Walz Accepts Democrats’ Vice Presidential Nomination

Happy Thursday! Drucker, Charles, and Mike seem to be having a great time in Chicago, which does lead us to consider, if only briefly, that Declan may have been onto someth—nah, forget it.

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accepted Democrats’ nomination to serve as their vice presidential candidate on Wednesday night, the third night of the Democratic National Convention. The night again saw a handful of Republicans and former Trump supporters—former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and Olivia Troye, former homeland security aide to former Vice President Mike Pence—warn of what they considered former President Donald Trump’s unfitness for office. Former President Bill Clinton, television host Oprah Winfrey, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania also spoke Wednesday. Walz, who has recently faced questions about the veracity of parts of his biography, delivered the keynote address. 
• The Department of Labor revised its employment numbers on Wednesday, finding that non-farm job gains reported in the 12 months leading up to March 2024 were overestimated by 818,000—a 28 percent decrease from the 2.9 million new jobs the agency’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in April and the largest payroll revision by the BLS since 2009. The adjusted figures paint a picture of a softer labor market than previously understood and could prompt the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates more aggressively when it meets in September. 
• Russian officials said on Wednesday that Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow overnight, adding that the city’s air defenses shot down all the incoming weapons, which caused no damage or casualties. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin called the assault “one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow with drones ever.” Ukraine has not yet claimed responsibility for the drone attack. 
• The New York Times reported Tuesday that President Joe Biden approved a new classified nuclear strategic plan in March that focuses on China’s nuclear arsenal, which U.S. national security officials are concerned is growing even faster than anticipated. The plan—officially dubbed the “Nuclear Employment Guidance”—outlined the possibility that China, Russia, and North Korea may collaborate on nuclear projects posing a threat to the U.S. 
• In a study published in Nature Wednesday, scientists determined that the moon’s south pole was once covered in an ocean of magma—liquid molten rock. Data collected by India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar rover suggest that the ocean formed about 4.5 billion years ago. The findings “show that the local lunar terrain in this region is fairly uniform and primarily composed of … a product of the lunar magma ocean crystallization,” the authors wrote. The Chandrayaan-3 rover landed on the moon in August 2023, making India the fourth country to land on the lunar south pole. 
• At least 28 Pakistani pilgrims died in Iran late Tuesday night—and 23 others were injured, including 14 in critical condition—after their bus overturned while en route to Karbala, Iraq. The passengers were heading to the central Iraqi city for Arbaeen, a two-day Islamic holiday.
• Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey passed away Wednesday morning at the age of 87, according to his family. Pascrell—a veteran of the U.S. Army—had represented New Jersey in Congress since 1997, and prior to that was a two-term mayor of Paterson, New Jersey. Before entering politics in 1987, Pascrell had worked as a high school history teacher. Per state election law, Democratic county officials need to select a new nominee for the race to fill Pascrell’s seat by August 29.

Coach Walz Gives a Pep Talk

CHICAGO—Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president Wednesday evening with an efficient, energetic 15-minute-long address that brought a packed United Center arena to its feet with paeans to the compassion and greatness of America.

“We’re all here tonight for one beautiful, simple reason: We love this country,” Walz said in his now trademark homespun style, echoing the dominant theme of the third night of the Democratic National Convention. “Freedom iis a big part of what this election is about,” he added before taking a moment to acknowledge his wife Gwen, his daughter Hope, and his son Gus. “You are my entire world and I love you.”

It was a well choreographed coming-out party for the 60-year-old vice presidential nominee, though his address kicked off after prime time on the East Coast—nearly 11:30 p.m.—because the program, like the first two nights, went long and ran late. Walz, a former high school teacher, was introduced by former student Benjaman C. Ingman, who in turn welcomed to the stage alumni of the Mankato West High School football team he helped coach to a state championship a quarter-century ago. 

Walz, whom Vice President Kamala Harris selected as her running mate just two weeks ago, was the headliner, as is the tradition for the Wednesday evening of a four-day presidential nominating convention. A roster of VIP speakers preceded the governor, priming the crowd and viewers for his speech: political luminaries like former President Bill Clinton; entertainment industry celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and rising Democratic stars, like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

For convention delegates and guests, at least, Walz was worth the wait. The crowd waved signs that read “Coach Walz” and hoisted cutouts of the governor’s face. And Walz didn’t overstay his warm welcome. 

In just half the run time of nomination acceptance speeches delivered in July by Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio; and delivered in 2016 and 2020 by former Vice President Mike Pence; and delivered by Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee, Walz told the story of his life. His whole family was at points during the speech moved to tears. In a touching moment caught on camera, Walz’s son, Gus, a high school student, stood, tears in his eyes and clapping before pointing at his father and saying: “That’s my dad.” 

In addition to highlighting his own biography—so much of why Harris picked him—Walz expressed the domestic ambitions and philosophy of a would-be Harris administration. 

“I think we owe it to the American people to tell them exactly what she’d do as president before we ask them for their vote,” Walz said. “If you’re a middle class family, or a family trying to get to the middle class, Kamala Harris is going to cut your taxes. If you’re getting squeezed by prescription drug prices, Kamala Harris is going to take on Big Pharma. If you’re hoping to buy a home, Kamala Harris is going to help make it more affordable.” 

He also proved his mettle as an attack-dog, taking a few partisan shots at Vance and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. “When I was teaching every year, we’d elect a student body president,” Walz said. “And you know what? Those teenagers could teach Donald Trump a hell of a lot about what a leader is.” 

Perhaps coincidentally—or perhaps not—there was another vice presidential nomination acceptance speech that was short and sweet, just like Walz’s. It was delivered in 2020 by Harris.

Battle Over Homeless Encampments Heats Up 

On the national stage, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is known for his slicked-back hair, liberal creds, willingness to pick fights with national Republicans, and a penchant for visiting Michelin-starred restaurants during pandemic lockdowns. 

He is not known for getting his hands dirty and picking up trash.

As a non-paying reader, you are receiving a truncated version of The Morning Dispatch. Our 1,725-word item on how Western states are dealing with the homelessness crisis is available in the members-only version of TMD.

Worth Your Time

• Different times call for different foreign policy approaches, but which foreign policy tradition is best equipped to guide U.S. foreign policy today? “Although Jacksonian national populism and Jeffersonian isolationism have their legitimate place in American foreign policy debates, neither can fully address today’s challenges,” Walter Russell Mead wrote in Foreign Affairs. “Another historical school of U.S. foreign policy, Hamiltonian pragmatism, is better suited to the crises of the contemporary world. … The driving force behind the Hamiltonian renewal is the rising importance of the interdependence of corporate success and state power,” he wrote. “Both business and government leaders are today discovering something that Hamilton could have told them has long been true: economic policy is strategy, and vice versa. The combined effects of the information revolution, the massive mix of investment and regulatory activism by governments in the energy complex involved in the fight against climate change, and the continuing impact of the regulatory changes introduced in the wake of the financial crisis have brought the corporate world and the American state into intimate contact.”
• Writing in his Governing Right Substack, Andy Smarick asked, “If the American people give Donald Trump a second term, who will work for that administration?” Of course, that depends on the type of staff Trump wants in the White House. “Usually, a new president has a clear political ideology and a set of strongly held policy positions,” Smarick wrote. “That sends signals to the field about who is wanted. But as I’ve written, Mr. Trump doesn’t have a discernible approach to policy (apart from maybe immigration). For sure, he has a persona, an affect. But he doesn’t have an explicit philosophy of governing. He also changes his mind routinely. So, unlike most other administrations, buying policy talent is not the dominant theme of a Trump II vision board. What is? Probably loyalty. Now, all new administrations like loyal candidates. But Mr. Trump takes demands of loyalty to a new level. And since he seems to believe his first administration was undermined by hires who were insufficiently loyal, we should expect even greater demands of devotion.”

Presented Without Comment

The Bulwark: Donald Trump: ‘I Hate My Opponent’

“This is just the way I am. I hate my opponent. I hate my opponents,” Trump told a confidant who advised the former president to consider backing away from calling the vice president “stupid” or “dumb” at their high-profile standoff in a few weeks, which he has done repeatedly.

Trump explained to the confidant that he’s treating Harris the same way he did Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. “Hillary, Joe, Kamala. It doesn’t matter. I just hate them.”

Also Presented Without Comment

New York Times: Thai Politician Is Under Fire After Slapping a Journalist on Camera

In the Zeitgeist

We asked Declan if there was anything going on in the baseball world worth including in this section and, the Cubs being five games out of a playoff spot, he sent us this song instead. Singer Theo Kandel sounds like a long-lost Avett brother.

Toeing the Company Line

• In the newsletters: The Dispatch Politics team reported from the Democratic National Convention on former President Barack Obama’s speech and Tim Walz’s history of embellishments, Scott panned both (🔒) Harris’ and Trump’s economic policy agendas, Nick explained why (🔒) the Squad’s revolution within the Democratic Party failed, and Jonah dove into (🔒) Vladimir Putin’s new decree in a way only he can.
• On the podcasts: Sarah and David are joined on Advisory Opinions by David Lat to break down the latest Supreme Court trends and discuss Lat’s legal fiction novel, Supreme Ambitions, and Fred Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute joins Jonah on The Remnant to discuss Ukraine’s operation in Russia.
• On the site: Charlotte reports on Hezbollah’s growing military capabilities, Kevin pans the Democratic trope that blue-collar rural voters aren’t voting in their “own best interests,” and John Gustavsson argues that politicians should have been honest with Americans about inflation during the pandemic.