Jeremy Siegel: You’re listening to Morning Edition on GBH. Tim Walz has made his debut.

Gov. Tim Walz: Wow, Thank you, Philadelphia.

Siegel: Appearing alongside Vice President Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania, the Minnesota governor was introduced as the number two on the Democratic ticket.

Walz: Thank you, Madam Vice President, for the trust you put in me, but maybe more so thank you for bringing back the joy.

Siegel: It’s a decision being celebrated by Democrats in Massachusetts, including Governor Healey and the state’s congressional delegation, and it’s set to have major implications for the November election. For more on this, I’m joined by Rachel Cobb, an associate professor of political science and legal studies at Suffolk University. Good morning.

Prof. Rachael Cobb: Good morning.

Siegel: So what does Walz’s selection here mean for Democrats?

Cobb: Well, what it means for Democrats is that they now have a ticket that embodies what many on the progressive side were hoping for. They also have a ticket that really tells us a little bit more about who Harris will be as president, should she be elected. The choice of the vice presidential candidate is really a signal to voters about who the candidate for president wants to be and who they want to have on their team.

Siegel: Let’s talk a little bit more about what went into this decision then. During his speech, Walz praised Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Here’s a little bit of that.

Walz: Pennsylvania, I know you know this, but my God, what a treasure you have in Josh Shapiro.

Siegel: Shapiro was a front runner alongside Walz in the end. Why do you think Harris selected the governor of Minnesota?

Cobb: I think there was real concern about Shapiro, in terms of whether he would be a divisive figure, and put into the issue the issue of their concern about Israel and that being divisive, and the concern as well, that apparently in the interviews, he just was very focused on exactly what role he would play, versus Walz, who really said, I am here for you. I will be on your team. You tell me what to do and I will do it. So I think just as much as there are policy issues that they had as concerns, they also are looking for somebody who will work well with the president.

Siegel: Walz himself is a former member of Congress, was a school teacher, a football coach. What should we know about him politically as he becomes a member of the Harris team?

Cobb: Well, I think what we know is that he does have deep experience in a lot of different areas. He did serve in the Army National Guard, and served on the Veterans Committee when he was in Congress. He also served on the Agriculture Committee and the Armed Services Committee. He did serve in Congress. He’s been a governor. And so he has broad experience. He’s also in a border state, bordering Canada, and as governor was interested in expanding trade with Canada. So he brings a breadth of experience across a wide variety of both state office levels and also sort of government service more broadly.

Siegel: Looking to the other side of the race, Walz and Harris are already going on the attack in their campaign. Walz himself called out the Republican VP candidate, JD Vance.

Walz: Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland, JD studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then wrote a bestseller trashing that community. Come on. That’s not what middle America is. And I got to tell you, I can’t wait to debate the guy.

Siegel: Now, Vance himself held a counter rally last night in Pennsylvania. What sort of dynamic do you expect to emerge between these two pairs of candidates?

Cobb: They both come from rural communities, from small rural communities, and that is the voter base that the Democrats have lost and the voter base that Trump and Vance are really appealing to. And so, in that sense, Walz brings that personal experience as well, and so they can go tete a tete on that experience and what they learned from it and what they think some of the solutions are to assisting rural America.

Siegel: I want to go back to some of what Walz said in his speech, both at the beginning of it and at the end when he was saying thank you to the audience, he mentioned how joy is central here. It was a theme throughout his entire speech.

Walz: This leader, this compassionate, careful, joyous leader believes in each and every one of you.

Siegel: This is also something that others in the Democratic Party have pointed out. Massachusetts Congresswoman and Democratic Whip Katherine Clark said in addition to being battle tested, that Walz is, quote, joyful. Why put joy front and center in a campaign?

Cobb: I think it harkens back to the message of hope and change that Obama was going for in 2008, and actually before that, Deval Patrick here in Massachusetts in 2006. There is a powerful sense that, excitement and belief in the future is a unifying theme that can bring people together and bring them in. And I think that is the messaging that they’re going for. It has been, as we know, we had two candidates — prior to Harris’s entrance into the race — two candidates that were really not exciting the American public. And with this shift, they can really shift to sort of a youthful, future-looking, hopeful view that we really haven’t had in American politics for quite some time.

Siegel: Rachael Cobb is an associate professor of political science and legal studies at Suffolk University. Professor Cobb, thank you so much for your time this morning.

Cobb: Thank you so much, Jeremy. It was a pleasure.

Siegel: You're listening to GBH's morning edition.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the number two on the Democratic ticket is set to have major implications for the November election.

“What it means for Democrats is that they now have a ticket that embodies what many on the progressive side were hoping for,” Professor Rachael Cobb, who teaches political science and legal studies at Suffolk University, told GBH’s Morning Edition co-host Jeremy Siegel. “The choice of the vice presidential candidate is really a signal to voters about who the candidate for president wants to be and who they want to have on their team.”

In his speech, Walz spoke multiple times of joy: “This leader, this compassionate, careful, joyous leader believes in each and every one of you,” he said of Harris.

This is also something that others in the Democratic Party have pointed out: Massachusetts Congresswoman and Democratic Whip Katherine Clark said in addition to being battle-tested, that Walz is “joyful.”

Cobb said that message harkens back to former President Barack Obama’s campaign of hope in 2008, and before that, to former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s run in 2006.

“There is a powerful sense that, excitement and belief in the future is a unifying theme that can bring people together and bring them in,” Cobb said. “Prior to Harris’s entrance into the race — two candidates that were really not exciting the American public. And with this shift, they can really shift to sort of a youthful, future-looking, hopeful view that we really haven’t had in American politics for quite some time.”

Walz is a former member of Congress, and was also a school teacher and a football coach. In Congress, he served on committees for veterans, agriculture and the armed services.

“He does have deep experience in a lot of different areas,” Cobb said.

Harris likely also chose Walz as a counter to former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance.

“They both come from rural communities, from small rural communities, and that is the voter base that the Democrats have lost and the voter base that Trump and Vance are really appealing to,” Cobb said. “In that sense, Walz brings that personal experience as well, and so they can go tete-a-tete on that experience and what they learned from it and what they think some of the solutions are to assisting rural America.”

In his Tuesday night speech, Walz praised Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, also considered to be a finalist for Harris’ running mate. Cobb said there may have been concerns about Shapiro being “a divisive figure” on issues like Israel.

“Apparently in the interviews, he [Shapiro] just was very focused on exactly what role he would play, versus Walz, who really said, I am here for you. I will be on your team. You tell me what to do and I will do it,” Cobb said. “So I think just as much as there are policy issues that they had as concerns, they also are looking for somebody who will work well with the president.”