'There Is Some Enthusiasm Now For Democrats': Reaction To The Selection Of Walz For VP

Vice President Kamala Harris officially announces Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate in the 2024 presidential election.

Political analyst Scott Mitchell joined News On 6 to talk about what this means for voters and the election.

LeAnne: What's your reaction to her selection?

Scott Mitchell: Not surprised. I thought it was down to, I thought it would be Governor Walz or Governor Shapiro, and it turned out to be the Minnesota Governor. So that's where, that's where people turn to the Democrats, such for VPs, this long history of Minnesota vice presidents.

Dave: Is Walz a good choice for Kamala Harris's campaign, in your opinion? Why did she pick him?

Scott: I think Dave, she wanted a rhythm, a guitar player, somebody who could really have her back and not take a lot of the attention off of her policy issues. Look, Shapiro and Kelly are very, very popular, very, very talented, but they're also they've got the potential to be rock stars in their own, own way. I think that Governor Walz is somebody who is going to do the second fiddle thing very well.

LeAnne: Obviously, we don't have a lot of time before the election. What is the kind of strategy on the Democratic side and the Republican side? Now that we know the players involved.

Scott: Turn out. You know, it's interesting to hear people say;

"Well, we are ruled by the people."

We are ruled by a very small slice of people. Because people just don't go vote in terms of the universal amount of voters. So it's it's going to be about how many enthusiastic people go to the polls. If you're not enthusiastic, you don't go. And if you saw that rally last night, I watched part of it, there's some enthusiasm now amongst Democrats, and that's what they wanted to do. He's very good on the stump. He started that 'weird' thing where he started defining the Republicans as weird. His social media. He's really rocketed to national prominence, and he's going to be somebody who will make her look good. I just think that they made a good choice with Governor Walz.

Dave: I mean, we all probably know which way Oklahoma is going in November. But will this help with help with voter turnout? You mentioned it Oklahoma is typically near the bottom of US states with turnout of registered voters, and people coming out.

Scott: I hate to sound like a broken record. We're just not going to make any difference in Oklahoma. You can chalk our electoral delegates up to former President Trump, but for folks that are working and maybe some of the down-ballot races in Oklahoma, if you have enthusiastic voters, this guy may help turn those people out. So it's a plus on that side.

LeAnne: Your thoughts about a debate on all issues. I mean, who, what are going to be some of the key points?

Scott: Well, I'm looking forward to it. I think it will be a good one. I think we're going to be hearing the aspect of the border. That's where Republicans are going to come after the Vice President, and they're going to come after the abortion issue. That's going to be both sides will be trying to turn their voters out on those issues, and the Biden administration has done a much better job recently on the border. So those are going to be the things that you're going to be hearing about for the next 90 days.