Kamala Harris and Tim Walz campaign in two key Midwest states

(Lansing) Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spends his first full day as running mate alongside current Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday to rally Midwestern Democrats.

The politically divided region is crucial to their efforts to win the election in less than three months.

The campaign leg, which begins in Wisconsin before moving to Michigan, aims to build support among younger, more diverse and pro-labor voters who were instrumental in President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

But that coalition showed signs of crumbling over the summer, particularly in Michigan, which has become a focal point of Democratic divisions over Mr. Biden’s handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

With Mr Biden now out of the race and Mr^me Harris is officially the Democratic candidate, and Arab-American community leaders and major unions say they are encouraged by the choice of running mate.

Mr. Walz’s appointment has eased some tensions, signaling to some community leaders that Mr.^me Harris had heard concerns about another major vice presidential candidate, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who they said had gone too far in his support for Israel.

“The party recognizes that there is a coalition that it needs to rebuild,” said Abdullah Hammoud, mayor of Dearborn, Mich. “Choosing Walz is another sign of good faith.”

Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat seeking a third term, appeared with M^me Harris during a campaign stop last month in suburban Milwaukee.

She wrote in a fundraising email Tuesday morning that she was “thrilled to see a fellow Midwesterner at the top of the Democratic ticket.”

Donald Trump had placed a similar emphasis on appealing to Midwestern voters in his choice of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his possible running mate. Mr. Vance planned appearances Wednesday in the same states that Mr. Trump visited.^me Harris and Mr. Walz.

“Radical and crazy left”

The Republican began his day in Shelby Township, Michigan, then planned to travel to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the same city where Democratic candidates were scheduled to appear a few hours later, before heading to Michigan.

Mr. Vance used his visit to Michigan to blame M.^me Harris for illegal immigration, which he says leads to more crime.

It was an attempt to attack the Democratic candidate on an issue that motivates Republican-leaning voters and a backlash against Walz, who in his speech in Philadelphia on Tuesday noted that violent crime had increased under President Donald Trump.

“We need to remove Kamala Harris from office, not promote her,” Vance said Tuesday, arguing that the former California attorney general was not on the side of law enforcement.

Republicans are trying to portray the Harris-Walz duo as too “liberal” for the Midwest. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said on a conference call that Walz was “part of the crazy radical left, just like Vice President Harris.”

But democratic enthusiasm has grown since Mr.^me Harris announced her candidacy and that she had chosen Mr. Walz as her running mate. The Harris campaign says it raised $36 million in the 24 hours after announcing her running mate choice Tuesday.

That favorable situation could be crucial in Detroit, which is nearly 80 percent black and where leaders have warned Democratic leaders for months that voter apathy could cost them dearly in a city that is typically a stronghold.

The Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said the current enthusiasm in the city is “mind-blowing.” He compared it to Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign in 2008, when voters lined up to help elect the first black president of the United States.

But just days ago, some Democratic leaders in Michigan worried that the wrong choice of running mate could slow that momentum and shatter a coalition that has only recently begun to come together.

Arab American leaders, who hold significant influence in Michigan because of their strong presence in the Detroit metropolitan area, had been outspoken in their opposition to Shapiro because of his past comments regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Those leaders singled out a comment he made earlier this year about protests on college campuses that they said unfairly compared the protesters’ actions to those of white supremacists. Mr. Shapiro, who is Jewish, has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while remaining a staunch supporter of Israel.

In addition to publicly expressing their concerns, these Arab American leaders have also shared their feelings privately with the White House and Mr.^me Harris.