CHICAGO — Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota is set to officially introduce himself to Americans on the third night of the Democratic National Convention.
Ahead of his keynote address, former President Clinton, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and other top Democrats will give remarks. The daily convention theme is focused on Vice President Harris’s “fight for our freedoms,” which will put in the spotlight both her and Walz’s past records.
Here’s what to watch for on the third day of the convention in Chicago.
The Minnesota governor will ceremonially accept the party’s nomination for vice president on Day 3, which the Harris campaign is affectionately calling “Walz Wednesday.”
Walz, known as ‘coach’ to Democrats, is expected to bring Midwestern charm with a side of attack dog, a role that he has performed in hitting back at former President Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) on issues such as his time in the military and his family’s infertility challenges.
The speech is a way of “cementing” Walz’s public introduction just two weeks after he was named Harris’s running mate, campaign communications director Michael Tyler said.
“The throughline is going to be that governor Walz has always been somebody who’s fought for the vulnerable,” Tyler added.
Clinton is returning to the United Center nearly 30 years since he accepted the nomination for the 1996 presidential bid to make the case for Harris as the future of his party.
Clinton is expected to take jabs at Trump while reaching out to moderates, independents and undecided voters in the pivotal swing states Democrats need to win in November.
His speech comes a day after former President Barack Obama gave an inspiring and feisty speech. The two presidents campaigned for President Biden at a high-dollar New York City fundraiser in March, before Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris, and they are expected to stump for Harris, too.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the first female Speaker of the House, is focused on flipping that chamber and isn’t afraid to stand up to Trump, who refers to her as “crazy Nancy”— two areas in which she will likely focus her remarks.
Pelosi was largely behind the pressure put on Biden by lawmakers, publicly and behind closed doors, to drop out of the race last month. They have a tense relationship as a result. The president on Monday told reporters that he hasn’t spoken with Pelosi recently, adding, “no one made my decision but me.”
The former Speaker and influential Democrat will likely keep Harris and Walz, who served with her in Congress, in the spotlight during her remarks but political watchers will be monitoring for if she mentions Biden, too.
Other stars of the Democratic Party will speak on Wednesday night, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and Govs. Josh Shapiro (Pa.) and Wes Moore (Md.).
The lineup includes some Democrats who are expected to have presidential aspirations and some who were in the running for Harris’s VP. They are looking to make a splash on the party’s biggest platform.
Buttigieg has served with Harris in the Biden administration and ran against her for the Democratic primary in 2020. Meanwhile, the choice for Harris’s running mate came down to Walz and Shapiro in the end.
