Harris campaign: ICYMI – Gov. Walz talks a new way forward for rural America on local battleground TV and rural radio blitz

This week, Governor Tim Walz blitzed battleground and rural radio – taping several interviews across Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin since just Monday. 

• Walz hammered Donald Trump’s “dangerous” threats to send the military after the “enemy from within” the United States, his legacy of chaos and division, including his threats to the American public and his lack of respect on the world stage: Walz made the case to rural and midwestern voters, saying these communities are “good neighbors,” and “they don’t like this angry, divisive stuff. They don’t like the things that undermines basic rule of law.”
• Walz – who spent 12 years representing a rural district in Congress – highlighted Vice President Harris and his plan to improve the lives of rural voters through investments in healthcare, infrastructure, broadband, small businesses, and basic services like water treatment and schools: Walz saying, “These are a lot of just the basic things that government should be doing. And I think the Vice President’s plan rolled this out.” That’s in stark contrast to Trump’s presidency which devastated farmers and rural communities by starting trade wars and trying to cut funding that supports rural housing and creates rural jobs – all while giving tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations.
• Walz also highlighted the Vice President’s vision for a New Way Forward for the country, so that everyone – in blue states and red states, in urban areas and rural areas – has the opportunity to not just get by, but to get ahead: Walz highlight the contrast, saying “Donald Trump wants to look to the past. We’re looking to the future. We’re looking for an opportunity economy.” 

Take a look at just a few excerpts from the interviews:

Governor Tim Walz on WISC’s Channel 3000 (CBS – Madison, WI) on Reaching Out to Midwestern and Rural Voters:

Governor Tim Walz: “I come from this area. Kamala Harris grew up in a middle class family. I think we’re making the case, middle class families, whether they’re in the Midwest or the Southeast, the Northeast or the West, they care about things like health care. They don’t want to see Donald Trump repeal the Affordable Care Act. They care about personal decisions like your own personal reproductive decisions. They care about good jobs and tax cuts for the middle class over tax cuts for the wealthy that Donald Trump is promoting. So, I think it’s talking to people where they’re at, and I think it makes the case that, look, this is where I grew up, this is who I am, but it’s where the Vice President is at, where Vice President Harris grew up with her mom working hard to buy them a home. So, those are the things we’re focusing on. Those are the politics that I think are in the Midwest. And look, Midwesterners are good neighbors. They don’t like this angry, divisive stuff. They don’t like the things that undermines basic rule of law. So, I think we’re making a really strong case to them.”

Governor Tim Walz on WKQS-FM Mark & Walt in the Morning (Marquette, Michigan) on the Vice President and His New Initiative to Support Rural Communities: 

Governor Tim Walz: “I come from an area that knows this. Look, your listeners up there know that it’s the basic things that they need government to do for them. Need to make sure that their hospitals stay open. Need to make sure that we’re building roads and that there’s some support for basic services like water treatment plans, making sure that their local public schools are well funded. They’ve got access to things like child care so that they can go to work and that they can get a house, that there’s the ability to be able to get into a home. I think these are a lot of just the basic things, things that government should be doing. And I think the Vice President’s plan, rolled this out, making sure we’re adding 10,000 new rural healthcare workers, making sure we’re tackling this issue. And you know, you gotta come from a rural area to understand this, ambulance deserts and emergency services deserts, where you can’t get that…So, I think, as your listeners are saying, “what’s in it for me?” Government not being on TV for entertainment and division, but actually tackling these hard issues. And the Vice President, actually got an infrastructure law through. We actually have manufacturing jobs back in Michigan, and those jobs are not table scraps, as my opponent called them in Lansing. Those are 650 union UAW jobs that are putting food on the table and growing a community.”

Governor Tim Walz on WMUM – FM 89.7 Georgia Public Radio on Vice President Harris and his Plan for Rural Communities: 

Host: “The Harris-Walz campaign released a rural-focused plan yesterday promising investments and outlining policy that would affect nearly 20% of the U.S. population. GPB’s Sophi Gratas spoke with Vice Presidential candidate Governor Tim Walz about the plan.”

Sofi Gratas: “Included in the campaign’s plan for rural communities are millions of dollars for telemedicine grants, a promise to cap prescription medicine costs and a commitment to bring back the Affordable Connectivity Program, which ended due to lack of funding. Over half of Georgia counties are rural. Many face population decline. Walz says investments under a Harris presidency would turn that tide.”

Governor Tim Walz: “These are high quality of life places to live. The problem is they’ve been neglected. They’ve been neglected in that infrastructure. They’ve been neglected in the things that hit the middle class. So I think when Vice President Harris talks about an Opportunity Economy aimed at the middle class, rural areas are the ones we’re really focusing on.”

Governor Tim Walz on WGAL-HAR (NBC – Harrisburg, PA) on Vice President’s vision for a New Way Forward:

Governor Tim Walz: “First of all, we’re seeing inflation start to cool some.We’re seeing proposals put forward, whether it’s price gouging. Look, Donald Trump’s disastrous handling of Covid left a bit of a mess, but we’re focusing on this. I think the tax cuts aimed right at the middle class, the ability to, things like prescription drugs, making sure we’re capping those. … The fact of the matter is that [Donald Trump] left with 10 million people out of work … and we were in the middle of the global pandemic…I think the focus is: Donald Trump wants to look to the past. We’re looking to the future. We’re looking for an Opportunity Economy. Donald Trump’s the one laughing about busting unions. Pennsylvanians know that if you can get into a good union job and negotiate collectively, you can, you can get into the middle class, not just to get by, but to thrive, and that’s the case we’re making.”

Governor Tim Walz on Butler Radio (Butler County, Pennsylvania) on Drawing People Back to Rural Communities: 

Governor Tim Walz: “We see the contrast… under a Trump presidency, we lost manufacturing jobs in Pennsylvania, and we’ve seen, and we’re seeing them come back again now. It’s making sure that we’re bringing those jobs back, making sure that we’re leading to the future. Look, we’re still going to manufacture automobiles long into the future, but we need to make sure across that spectrum, we’re doing internal combustion engines, we’re doing hybrids, we’re doing EVs. And then… we need to make sure that rural America is connected. I’m deeply concerned that Donald Trump in his next administration is going to pull back the dollars to connect these areas, the broadband areas, pull back the infrastructure dollars. Look, you need good roads. …People want to be in these communities. It’s where my mom’s living in a small community. …They need those basic services. They need their hospitals to be strong. They need their schools to be strong. They need their roads and their water treatment plants to be strong. Those are all things that Vice President Harris was there when we passed legislation to do that.”

Governor Tim Walz on WIZM’s La Crosse Talk PM (La Crosse, Wisconsin) Contrasting Kamala Harris Uplifting American Communities and Donald Trump Tearing them Down: 

Governor Tim Walz: “Kamala Harris is talking about being the president for all Americans. Look, Donald Trump’s on a tour, going and just crapping all over places, saying, you know, Detroit and others, that’s not what we’re going to do. We’re going to go out and say, You know what? What’s the issue here? Your local school? Property taxes? Because we know that it becomes an economy of scale. …That’s why Kamala Harris has… a rural agenda that’s investing money. The infrastructure law made such a huge difference on rural communities. We’ve not seen anything, probably, since the Eisenhower interstate system that had that kind of impact, and I think that’s what we have to do, is go talk to them, tell them, and make sure they know they’re not forgotten.” 

Governor Tim Walz on WXYZ-TV (ABC – Detroit, Michigan) on How Kamala Harris’s New Way Forward and Opportunities for Detroit’s Continued Recovery:

Governor Tim Walz: “First of all, we’re excited about it. I said, as a fellow Midwesterner, to watch the renaissance in Detroit, and it comes in contrast to Donald Trump putting it down. I think the investments in the Infrastructure Act was, was that the infrastructure law was a huge piece of this. I think the CHIPS Act, making sure we’re seeing the resurgence of the auto industry and high tech industry that’s coming to Michigan. I’m really concerned, and because Donald Trump has made it clear, and Senator Vance has made it clear that they would pull back those opportunities. Senator Vance called the investment that we made in Lansing, in the new plant, there those 650 jobs, table scraps, those are out of these programs that are in place. There is so much more in those three acts that we put forward that can continue to invest. And look, Detroit, as I’ve said this, Michigan’s not a state that fears the future. You’ve invented the future.And I think, once again, what we’re seeing is, now is not the time to pull back on these major investments. And then, I think, coupled with ways to make life more affordable for folks, whether it’s housing down payment assistance, whether it’s some of the price gouging around, whether it’s groceries or pharmaceuticals, and then tax credits that are aimed right at the middle class.”

Governor Tim Walz on KDKA Newsradio (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) on reaching out to Black voters and Kamala Harris’s Opportunity Agenda for Black Men: 

“Black men simply want to be part of this economy. They don’t want to just get by. They want to thrive in this economy. And it’s understanding that there’s a lot of pathways to get there, whether it’s through apprenticeship programs, training, mentorship programs. And then to be very clear an entrepreneurial opportunity for, for businesses to get off the ground, providing one million small business loans, making sure that we’ve got some forgivable upfront money, making sure that the tax credits on startups are there. And, and recognizing that this community is a powerful engine and can be even more powerful. And acknowledge the historical gap between home ownership, between educational attainment, between business ownership, is real, and so to make a concerted effort to focus on it, I think, is exactly what’s needed out there.”