Don’t Worry, Pennsylvania Will Be Perfectly Fine With Tim Walz

Kamala Harris’ first appearance with her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz—which will be held in front of a crowd in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening—was scheduled last week, long before she made the announcement that she was adding Walz to the ticket and, if reporting is to be believed, before she even made the decision to bring Walz on.

Because of the location of the first rally—and because Pennsylvania is such a crucial battleground state—there was a lot of speculation that these clues all added up to a vice presidential slot for Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. He was already a front-runner: A rising star in the Democratic Party with high approval ratings in his state, Shapiro could have possibly guaranteed a win for Democrats come November in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

But Shapiro isn’t the only politician capable of exciting Pennsylvanians.

Let me be clear: Pennsylvania is incredibly important in presidential elections, with its 19 electoral votes and wide swath of residents who seemingly represent the rich, diverse makeup of the country as a whole. We know how to pick a winner, and we know a winner when we see one. But though Pennsylvania has voted for the winner of the presidential election in 48 of 59 elections, those winners have, historically … not been from here.

It’s been 144 years since a true Pennsylvanian was in any slot on a presidential ticket; 163 years since Pennsylvania had a president in the White House (James Buchanan); and 175 years since a Pennsylvanian was VP (George Dallas, vice president to James Polk).

Some may argue (as one of my fellow Slatesters attempted to argue) that Joe Biden—good ol’ Scranton Joe—should make the cut here. To that I say: Biden gets a fat asterisk on his Pennsylvania roots. From the age of 10, Biden lived in Delaware. He clerked at a Wilmington law firm. He was elected to represent the people of Delaware. Sure, he may occasionally rep the Philadelphia Phillies, but show me a professional Delaware sports team. He doesn’t really have much of a choice.

Yes, Philadelphians and Pennsylvanians will almost always go to bat for one their own—one of the big upsides for Harris if she chose Shapiro. Just look at what happened with Gritty. Philadelphians were … less than enthused about the new mascot for our city’s NHL team. But the moment other people started to bad-mouth Gritty, talking about how terrifying, creepy, and—dare I say—weird the Flyers’ orange, googly-eyed mascot was, we changed our tune and fast.

That type of loyalty isn’t inherited, it’s earned. You have to prove that you know what it takes to be one of us. Gritty didn’t back away from the criticism, Gritty told the critics (namely the Pittsburgh Penguins’ mascot) to sleep with one eye open.

It’s not a stretch to say Walz embodies this same spirit.

He has endeared many potential voters (and much of the internet) with his unfiltered, tell-it-like-it-is talking points. The stories of his time as a high school teacher and football coach who was also the adviser for the school’s gay-straight alliance prove his humanity. He has a dog who tends to get into some mischief. He has successfully branded his enemies as the weird ones. He drinks Diet Mountain Dew.

In other words, Walz looks and acts like a lot of Pennsylvanians. He doesn’t need to be from here to get the voters riled up, just as any other major-party ticket hasn’t relied on a candidate from the Commonwealth for nearly 150 years to get the PA vote. The stakes are high; democracy hangs in the balance. But Harris may have chosen the perfect running mate—with Big Gritty Energy to boot—to get Pennsylvanians to the polls.