8/11/24

By Aditi Jha

Vice President Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. "He's the kind of person who makes people feel like they belong, and then inspires them to dream big," Harris said. "And that's the kind of vice president he will be, and that's the kind of vice president America deserves." Walz is a military veteran and a former teacher who won the Minnesota gubernatorial election in 2018 and was later re-elected for a second term. "It is the honor of a lifetime to join @kamalaharris in this campaign," Walz tweeted. "Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what's possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school." Walz has signed legislation on several progressive issues such as school lunches, guns, and abortion. Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt commented: "It's no surprise that San Francisco Liberal Kamala Harris wants West Coast wannabe Tim Walz as her running-mate – Walz has spent his governorship trying to reshape Minnesota in the image of the Golden State. From proposing his own carbon-free agenda, to suggesting stricter emission standards for gas-powered cars, and embracing policies to allow convicted felons to vote, Walz is obsessed with spreading California’s dangerously liberal agenda far and wide." Harris has won over several crucial swing states according to a recent New York Times poll. She leads among likely voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin by 4 points each. She leads by two points in Arizona and Nevada (where Trump previously led Biden by 5.6 points) and is tied with former president Donald Trump in Georgia. Trump is currently ahead by two points in North Carolina, compared to his previous 5.7 point lead over Biden. Before Biden dropped out of the race, polls showed Trump winning most of the battleground states, even though Biden had won six of the seven in the 2020 election. 50 percent of respondents to the New York Times poll said that, if the election was held today, they would vote for Harris. 46 percent said they would vote for Trump (the other four percent was in the "Don't know/Refused" category). When third-party candidates were included, Harris still led 48 to 43. 

That's the news for today! Stay safe!