Clear Eyes, Full Heart: ‘Coach’ Walz Puts Democrats on Offense

CHICAGO—Tim Walz brought Democrats to their feet and his own children to tears Wednesday night as he accepted his party’s nomination for vice president, vowing to fight conservative intrusion into people’s private lives, including family planning—and soaking up an audience that hailed him as “Coach” Walz.

“Some folks just don’t understand what it takes to be a good neighbor,” he said. “Take Donald Trump and JD Vance. Their Project 2025 will make things much, much harder for people who are just trying to live their lives.”

He warned that Republicans would “ban abortion across this country,” hitting the Democratic Party's leading campaign message that has resonated during his brief two weeks as Kamala Harris’ running mate.

Walz’s speech was the next-to-last step in solidifying the party’s official ticket to take on Republicans in just 76 days.

The Minnesota governor walked onstage to John Mellencamp’s “Small Town,” his campaign theme song, waving to supporters who jabbed “Coach Walz” signs in the air. The lines on the teleprompter—which Walz says are a new addition to his public speeches—included plenty of directives to “PAUSE” to allow room for applause and laughter.

The 16-minute speech incorporated some of the most powerful lines Walz has tested this month on the campaign trail. For Americans just getting to know him, he walked through his biography. He emphasized his rural roots with a dig at Yale-educated Vance, without naming the man he famously labeled “weird.”

“I had 24 kids in my high school class, and none of them went to Yale,” he said. “Growing up in a small town like that, you learn to take care of each other.”

He talked about teaching social studies and coaching football. He touched briefly on his military service, which has been a subject of Republican attacks, before moving on to the long odds he faced when he first ran for Congress in 2006. He had young kids, little money, and was targeting a red district, he said. But he made it to the House anyway.

“Never underestimate a public school teacher,” Walz said.

One of his biggest applause lines came when he described how he helped make sure “every kid in our state gets breakfast and lunch every day.”

His kids, Gus, 17, and Hope, 23, teared up—his son appearing to sob—yelling “I love you!” as Walz talked about how he and his wife started a family using fertility treatments, another subject of Republican attacks.

His closing lines left the room rippling with electricity.

“You may not know it, but I haven’t given a lot of speeches like this, but I have given a lot of pep talks,” he said. “So let me finish with this, team.

“It’s the fourth quarter, we’re down a field goal. But we’re on offense and we’ve got the ball. We’re driving down the field. And boy, do we have the right team.”

The crowd chanted “Coach!” as he directed them to “do the blocking and tackling” with votes, door-knocking, and donations.

“That’s how we'll build a country where workers come first, health care and housing are human rights, and the government stays the hell out of your bedroom,” Walz roared.

The Minnesota delegation lingered on the floor long after Walz left, chanting his name and hoisting pictures of his face in the air.