Progressives get victory with Harris pick of Walz for vice president

Liberal Democrats are all cheers after Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as her running mate Tuesday, hailing the decision as a victory for progressive policy ideals that will invigorate the party’s base heading into November’s elections.

Walz had built a moderate record during his 12 years representing a rural district in the U.S. House, championing a number of liberal social causes but also bucking his party on other prominent policy goals, including those related to gun reform and environmental protection.

Yet he has shifted to the left in more recent years, promoting gun restrictions and clean energy advances while winning praise from civil rights leaders for his handling of the 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

That transformation has not gone unnoticed. And in the wake of Walz’s ascension to vice presidential candidate, a long and growing list of progressive voices — from gun reformers and climate activists to leading labor unions and outspoken members of the liberal “squad” — wasted no time celebrating the pick as a win for the left.

The AFL-CIO lionized Walz as "a principled fighter and labor champion." The Rev. Al...