“He brings the Midwest and also doesn’t have some of the baggage that Shapiro has,” said Kevin Beyer, a voter from Pennsylvania at the rally. “I love Shapiro, but I think he brings so much more to it. He’s a veteran, he’s done so many good things. He’s not that controversial.”
Lorraine Bell, a 60-year-old teacher from Chester County, said Walz was her first choice and she liked the fact that he was “a regular guy.”
“I love Josh Shapiro,” Bell said. “But we needed him in PA, so he still needs to be here. But Tim Walz, he’s good.”
Earlier in the day, Vance campaigned in Philadelphia. Seeking to reverse the “weird” line of attack that Walz helped coin, Vance said “it’s normal people who suffer when Kamala Harris refuses to do her job, and it’s normal people who resist the most when we re-elect Donald Trump. ”
Vance also sought to frame Walz as a far-left radical and his selection as proof that Harris “will bend the knee to the most radical elements in her party.”
“That’s exactly what she did here,” he said. “That’s what she will continue to do as president.”
Speaker after speaker at Harris’ rally Tuesday turned their fire on Vance, often to loud applause.
“I work with J.D. Vance,” said Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. “And I’m here to confirm that he is a very strange guy.”
Walz said Vance’s Yale and Silicon Valley background would not connect with Midwestern voters.
“I can’t wait to debate the guy,” Walz said before alluding to a false and vulgar allegation made about Vance online. “That’s if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”
Emma Barnett It is Nnamdi Egwuonwu contributed.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
