Tim Walz headlines two Democratic conventions but fails to address the party's leadership concerns

Yahoo

2 days ago

Two of California's Democratic hopefuls for the 2028 presidential election — former Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom — were notably absent from the state's 2025 Democratic convention.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris' former running mate from last year, was the headliner at the convention on Saturday.
Walz, who is on a sort of apology tour, didn't have an answer to the lingering question about who is best suited to lead the Democratic Party. As the control former President Joe Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wielded over the party fades, there is an opening for a new leader with a fresh perspective, but no one obvious enough to fill the role.
At the convention, Walz scolded Democrats for failing to listen to voters, costing the party the 2024 presidential election.
'Some of it is our own doing,' Walz said at the Anaheim Convention Center, a few long blocks away from Disneyland.
'The Democratic Party, the party of the working class, lost a big chunk of the working class,' he said. 'We lost to a grifter billionaire giving tax cuts to his grifter billionaire buddies.'
In the past election, Trump gained ground in nearly every county in the country. In California, where Democrats control the legislature, Trump flipped 10 counties previously won by Biden in 2020.
'We have to have confidence to get the basic stuff done like helping folks find meaningful work that pays a living wage so they can buy a home in a safe neighborhood and send their kids to good public schools,' the Minnesota governor said. 'Somewhere we strayed from our North Star.'
The same day, Walz also headlined the South Carolina Democratic Convention. Wes Moore, another 2028 hopeful, joined Walz in Columbia.
Meanwhile, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who seems to be positioning himself for another presidential bid, also showed up in Anaheim.
Both the governors and the New Jersey senator dismissed rumors of presidential runs, although Booker first has to run again for his Senate seat in 2026.
Walz in a recent interview did admit he's thinking about seeking a third term as governor of Minnesota. But he is going to wait until after calling a special election in July, when he hopes the divided state legislature finalizes the state's budget.
After losing the 2024 presidential election, Walz hit the road again in March for a series of town halls in Republican-held congressional districts, starting in Iowa before traveling to Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Texas.
'I'm getting called out on this because I called Donald Trump a wannabe dictator. It's because he is. It's because he is. 'Oh, the governor's being mean and the governor's speaking out on that,'' Walz said in South Carolina. 'Maybe it's time for us to be a little meaner. Maybe it's time for us to be a little more fierce,' he said.
Newsom, who is barred by term limits to run for re-election, attended a Democratic Governor's Association conference in Portland, Oregon, on May 31, the day of the convention.
The San Francisco Standard's Josh Koehn speculated Newsom is avoiding the fall out of his latest podcast, 'This is Gavin Newsom,' where he has invited MAGA-loyalists to chat about controversial topics, like transgender men participating in women's sports.
Unlike Newsom, Harris didn't have any scheduled engagements.
Although Harris made an appearance through a pre-recorded video at the California Democratic Convention, she didn't answer any of the burning questions at the top of the minds of elected officials, political consultants, staffers, and union representatives: Is Harris going to run for president? Or does she have her eyes set on the governor's mansion in Sacramento?
Harris' tough loss in the last presidential election makes her less of an obvious choice. But she hasn't called off her bid for the highest office just yet.
The Golden State's gubernatorial race is already crowded thanks to high-profile names like Xavier Becerra, the former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. But many, like Eleni Kounalakis, the lieutenant governor of California, and Katie Porter, a former California representative and a 2024 senatorial candidate, plan to withdraw if Harris launches a bid for governor.
Even if Harris runs, does she have enthusiasm behind her?
According to the reporting from The Washington Post and The New York Times, many Democratic activists and delegates aren't convinced the former vice president should run for a statewide office.
'I think she'd be fine. I mean, she's already been a state leader, right?' Denise Robb, a Democratic Party delegate from Pasadena, told the Post. 'It's just that she lost the presidential race and she's been almost — gone. We don't hear from her. We don't see her.'
Harris shied away from public appearances after her defeat against Trump. Last month, Harris in a rare political address dodged questions around her future plans and instead focused on Trump, criticizing his first 100 days in office.
One delegate, Mark Gracyk from San Francisco, told the Times he doesn't support her run for governor either.
'The working class would say, 'Oh, there she is again, she has the support of the elites,'' the delegate said.
Walz didn't necessarily provide more comfort to the dejected delegates, nor did he lay out a coherent path for future Democratic success.
As he tried his best to energize voters across two states over the course of a single day, Turning Point Action organized a large rally in support of the political vehicle's gubernatorial candidate of choice in Arizona — Rep. Andy Biggs, a Trump loyalist and staunch conservative.
At the rally, Biggs said he is all in on President Donald Trump's plan to reinstitute federalism, and when the president gives power back to the states, he is ready to be the 'strong, conservative governor' Arizona will need.