Harris introduces new running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the 'vice president America deserves'

Kamala Harris introduced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to the nation at a raucous rally Tuesday in battleground Pennsylvania that was aimed at building momentum for the newly minted Democratic presidential ticket in the sprint toward Election Day.

- Colleen Long, Zeke Miller, Steve Karnowski, Will Weissert and Seung Min Kim

"He's the kind of person who makes people feel like they belong and then inspires them to dream big.. That's the kind of vice president America deserves," Harris said while standing with Walz in Philadelphia.

Taking the microphone after Harris, Walz revved up the crowd for the rigorous campaign to come. "We've got 91 days. My God, that's easy. We'll sleep when we're dead," he said.

The remarks reflected the urgency of the moment, with Harris tapping Walz for the ticket during one of the most turbulent periods in modern American politics. Republicans have rallied around former President Donald Trump after he was targeted in an attempted assassination in July. Just days later, President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign, forcing Harris to scramble to unify Democrats and decide on a running mate over a breakneck two-week stretch.

In choosing the 60-year-old Walz, Harris is elevating a Midwestern governor, military veteran, and union supporter who helped enact an ambitious Democratic agenda for his state, including sweeping protections for abortion rights and generous aid to families.

It was her biggest decision yet as the Democratic nominee, and she went with a broadly palatable choice — someone who says politics should have more joy and who deflects dark and foreboding rhetoric from Republicans with a lighter touch, a strategy that the campaign has been increasingly turning to since Harris took over the top spot.