BRIAN BAKST: My team is working hard. Make sure the bosses know, OK?
CATHY WURZER: I will definitely do that. Hey, Clay.
CLAY MASTERS: Hey, how’s it going?
CATHY WURZER: Great. I think Tim Walz is in Denver somewhere right now doing a fundraiser. He’s on his first solo tour with the Harris ticket. Where has he been? Where is he going? What is he doing?
CLAY MASTERS: He was everywhere, like in that Johnny Cash song. He was in Philadelphia in the beginning. He was in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. They’re really trying to take all of these big swing states that the winner of the general election really has to win. That was the introductory phase that they went through.
And then Walz was on this solo tour trying to mobilize support. Yesterday he was promoting unions and talking about his qualifications as a teacher in a union. And so he’s all over the place. On Saturday he’s even in my home state of Nebraska.
BRIAN BAKST: You’re from Nebraska?
CLAY MASTERS: That’s true.
CATHY WURZER: I didn’t know that.
CLAY MASTERS: He’s going to try to win. Nebraska splits its delegation and it’s not a winner-takes-all. Omaha went for Biden last time and went for Obama in 2008. They’re sending him everywhere, even to his home state.
CATHY WURZER: We can actually send Clay to Omaha quickly. There’s a flight from MSP to Omaha.
BRIAN BAKST: If he didn’t go to Chicago, he would probably go to Omaha.
CATHY WURZER: That’s right. Mark, hey, what did you think about the week or so that Tim Walz was featured nationally?
MARK ZDECHLIK: I think he did very, very well in Philadelphia. I think we saw a different Tim Walz this week. One of his big things is that he comes across as so authentic and genuine. In the past, he was in charge. That, Cathy, is no longer the case.
How many advisers does he have who are trying, directly or indirectly, to influence his appearance and his voice? And I felt that was a little bit evident yesterday during the speech, the big labor speech.
CATHY WURZER: I think he talked to AFSCME.
MARK ZDECHLIK: Yes. Yes, he just felt a little bit constrained. And I’m sure that’s a problem for him because he wants to do a good job. They like him because he’s authentic. But they also give him the mandate to be authentic in some ways. And that’s a big challenge.
BRIAN BAKST: And, Clay, you’re going to be watching Tim Walz closely in Chicago and all the things they’re doing to get him in the mood for his big speech next week. What voices are we going to expect to be campaigning for Tim Walz?
CLAY MASTERS: I think you’re going to hear a lot more. First of all, we’ve been hearing about him nationally for the last few weeks, but this guy is still relatively unknown, regardless of how much we seem to know about him, especially in the last few weeks.
But I think we’ll continue to hear a lot about his profile, about how he’s coming in maybe not in the very rural areas of the country, but maybe in some of the larger small towns in the country. I think you’ll really see, it’ll be interesting to see how they highlight his qualifications, his work, his teaching, all these different things.
BRIAN BAKST: And testimonials from former students and players.
CLAY MASTERS: Yes, that’s actually what we’re going to hear today. There’s a group of students he had in Mankato. They’re going to talk about him. We’re going to hear a lot more about the governor, who we all seem to know a lot about already.
CATHY WURZER: Tell me, can somebody help me here? What about the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that are expected at the convention? What do we know about that?
CLAY MASTERS: Yes. Remember, the undecided delegation that went there were people protesting President Biden’s handling of the situation in the Middle East. Minnesota sent the most undecided delegates, 11 out of 93. They did a virtual roll call earlier this month where they said who they were going to vote for. And they read the names of Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israeli forces.
And the ballots that the delegates actually get are Kamala Harris or present. All of their votes are cast as present. They will be there. There will be protests outside the convention hall. So there will still be a presence, but it’s much smaller than the number of people who voted for Kamala Harris.
CATHY WURZER: But the Minnesota delegation has, what, 11 uncommitted delegates?
CLAY MASTERS: Yes, 11 of what? About 93. So that’s just a small portion of the delegates.
BRIAN BAKST: Mark, you were at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month. We heard from senators, members of Donald Trump’s family, former government officials, even Hulk Hogan. We didn’t hear from any former Republican president or former presidential candidate other than Trump. Was that noticeable?
MARK ZDECHLIK: In a way, that’s true. At conventions, you usually find people who don’t necessarily agree with each other on everything, but who are well known in the party. The Republican Party is Donald Trump’s party right now. And he invited everyone who was supposed to speak at his convention.
And there was no opposition or possibility, apart from the offer to Nikki Haley, there was no major effort to reach out to different parts of his potential coalition. That’s remarkable in terms of tradition. But it’s not surprising considering how Donald Trump leads the Republican Party. It’s his party.
BRIAN BAKST: And one of the reasons I ask is because the Democrats are bringing all the old White House stars on stage next week. Who’s speaking besides Kamala Harris and Tim Walz?
MARK ZDECHLIK: It’s going to be a Democratic star-studded event in Chicago. On Monday, President Biden will speak. Hillary Clinton will also speak on Monday. On Tuesday, former President Barack Obama will be on stage and on TV and radio across the country. And on Wednesday, former President Bill Clinton will be there. That’s a pretty striking difference from the lineup that dominated the RNC for Donald Trump’s coronation.
CATHY WURZER: And it looks like before the RNC this weekend–
BRIAN BAKST: The DNC.
CATHY WURZER: I need to get some sleep. Yes, the DNC in Chicago. Gwen Walz, First Lady Gwen Walz will be doing a bus tour to Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. And Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will be there as well. So we’ll see some of the spouses as well.
BRIAN BAKST: That’s one thing about these presidential campaigns. You see all the family members. I imagine and hope that Gus will play a role in the coming months.
CATHY WURZER: And maybe Scout. Who knows? I wonder, gentlemen, what do we know about the debates at this point?
CLAY MASTERS: Well, we know there’s going to be a debate on September 10th, or at least we think we know. Donald Trump has been pretty controversial with Kamala Harris about debates. But right now, that’s on ABC, I think. So we know that’s going to happen. And I know there’s been talk that there’s going to be a vice presidential debate between Governor Walz and Senator Vance at some point.
BRIAN BAKST: And Walz and Vance have been battling each other from afar and both talking about how much they can’t wait to get on stage together. That’s not set yet. We don’t know when, where or how.
CATHY WURZER: That would actually be a very interesting debate, I think. So, next week there will be a lot of speeches again on prime time television. And our coverage will be live.
BRIAN BAKST: We’ll have live coverage in the evening, just like we did at the Republican National Convention. But these two are going to do quite a bit of work to provide material for your show, for Tom Kranz’s show, for this show, for many shows. Angela Davis is even getting a sneak peek.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, my God. All right, is there anything else you’d like to say before you go?
MARK ZDECHLIK: It’s going to be an interesting convention. It was interesting to see the Republicans in Milwaukee. What an extraordinary thing that the President survived an assassination attempt two days earlier. And certainly it’s an extraordinary time for the Democrats as well, with President Biden no longer on the ballot.
CLAY MASTERS: Yes, and as a political reporter in 2024, I’m obligated to say the word “unprecedented.” And as you said, the lineup – how unprecedented is it for the sitting president to speak on the first day of the convention?
CATHY WURZER: That’s right.
BRIAN BAKST: And Cathy, you used that number earlier on the show: 83 days until Election Day, only 37 days until voting begins in Minnesota. Early voting begins on September 20th, so there’s not a lot of time between now and then for these campaign teams to really get their affairs in order.
CATHY WURZER: I didn’t remember any of that. It’s all just a blur. And there’s only 83 days left. I appreciate your time. I know you’re all really tired. Good luck, by the way, Mark and Clay.
MARK ZDECHLIK: Thank you.
CLAY MASTERS: Thank you.
CATHY WURZER: Have a nice trip. Brian Bakst, thank you very much. You and your team are fantastic. By the way, if you’re looking for more political news, we have it on our website, of course. You can sign up for the newsletter, by the way.
BRIAN BAKST: Capitol View Newsletter.
CATHY WURZER: Capitol View newsletter. By the way, I get it fresh every morning. It’s fantastic. You can get it. Sign up at mprnews.org. And of course, check out our politics team’s coverage, which is second to none.
OK, thank you for listening to the show. Of course, we have another show here on Minnesota Now tomorrow. If you missed any of it, we obviously have a podcast of it. You can listen to our podcast anywhere you get podcasts. It’s the Minnesota Now podcast.
I haven’t even said anything about the weather for the entire hour. So what? It’s actually not that bad. So go and enjoy the rest of the day because it’s going to be wet. Showers and thunderstorms will move into the region. Right now it’s raining a little in southwest Minnesota.
It’s going to be pretty wet here tonight. Showers and thunderstorms are likely in the state of Minnesota. Tomorrow will be wet, too. But we’ll dry out a bit on Friday. Saturday and Sunday look fantastic. Dry conditions, highs around 27 degrees.
Stay tuned. There will be more news here on MPR soon.
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