Gov. Tim Walz Delivers Rousing Acceptance Speech

The New York Times reports:

Tim Walz proved why Harris chose him. He kept it short, and, even as he introduced himself to millions of Americans for the first time, heeded the cardinal rule of vice-presidential protocol: never upstage the boss.

His speech ran for a crisp 16 minutes, about half the length of Mr. Clinton’s expansive address. He knew his role, and was sure to praise the woman who had plucked him from semi-obscurity and brought him to the biggest stage in global politics.

“No matter who you are, Kamala Harris is going to stand up and fight for your freedom to live the life that you want to lead because that’s what we want for ourselves,” he said, adding: “Kamala Harris is tough. Kamala Harris is experienced. And Kamala Harris is ready.”

The Guardian reports:

“You might not know it, but I haven’t given a lot of big speeches like this,” Tim Walz said demurely towards the end of his keynote Democratic national convention address on Wednesday night.

The moment wreaked of understatement. The look on his face, the way he raised his white eyebrows as if he were apologizing, the shrug of his shoulders. Even the phrase “big speech”. This wasn’t a big speech. It was a monumental speech, with the future direction of a country of 333 million people riding on it.

But as he warmed to his subject, and the delegates got behind him with their deafening cheers, this “son of the Nebraska plains”, as his wife Gwen Walz described him, got into his stride. He channeled the grit and the empathy that has already endeared him to millions of Democrats in the 15 short days in which he has been on the national stage.

Pundits across the spectrum are impressed.