Gov. Tim Walz accepts VP nomination, declares ‘fourth quarter’ mindset
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accepted the Democratic nomination for Vice President on Wednesday night (Aug. 21) at the Democrats’ national convention in Chicago.
The governor – a former teacher, football coach, Congressman and Army National Guard veteran – told the DNC crowd that he and Presidential nominee Kamala Harris had a “fourth quarter” football game mindset.
“It’s the fourth quarter, we’re down a field goal, but we’re on offense and we got the ball,” he said. “Kamala Harris is ready. Our job is to get in the trenches and do the blocking and tackling one inch at a time, one yard at a time.”
As Vice Presidential candidates typically do, Walz took shots at the Republican ticket of former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and warned that Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for policy that has been tied to the GOP agenda, would be detrimental to America.
“Look, I coached high school football long enough, I promise you this – when somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they plan on using it. It’s an agenda that nobody asked for,” he said.
Walz shared his personal story of growing up in rural Nebraska and Minnesota and how it shapes his worldview of respecting people who may be different from him.
“Growing up in a small town, you learn how to take care of each other. That family down the road, they may not think like you do, they may not pray like you do, they may not love like you do. But they’re your neighbors. You look out for them, and they look out for you,” he said.
Democrats put on a full display of older and rising talent. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg all delivered well-received speeches to the partisan crowd. They are among several younger Democrats considered Presidential material in the future.
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and former President and Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton spoke in prime time. Clinton, 78, has attended Democratic national conventions every year since 1972 and suggested it may be his last.
“I have no idea how many more of these I’ll be able to come to, but here’s what I want you to know. If you vote for this team and get them elected, you’ll be proud of it for the rest of your life. Your children will be proud of it, and your grandchildren will be proud of it,” Clinton said in emphasizing his endorsement of Harris and Walz.
He said that Harris would be a candidate “who can work to solve our problems, seize our opportunities, ease our fears, and make sure every single American, however they vote, has a chance to chase their dreams.”
The speech of the night, and possibly the entire Democratic convention, may have come from media icon Oprah Winfrey.
Declaring herself a “registered independent,” Winfrey carried a theme throughout the day for the Democrats who gave convention time to Republicans and Independents who expressed their support for Harris and disavowed Trump.
“There’s a certain candidate who says if we just go to the polls this one time, we’ll never have to do it again. Well, you know what? You’re looking at a registered independent who is proud to vote again and again because I’m an American and that’s what Americans do,” Winfrey said.
She encouraged the crowd at home and on TV to think about their choices when voting this November.
“Let us choose loyalty to the Constitution over loyalty to any individual. Let us choose optimism over cynicism. Because that’s the best of America. Let us choose common sense over nonsense. Let us choose the sweet promise of tomorrow over the bitter return of yesterday,” Winfrey said.
Vice President Kamala Harris will speak on Thursday night, the final night of the convention, when she gives her acceptance speech.