Axios reporter, Tori Van Ute. She has covered Governor Walsh extensively in Minnesota and authors Axios's Twin Cities newsletter. Tori, thanks so much for being here. We really do appreciate it. As you know, Walsh burst onto the national scene with his messaging that Republicans are just being weird here. That word is being used now in Democrat messaging. You've covered him for a while. Do you think this is a job he has always wanted?

It's a job he's definitely been to position himself for some national opportunity or rise, really since Democrats took control of the legislature in Minnesota in 2022. That's the moment where really through enacting a long list of long-time progressive priorities and taking other leadership positions, like within the Democratic Governor's Association, that Governor Walls was able to start to raise his national profile in a way that made this possible once that weird quip really struck a cord.

As a congressman, he won a seating a district that was largely rural and Republican. How do you think his record will resonate with rural America?

Well, our reporting suggests that that's one of the reasons that he emerged as the victor here, and Vice President Harris's pick as her running mate, is he does have experience connecting with and representing more rural voters. His biography represents that, too. He's from a small town in Nebraska. He served in the National Guard. He's a veteran. He was a school teacher, a football coach. The folksy midwestern uncle vibe that's been fueling memes on social media is not a new shtick for him. It's just the way he is. I think that his supporters think that that plain talking, salt of the Earth persona will help them connect with more rural and moderate voters.

He obviously went through the same vetting process that every VP candidate went through. You've covered him for quite some time now. I'm wondering, what do you think his potential liabilities are, if any, on this ticket?

We're already seeing some of those come up in attacks from Republicans. One key one is going to be his handling of the civil unrest and riots that followed the murder of George Floyd. That is going to be relitigated and scrutinized. Images of Minneapolis burning. Did he call on the guard quickly His pandemic record, he used quite a bit of executive action to pertail a spread of COVID that also resulted in business closures, restrictions on social distancing, things like that. The other thing we'll see is he has not always been super clear or fast on his feet with the press and with talking. It's going to take a little bit of discipline for him to really transition to being on the national stage.

Interesting. Then I just have to ask you this, do you have any story that you can give us in your time covering him, something that America doesn't yet know about him? Because obviously, his bio is out there. We saw the call with Kamala Harris. I'm wondering, is there anything... Because you cover him on a daily basis, any anecdote you can give us?

I mean, this has started to come up, but one is that he is a big Mountain Dew drinker, and they've already tried to make that contrast with JD Vance talking about Mountain Dew.

I'm sure the folks at Mountain Dew will be very happy about that. Tori Vanu, thanks so much for taking the time. Really appreciate it.

Thank you.