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Inside Kamala Harris' dramatic last-minute decision to pick Tim Walz as running mate: Why VP picked the progressive governor... what helped her finally make up her mind... and how she made the call
With just hours to go until Kamala Harris was due to introduce her running mate to the world, her staff had no idea who she was going to pick.
Her team prepared campaign signs that paired her name with all her top contenders to make sure they were covered when she made up her mind.
On Tuesday morning she picked up the phone to President Joe Biden as she raced against time to make one of the most critical decisions of her political career.
In the end - and after an intense vetting process with Democratic kingmakers - she went with the 'cuddly option'.
The vice president waited until the very last minute to pick the progressive Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate to take on Donald Trump and J.D. Vance in the November general election.
Kamala Harris waited until the last minute to name her VP pick
An insider told DailyMail.com she wanted 'compatibility' on the Democratic ticket and a 'partner' with a low risk of outshining her.
The 60-year-old father-of-two Walz was the comfortable choice as a politician with a strong record in Republican areas and the backing of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was long considered to be the favorite in the running mate race, but concerns over his personal ambition and support of Israel may have tipped the scales against him.
Naming Walz as the running mate has caused both celebration and concern within the Democrats, and Republicans have said the opposition now has the most 'left-wing ticket' in history.
The former teacher is well-liked and a proven winner in Republican areas. His description of Trump and Vance as 'just weird' went viral and sparked a new Democrat line of attack in the campaign.
But some questioned why Harris didn't go with the other white male she was considering: Shapiro and his state's 19 electoral votes.
She consulted a variety of party heavy weights as part of her decision making process: former President Barack Obama, campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon, and former Attorney General Eric Holder, who managed the vetting process.
But her pick was politically smart too. Walz is strong where she is weak.
He is a blue-collar figure with rural experience, which is a sharp contrast to Harris, the first black and South Asian vice president who is from liberal San Francisco.
And while Harris brings in the youth vote and black voters, Walz appeals to white working class and older voters.
He also has military experience from his time in the National Guard and, while he was in Congress, he represented a district that Donald Trump carried in the presidential elections.
'Picking a Rural Democrat who used to represent a Red district with a progressive, populist record is a great way to balance a ticket with a nominee from Oakland, California,' said Democratic strategist Dan Pfieffer on X.
Harris was impressed with his 'strong record supporting middle class families, his appeal to key Midwest states - including winning a House seat in a Trump district,' a source familiar said.
When she called him - via video chat - to offer him the position, she told him that they were the 'underdogs,' a line she has used repeatedly on the campaign trail.
And one strategist described Walz as the 'cuddly choice.'
'She went for maybe a little more of a cuddly choice - like maybe somebody who everybody feels is going to make everybody feel safe,' Jamal Simmons, Harris' former communications director, said on CNN.
'It looks like the flip side of the Biden-Harris choice, right? They’re about the same age, but governor - he's a little grayer he's got a little bit more of that let mid-western appeal.'
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is not well-known throughout the state, polls show
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was also in the running to be the VP nominee
But there may have been other factors in her decision: mainly concerns that Shapiro, who has garnered comparisons to Obama on the stump, would outshine her.
The first maximum of a VP running mate is do no harm. Walz appears to meet that.
But Shapiro is a different story. While he may have delivered Pennsylvania - a state both sides consider critical to a victory in November - he also had his critics.
Those include one of his home state senators: John Fetterman.
Fetterman relayed to Harris' campaign his concerns that Shapiro was focused on his own personal ambitions above all else.
Shapiro allies alleged, however, that the criticism against the governor is anti-Semitic. Shapiro is Jewish.
He also has been one of the most vocal critics of the pro-Palestinian protests that have popped up in the U.S. after the October 7th attacks on Israel.
His criticism led some liberals to warn against his inclusion on the ticket. Many Democrats have expressed concern about the Biden administration's staunch support for Israel.
Walz, in contrast, has expressed support for Israel but has pushed for more aid to the Palestinians. He also supposed a cease-fire in Gaza and a two-state solution.
All agree the pick demonstrates how Harris makes decisions – with Republicans arguing it showed her as a bad decision maker and Democrats calling it a wise choice.
There is some relief among Republicans that Harris didn’t pick Shapiro with many of Trump’s supporters breathing a sigh of relief that the state is still in play.
Then they quickly starting attacking Walz, with some saying Harris picked the Bernie Sanders of Democrats, painting the Minnesota governor as an unabashed liberal.
And they may be on to something.
According to a Marist poll released Tuesday, Walz has extremely low national name recognition.
A whopping 71% of Americans say they have 'not heard' of him and have no opinion on him.
J.D. Vance and Donald Trump are reported to be relieved Harris picked Walz over Shapiro
But Walz also had some big name Democrats in his corner, particularly former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi played a role in pressuring Biden to exit the Democratic race.
She is known to be supportive of her former House members and she was fond of Walz when he was in Congress.
'Tim Walz is wonderful. She had many good choices. Tim Walz I know very well. He served in the House. To characterize him as left is so unreal. It's just not -- he's right down the middle. He's a heartland of America Democrat,' Pelosi told Morning Joe.