In LaCrosse, Walz and Vance make final case to voters

[MUSIC PLAYING] CATHY WURZER: Of course our top story, presidential politics. Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz is wrapping up a stop in La Crosse, Wisconsin, at this hour.

The Minnesota governor is on a final swing through the critical state, with three rallies planned on the last day of campaigning ahead of tomorrow's election. Walz will also make a late night stop in Michigan. Our Mark Zdechlik is tagging along, and he's here right now. Hey, Mark, Thanks for taking the time.

MARK ZDECHLIK: Absolutely.

CATHY WURZER: When you and I talked earlier this morning, the governor was getting ready to leave the Twin Cities airport on a campaign plane. And you're in La Crosse right now. What's going on?

MARK ZDECHLIK: Well, right now, he's in La Crosse at an event center rallying a couple hundred supporters. You mentioned the sendoff in St. Paul. A lot of people were there, a lot of dignitaries. Senators Klobuchar and Tina Smith and the attorney general was there, Keith Ellison. And the lieutenant governor was there. And it was a good sendoff. The mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul were there. Walz didn't speak or offer any public comments, but he seemed to enjoy the crowd wishing him well on this last big campaign swing.

CATHY WURZER: So what did he have to say in La Crosse today?

MARK ZDECHLIK: Well, let me just give you a little listen to what he had to say.

TIM WALZ: The thing is upon us now, folks. I know there's a lot of anxiety. But the decisions that are made over the next 24, 36 hours, when those polls close, will shape not just the next four years. They will shape the coming generations.

We've got a chance. And it's a rare thing to do, in the moment that we're living in, to elect a new generation of leadership, a new way forward, a hopeful, unified America that holds true to our values. That's why you're here today.

CATHY WURZER: So I'm kind of wondering here, Mark. You followed the governor around. It's been, what, almost three months straight of campaigning since he was named to the ticket. How many places has he stopped during this campaign?

MARK ZDECHLIK: Well, Cathy, he's been campaigning just now shy of three months straight. Do you know how many places he stopped during the campaign? I've lost track, the actual number. But it's been dozens upon dozens of cities across America, from the West Coast to the East Coast, up north, down south. Gwen Walz, the First Lady, has made her own trips independently. They're traveling together on this trip.

Most of the stops, sometimes several days, have been in those seven up-for-grabs states that are both Democratic and Republican battlegrounds. Both sides are working hard to capture those states. And they are from west to east-- Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia.

CATHY WURZER: That was our Mark Zdechlik, who's on the campaign trail with Governor Walz in La Crosse, Wisconsin. We would have liked to have continued our report with Mark, but he was told to get off the phone by campaign staffers. Joining us right now to finish the story is MPR Politics Editor Brian Bakst. By the way, thank you for--

BRIAN BAKST: No problem, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: So the governor's finishing the campaign in the so-called blue wall states after visiting places like Nevada and North Carolina more than once. What does his final swings through Wisconsin and Michigan tell you?

BRIAN BAKST: Well, that the Harris campaign math really doesn't work out if she loses one or more of those three states. Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania-- they make up about 44 electoral college votes. She has other paths, but those are more difficult. So votes in those three states, the voters usually move in tandem.

And remember, you can win the popular vote nationwide, but still lose the electoral college. It takes 270 electoral college votes to win the White House. And one of the reasons Walz was put on the ticket in the first place was that the Harris team thought he could connect with upper Midwest voters. So that's where he spent much of his time.

CATHY WURZER: All right. So while Walz is in, at this point, La Crosse, earlier, JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, was also in La Crosse, Wisconsin, just before the governor arrived. What did JD Vance have to say?

BRIAN BAKST: Yeah, that was just a few miles away. And Vance hit on the Trump campaign's main themes, that America is in trouble. He said the economy is limping along, family budgets are strained. The nation's borders, they're not secure enough. And the US is weaker on the world stage.

Vance used the refrain that Kamala Harris broke all those things as part of the Biden administration, and that Donald Trump would fix it. And he jabbed at Tim Walz for having to defend the Harris record.

JD VANCE: I know we're close to Minnesota. So you guys know Governor Tim Walz well. But here is what I want to say. I know a lot of you, like me, are praying people, people of faith. And I want you to spare a prayer for Governor Tim Walz, because if you think about this, I know all of us have had hard days at work. Your back hurts. Your hands are tired.

But I don't think any of us have ever had the kind of day that Tim Walz is going to have today, where he's got to go around and convince the American people that Kamala Harris can be the president of the United States. That's tough work.

CATHY WURZER: Well, we should say, too, the governor, as many of us know, that whole process to vet any vice presidential candidate for the Harris ticket was very short--

BRIAN BAKST: It sure was.

CATHY WURZER: --much shorter than would normally happen, obviously. So I'm wondering how has that affected maybe how the governor has presented himself during the campaign.

BRIAN BAKST: Well, he's had little time for the nation to really get to know him. The Harris campaign branded him as Coach, and he's been leading into that pep talk for America. It's been a bit surreal for this guy, who wasn't all that well-known, to be speaking to packed arenas and appearing with celebrities-- Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi among them.

And he's talked a lot about policies he enacted as Minnesota governor, from protections on abortion rights to the universal school meals program for schoolchildren. I should say in La Crosse, he only mentioned Donald Trump once. And that was to say the Donald Trump abortion ban is a motivator for a lot of voters.

And Walz, he stuck to these standard messages as he's moved around, that Trump was erratic, that the former president, his term was chaotic. And he's too divisive to lead the nation. He contrasts that with Harris and her plan for the middle class and having a sunnier disposition.

CATHY WURZER: Mm-hmm. So he's leaving La Crosse right now. Where is he off to for the rest of today and tomorrow?

BRIAN BAKST: Yeah, at this point, the campaigns are really looking to make sure voters-- that they've identified as on their site, get to the polls. There aren't many undecideds left. So once he's done here, he's off to Stevens Point, then to Milwaukee for a big closing rally. Both campaigns have spent so much time in Wisconsin, but now they're headed other places for the final hours.

He's off to Michigan tonight, and he's also set to appear on Stephen Colbert, the television show, tonight. Tomorrow, he'll be in Pennsylvania before making his way to Washington, DC, where the Harris and Walz campaign will wait for results and hold an event at Howard University. And that's, of course, where Kamala Harris went to school.

CATHY WURZER: All right, exactly. And of course, our coverage tomorrow begins at 6:00 PM Central Time with our friends from National Public Radio. Then you and our colleague, Tom Crann, take the air at, what, 7 o'clock tomorrow night?

BRIAN BAKST: 7 o'clock. Tune in.

CATHY WURZER: All right. All right, Brian, Thank you.

BRIAN BAKST: No problem.

CATHY WURZER: That's MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst.