He prides himself on being the head of the “hockey state.” Since taking office, his state has legalized marijuana and passed an abortion law that is identical to the rules in place north of the U.S. border. He also played a central role in passing paid parental leave and a child benefit.
There’s no denying that Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor who became Kamala Harris’ running mate Tuesday in her race for the White House, could easily be a Canadian politician.
And that’s not surprising. His state shares 885 kilometres of border with Ontario and Manitoba. Canada is also his main export market. For snowmobiles, in particular, but also for ethanol and zinc ore.
With its harsh winters and reputation for friendliness, Minnesota is sometimes jokingly called “the most Canadian of American states.”
But you’re unlikely to hear much about it during the election contest between Kamala Harris and Tom Walz, in the left corner, and Donald Trump and JD Vance of Ohio, in the right corner.
Yet, in my memory, we have never seen a Democratic ticket with such clear ties to Canada! Should we recall that Kamala Harris lived in Montreal for nearly five years in the late 1970s and early 1980s, attending FACE School downtown and Westmount High after a short stint at a French-language school in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce? Even today, she is able to exchange a few sentences in French, an admitted legacy of that era.
The politician, however, speaks little about this episode in her life. In her biography with the evocative title, An American Journey, The Truths We Holdshe only devoted a very small page to it.
The reasons are simple. In the United States, ties with Canada are not politically profitable, they can even give rise to Republican rivals who never hesitate to question the “Americanness” of candidates. Or to make connections between the progressive policies of the northern neighbor and the accusations of “radical left politician” that they try to make against Kamala Harris.
In fact, even beyond ideology, it generally does not pay to refer to Canadian policies as possible solutions to American issues in a country whose identity is strongly anchored in the myth of exceptionalism.
Knowledge of foreign languages – apart from Spanish – can also be attacked. John Kerry learned this to his cost in 2004 when he faced George W. Bush in the presidential election. His exemplary knowledge of French, which could have been an asset on the international stage, was presented as a symbol of elitism by the party of his Texan rival, who came from a political dynasty as rich as Croesus.
So it’s not the quasi-Canadian politician that Kamala Harris has chosen to support her, but the Midwestern guy from a rural background who, like her, doesn’t think he came from Jupiter’s thigh. The hunting fanatic, gun owner, military veteran, white, who taught geography in high school when he decided to get involved in politics. A product of American meritocracy.
She also chose the guy who managed to embarrass Donald Trump and JD Vance when he was the first to say during a filmed intervention that the Republican duo is “weird.” The epithet – which serves here as a polite but eloquent euphemism – has stuck to them ever since on social networks and in the media.
That said, could the choice of Mr. Walz, who is little known nationally, change the outcome of the election in November? Not really, according to political scientists Kyle C. Kopko and Christopher J. Devine, who have calculated the impact of running mates on presidential campaigns throughout history and conclude, in two books they have devoted to the subject, that the influence is small, if not marginal.
“Choosing a running mate from a key voting bloc won’t make a difference, but choosing an experienced, qualified running mate can make the presidential candidate look good—and win votes,” the authors say. The opposite is also true.
John McCain bit his fingers after choosing Sarah Palin. While the Alaskan politician initially energized his campaign, she became a scandal machine after a few weeks. These days, J.D. Vance seems far from a foil for Donald Trump as misogynistic or bigoted statements from his past make headlines. There is no doubt that Mr. Walz’s past will be scrutinized in the coming weeks.
Nothing is decided, however. The race between the two pairs has only just begun. Neck and neck in the polls.
Canada, for its part, is reduced to the role of spectator. A silent spectator who would be crazy not to have a slight preference for the team that shares its values, its style and its obsession with hockey.