, he said the Democrats really need messaging and to make it more clear. And, Gayle, let’s talk about messaging for a minute and the power of one word. In the early days that Vice President Harris was going to become the likely nominee, we were not talking about Tim Walz. And then, he went on television and one word — he said Republicans were weird and then he gained a lot of attention and his profile soared, and it never really stopped. And again, today, we can report that he will be joining vice president Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket and they will be stumping together in a matter of hours in Philadelphia.

GAYLE KING: Weijia Jiang, you raise a really good point. Two weeks ago, we were not talking about Tim Walz but here we are this morning.

(....)

9:19 a.m. Eastern

ASHLEY ETIENNE: I think the breath of Walz’s experiences is probably what persuaded her most. I mean, being a military veteran, former teacher to a chairman in Congress to an executive governor who rallied his state and moved his state through incredibly tough times, I think makes him incredibly appealing to her and will provide her with this broad perspective that I think she needs, which is, you know, what are the challenging facing the American people, how do we implement legislation and rally congress around it and get it done on the ground in these states? So, I think he’s good for her for that reason and then also, what was just mentioned, the fact that he’s won in these very tough districts, in these tough red-leaning districts, I think, gives him and her — the ticket — a leg up when it comes to going into those areas where the one and two percent — those independent and disaffected Republicans are. He can speak to them on their level about issues that matter most to them in a way that I think Shapiro and the others could not. That’s going to be value add for her going into the next race when it’s going to be decided on the margins.

(....)

9:20 a.m. Eastern

ETIENNE: So, I — I can imagine he’s overwhelmed with excited but I know him, as you put earlier, to be very scrappy. And so, I can imagine he’s ready to get in and get dirty and push back in all kinds of ways. I don’t know that they had a really good solid relationship before this process started, but neither did she with Biden and neither did Obama with Biden. So, I don’t think that’s a really deciding factor. But I will tell you he’s incredibly funny. He’s, you know, direct — well, you know, plain spoken and I think that’ll jive very well with the Vice President and her personality.

KING: Yeah, I think people like plain speaking without being mean. Thank you very much, Ashley. And we can say, Tim Walz, apparently a very good neighbor. He’s got a very nice lawn. Let’s go now to Roberta Costa — let’s go now to Robert Costa because, Robert, people say it doesn’t make a ton of electoral sense. What’s your take on that and why she picked Governor Walz?

ROBERT COSTA: Good to be with you, Gayle. In the eyes of many top Democrats close to Vice President Harris, it may not make sense electorally if you were just speaking about a map, but to top Democrats, it does make political sense because they see in Governor Walz someone who can fill the void left by President Biden. President Biden was close to organized labor in this country. He was able to go to the industrial Midwest — I was there with him — and talk to union members and say, you have to stick with the Democrats. Don’t listen to former President Trump. I’m one of you. Let’s stick together as traditional Democrats. And Tim Walz, as the Minnesota governor, has built a record, but he’s also built a relationship with labor and other key constituencies inside the Democratic Party. And so, he’s going to help Harris rebuild that Biden-Harris coalition ahead November, along with all of the personal characteristics he does bring to the race. As Ashley said and as Weijia so ably reported, he has a personality, he has an ability to have a bit of fun, some wit, and he doesn’t mind taking a shot at the GOP. And often, your role as VP is to be the attack dog that can do it with a smile.

(....)

9:24 a.m. Eastern

KING: But it’s also interesting too, though, Nancy, because he was considered a dark horse. I think that’s what’s fascinating to many people. It seemed to have boiled down to, if you believe what you were hearing in the media, that it boiled down to Mark Kelly and Josh Shapiro, then over the last week we started hearing the name more and more about Tim Walz. What do you make of that, how he appeared, to some, coming out of nowhere, and it’s like running a race and, all of a sudden, he’s ahead of the pack?

NANCY CORDES:: What I make of it was that all these people were having to, you know, go from a standing start. And, remember a few weeks ago, we were not even thinking about any of these people being a running mate because we thought that Kamala Harris would be the running mate to President Biden. Suddenly when that changed, yes, Pete Buttigieg, probably better known to a national audience, Josh Shapiro somebody who has been talked about as a person with presidential ambitions. They had the early edge because people knew about them. But Walz proved over the course of a couple weeks that he had really great communication ability. He had a way of making the case that some of the other top contenders didn’t and that could come in handy — not even necessarily in Minnesota, where Democrats haven’t lost a presidential race since 1972 — but in other Midwestern states, certainly like Wisconsin and Michigan, which are big battleground states this year.

KING: I’m telling you, there seems to be a lot of — there’s something appealing about a guy for people who say it is comfortable talking in a t-shirt and a baseball cap as he is talking in a suit as he is talking in a tuxedo. I know we gotta go, but can we go back to Bob Costa for just a second? Because, Bob, do you think this was an attempt to satisfy the more liberal wing of the party? What are — what are your thoughts on that?

COSTA: It’s fascinating, Gayle, politically, because you look at Governor Tim Walz and, if you have — if you know nothing about him, you see a guy who seems amiable, easy-going, can crack a joke, talks about hot dish up in Minnesota, that famous dish they love to do — the casserole, can talk about fishing, but he’s also someone, it must be noted, who politically is well liked by progressives in the House of Representatives, where he once served. Pramila Jayapal, who’s the leader of the Progressive Caucus, one of the key progressives in the House, she’s been a key stakeholder for him in recent days, saying I’d love to see Tim Walz on ticket. So had former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She’s been advocate for him, kind of winking in recent days that she’d love to see a former House colleague land on the ticket. When you have Pramila Jayapal and Nancy Pelosi both being boosters for your vice presidential candidacy, that says a lot, that even though you may seem like kind of a centrist Midwesterner in persona, politically he touches a lot of bases.

(....)

9:27 a.m. Eastern

KING: What do you think Tim Walz’s assignment will be in this campaign?

ETIENNE: Well, I think there’s one little tidbit we should be aware of and that both his children were conceived via IVF. So, the campaign is saying that he’s going to lean into the reproductive rights fight with the Vice President. This is the year of the woman. This is an advantage that she has over Donald Trump, and he’s going to be an active player, leaning into this issue as — as well. And so, to have a man with this level of conviction and his personal story lean in on this issue is going to be interesting to see on the campaign trail. But they think that he will be an asset when it comes to conveying that message to women, the threat that Donald Trump and Vance pose to their reproductive rights and other rights.

KING: I — when you joined us on the broadcast earlier, you said this would be personal for Vice President Harris. This is someone you know well. So, if you could just take us behind the curtain a little bit, personally feelings — how — what do you think that it really — when she went to bed last night, and she woke up this morning, what do you think her first thought was when she woke up and said, Tim Walz is the guy for me?

ETIENNE: I think it’s — I think it’s two things that, one, he’s proven that he can win tough races. And secondly, he’s got a deep compassion and conviction for the American people and the plight of the American people and he’s seen it on every end of the political — in every end of the political realm and field, so I think those were the things that probably took her over the edge.

KING: All right, well, Ashley, thank you so much.

ETIENNE: Alright, Thank you.

KING: Thank you, Bob and Nancy Cordes. Democrats will soon have a presidential ticket 13 days before their convention in Chicago and 13 weeks before the presidential election. So, recap, Tim Walz has been in office for five and a half years. He is the current chairman of the Democratic Governors Association. He was also in office during the crisis that followed the murder by police of George Floyd. And he will be the running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris. We have been waiting for the last 48 hours about who it was going to be. Now, we know. Get used to it, people. Harris/Walz is the ticket.

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