Governor Walz makes Minnesota political history at the DNC
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz celebrates with his daughter Hope Walz (L), son Gus Walz (2nd-L) and wife Gwen Walz (R) after accepting the Democratic vice presidential nomination on stage during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 21 in Chicago. Delegates, politicians, and Democratic Party supporters are in Chicago for the convention, concluding with current Vice President Kamala Harris accepting her party’s presidential nomination. The DNC takes place from August 19-22.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
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The speech Minnesota’s governor gave at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago was his introduction to much of the country, with millions of viewers turning into prime time.
MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with MPR Senior Politics Reporter Clay Masters live from Chicago.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING] CATHY WURZER: This is Minnesota Now. I'm Cathy Wurzer. We are live indeed from the first day of the Minnesota State Fair. It's so nice to have you here, all of you at the State Fair live. And of course, thanks for joining us at home. Well, our lead story, Minnesota political history has been made. Governor Tim Walz accepted the Democratic Party's nomination for vice president last night.
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
TIM WALZ: It's the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States.
CATHY WURZER: The speech Minnesota's governor gave at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago was his introduction to much of the country, with millions of viewers tuning in during primetime. Joining us right now via Zoom from the Minnesota State Fair is NPR Senior Politics Reporter Clay Masters. He is live from Chicago. Good to see you, my friend.
CLAY MASTERS: Good morning, or afternoon, whatever it is.
CATHY WURZER: It's about afternoon, but you can be excused because you've been up all night long. Good to have you here. Thousands of folks at United Center when Tim Walz took the stage last night. But really, Clay, who was his main audience?
CLAY MASTERS: I mean, his main audience was the American people, right? It would be easy for Walz or any other candidate to get caught up in the electricity of the room, the moment. But he's still introducing himself. When Walz came out, people waved signs that read "Coach Walz," a nod to his days on the football field sidelines, something he's been leaning hard into. But the more pivotal audience are the millions of people who caught it through their TVs, radios, smartphones. Some are naturally supportive of the Democratic ticket.
But he's also trying to do some work to maybe get some Republicans to come over to the Harris-Walz ticket. Walz seemed to speak most to that group, maybe the undecided folks, even addressing some parts of his remarks to those watching at home and bookmarking other comments for people to clip and save and send to undecided voters. Now, before Walz took the stage, there were some big names touting him. The lineup included former President Bill Clinton and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi focused less on his personal life, but rather on life in politics in the 12 years they served together in Congress.
NANCY PELOSI: He united Democrats, Republicans, and independents to turn a red district blue.
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
He showed courage when he came to Congress in voting for the Affordable Care Act, meeting the needs of his constituents, despite Republicans' lies and misrepresentation. When he went home, won the election. He returned to Congress. He fought for our America's heroes as the Democratic leader of the Veterans Affairs Committee. Thank you, Tim.
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
CLAY MASTERS: Senator Amy Klobuchar, a more known Democrat from Minnesota, also came to the stage and really focused in on what we're now seeing as Walz-isms, playing up his titles of teacher, gun owner, dad, coach.
AMY KLOBUCHAR: In Minnesota, we trust a hunter who has stood in a deer stand in 10 degree weather. In Minnesota, we trust a candidate who has made a viral video on how to change a burnt out headlight.
[CHEERING]
And I know we aren't alone. But in Minnesota, we love a dad in plaid.
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
CLAY MASTERS: Yeah, dads in plaid getting some applause. And introducing Walz was not a politician, but a former Mankato West student of Walz, along with about 15 members from his championship winning football team.
CATHY WURZER: Let's talk about the speech itself here, Clay. What did the governor attempt to accomplish?
CLAY MASTERS: Well, I hinted at it earlier. Plain and simple, he's just still introducing himself. Born in Nebraska and a Minnesotan for half his life, a teacher, congressman, governor. Also, to do what other convention speakers have done, talk to America about Kamala Harris, the current vice president, obviously. He cast their ticket as the one that stands most for freedom between him and their ticket and Donald Trump's.
TIM WALZ: When Republicans use the word "freedom," they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor's office, corporations free to pollute your air and water, and banks free to take advantage of customers.
[CROWD BOOING]
But when we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love.
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
Freedom to make your own health care decisions.
CLAY MASTERS: So the Democratic Party has been working to unify and clearly has some newfound energy since Joe Biden's departure prompted the ticket switchup.
CATHY WURZER: Say, I'm wondering here, Clay, the most memorable lines. What'd you think?
CLAY MASTERS: There was one early on that elicited just this large eruption of cheers when he told a story about when his students encouraged him to run for Congress, really pushing that teachers can get things done.
TIM WALZ: So there I was, a 40-something high school teacher with little kids, zero political experience, and no money, running in a deep red district. But you know what? Never underestimate a public school teacher.
[CHEERING]
CLAY MASTERS: So, yeah, big applause there. He also spent time touting his progressive policies that he signed into law once the DFLers got the full trifecta there at the State House. And toward the end, he really turned up the coach energy.
TIM WALZ: It's the fourth quarter!
CROWD: Coach! Coach! Coach! Coach!
TIM WALZ: We're down a field goal. But we're on offense, and we've got the ball. We're driving down the field.
[CHEERING]
And, boy, do we have the right team.
CLAY MASTERS: And then you probably saw there was a viral moment that's been shown, a very emotional moment where Walz was talking about how his wife used fertility treatment to get pregnant with their first child, Hope. And he told his kids and Gwen that they were his world. Gus stood up, overcome with emotions, lots of tears, and can be seen mouthing, "That's my dad." So it was a very emotional moment there.
CATHY WURZER: That was a sweet moment, yeah. So Republicans have been attacking the governor over parts of his military record and his time in politics. Did he address any of that at all?
CLAY MASTERS: I mean, not really. He said he proudly served for 24 years, used the GI Bill to go to college, and left it there. I mean, there were some videos ahead of time, one specifically about his time in the military. For the speech itself that he gave, he didn't really speak for all that long, just more than 15 minutes from start to finish.
CATHY WURZER: I think that was one of the shortest speeches that we've had during the convention. Say, what's next for the governor? Is he coming back home?
CLAY MASTERS: Well, he remains in Chicago, obviously, for Kamala Harris's acceptance speech tonight. Then he heads back to St. Paul for a little bit. Then it's a lot of travel for him. And then the other big date on the calendar, October 1, that's the next major moment for Walz. That's when he will debate Republican vice presidential candidate. Of course, that's JD Vance, the US senator from Ohio. The debate itself takes place in New York.
CATHY WURZER: All right. Clay Masters, good work. Come home. Thank you.
CLAY MASTERS: All right, thank you.
CATHY WURZER: That's Clay Masters, our senior politics reporter, live from Chicago. Of course, we'll have coverage tonight. The last night of the DNC starts at 8:00 PM Central time on air and online.
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
TIM WALZ: It's the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States.
CATHY WURZER: The speech Minnesota's governor gave at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago was his introduction to much of the country, with millions of viewers tuning in during primetime. Joining us right now via Zoom from the Minnesota State Fair is NPR Senior Politics Reporter Clay Masters. He is live from Chicago. Good to see you, my friend.
CLAY MASTERS: Good morning, or afternoon, whatever it is.
CATHY WURZER: It's about afternoon, but you can be excused because you've been up all night long. Good to have you here. Thousands of folks at United Center when Tim Walz took the stage last night. But really, Clay, who was his main audience?
CLAY MASTERS: I mean, his main audience was the American people, right? It would be easy for Walz or any other candidate to get caught up in the electricity of the room, the moment. But he's still introducing himself. When Walz came out, people waved signs that read "Coach Walz," a nod to his days on the football field sidelines, something he's been leaning hard into. But the more pivotal audience are the millions of people who caught it through their TVs, radios, smartphones. Some are naturally supportive of the Democratic ticket.
But he's also trying to do some work to maybe get some Republicans to come over to the Harris-Walz ticket. Walz seemed to speak most to that group, maybe the undecided folks, even addressing some parts of his remarks to those watching at home and bookmarking other comments for people to clip and save and send to undecided voters. Now, before Walz took the stage, there were some big names touting him. The lineup included former President Bill Clinton and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi focused less on his personal life, but rather on life in politics in the 12 years they served together in Congress.
NANCY PELOSI: He united Democrats, Republicans, and independents to turn a red district blue.
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
He showed courage when he came to Congress in voting for the Affordable Care Act, meeting the needs of his constituents, despite Republicans' lies and misrepresentation. When he went home, won the election. He returned to Congress. He fought for our America's heroes as the Democratic leader of the Veterans Affairs Committee. Thank you, Tim.
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
CLAY MASTERS: Senator Amy Klobuchar, a more known Democrat from Minnesota, also came to the stage and really focused in on what we're now seeing as Walz-isms, playing up his titles of teacher, gun owner, dad, coach.
AMY KLOBUCHAR: In Minnesota, we trust a hunter who has stood in a deer stand in 10 degree weather. In Minnesota, we trust a candidate who has made a viral video on how to change a burnt out headlight.
[CHEERING]
And I know we aren't alone. But in Minnesota, we love a dad in plaid.
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
CLAY MASTERS: Yeah, dads in plaid getting some applause. And introducing Walz was not a politician, but a former Mankato West student of Walz, along with about 15 members from his championship winning football team.
CATHY WURZER: Let's talk about the speech itself here, Clay. What did the governor attempt to accomplish?
CLAY MASTERS: Well, I hinted at it earlier. Plain and simple, he's just still introducing himself. Born in Nebraska and a Minnesotan for half his life, a teacher, congressman, governor. Also, to do what other convention speakers have done, talk to America about Kamala Harris, the current vice president, obviously. He cast their ticket as the one that stands most for freedom between him and their ticket and Donald Trump's.
TIM WALZ: When Republicans use the word "freedom," they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor's office, corporations free to pollute your air and water, and banks free to take advantage of customers.
[CROWD BOOING]
But when we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love.
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
Freedom to make your own health care decisions.
CLAY MASTERS: So the Democratic Party has been working to unify and clearly has some newfound energy since Joe Biden's departure prompted the ticket switchup.
CATHY WURZER: Say, I'm wondering here, Clay, the most memorable lines. What'd you think?
CLAY MASTERS: There was one early on that elicited just this large eruption of cheers when he told a story about when his students encouraged him to run for Congress, really pushing that teachers can get things done.
TIM WALZ: So there I was, a 40-something high school teacher with little kids, zero political experience, and no money, running in a deep red district. But you know what? Never underestimate a public school teacher.
[CHEERING]
CLAY MASTERS: So, yeah, big applause there. He also spent time touting his progressive policies that he signed into law once the DFLers got the full trifecta there at the State House. And toward the end, he really turned up the coach energy.
TIM WALZ: It's the fourth quarter!
CROWD: Coach! Coach! Coach! Coach!
TIM WALZ: We're down a field goal. But we're on offense, and we've got the ball. We're driving down the field.
[CHEERING]
And, boy, do we have the right team.
CLAY MASTERS: And then you probably saw there was a viral moment that's been shown, a very emotional moment where Walz was talking about how his wife used fertility treatment to get pregnant with their first child, Hope. And he told his kids and Gwen that they were his world. Gus stood up, overcome with emotions, lots of tears, and can be seen mouthing, "That's my dad." So it was a very emotional moment there.
CATHY WURZER: That was a sweet moment, yeah. So Republicans have been attacking the governor over parts of his military record and his time in politics. Did he address any of that at all?
CLAY MASTERS: I mean, not really. He said he proudly served for 24 years, used the GI Bill to go to college, and left it there. I mean, there were some videos ahead of time, one specifically about his time in the military. For the speech itself that he gave, he didn't really speak for all that long, just more than 15 minutes from start to finish.
CATHY WURZER: I think that was one of the shortest speeches that we've had during the convention. Say, what's next for the governor? Is he coming back home?
CLAY MASTERS: Well, he remains in Chicago, obviously, for Kamala Harris's acceptance speech tonight. Then he heads back to St. Paul for a little bit. Then it's a lot of travel for him. And then the other big date on the calendar, October 1, that's the next major moment for Walz. That's when he will debate Republican vice presidential candidate. Of course, that's JD Vance, the US senator from Ohio. The debate itself takes place in New York.
CATHY WURZER: All right. Clay Masters, good work. Come home. Thank you.
CLAY MASTERS: All right, thank you.
CATHY WURZER: That's Clay Masters, our senior politics reporter, live from Chicago. Of course, we'll have coverage tonight. The last night of the DNC starts at 8:00 PM Central time on air and online.
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