By Jeff Mason and Joseph Ax
EAU CLAIRE, Wisconsin (Reuters) -Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, put his Midwestern credentials to the test on Wednesday with a rally in the battleground state of Wisconsin, telling a boisterous crowd of thousands that Republican rival Donald Trump would threaten their freedoms and their future.
At an outdoor site in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Harris and Walz went after Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, with a particular emphasis on abortion rights, an issue that has cost Republicans voter support since the U.S. Supreme Court - with the help of three Trump appointees - eliminated a nationwide right in 2022.
"Now, more than 20 states in our country have a Trump abortion ban, many with no exceptions, even for rape and incest," Harris said to boos. Harris, a former prosecutor, also vowed to take on corporations that engage in illegal price gouging.
As they did at their first rally together in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Harris and Walz spoke about Walz's background as a former teacher and football coach and a veteran of the Army National Guard.
"Hello, Eau Claire! Isn't it good to have a candidate who can pronounce the name correctly?" Walz, who lives about 80 miles away across the Minnesota border, said upon taking the stage.
The trip, which includes a stop in Detroit, Michigan, later on Wednesday, is part of the introductory campaign swing for Walz. Harris named him as her vice presidential pick on Tuesday in the biggest political decision of her nascent White House bid, which has energized Democrats and shaken up the race.
The selection of Walz - an Army National Guard veteran and former teacher and football coach - adds geographic balance to a ticket with a Californian at the helm who needs a strong showing in the Midwest to win the Nov. 5 election against Republican rival Donald Trump.
A former congressman who won elections in a Republican-leaning district before becoming governor, Walz has a record of appealing to the white, rural voters who have increasingly turned to Trump over the years.
Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, have rushed to portray Walz as too left-wing, echoing their criticisms of Harris.
Vance has been trailing the Democratic ticket, holding his own campaign events to counter the Democratic rallies. At one point on Wednesday, a Trump/Vance airplane was taxiing on the tarmac in Wisconsin, yards away from Harris' Air Force Two plane.
Before the two Democrats' rally in Eau Claire, Vance spoke to workers at a manufacturing facility in the same town, saying he was taking the unusual step of following Harris across the country "to make sure there was a contrast."
Vance held Harris responsible for President Joe Biden's economic and border policies, at one referring to the government as the "Harris administration."
"She has not been a good vice president for the American people, and I don’t think she deserves a promotion," Vance said.
Earlier in the day in Detroit, ahead of Harris and Walz's scheduled evening rally there, Vance tried out some attack lines on his Democratic counterpart, criticizing Walz's handling of the protests in Minneapolis following the killing of George Floyd there by police in 2020.
Vance, who served in the Marine Corps and was a public affairs officer during a six-month stint in Iraq, also slammed Walz's military record, saying he abandoned his National Guard battalion right before its deployment to Iraq in 2005. Walz, who served in the Guard for 24 years, retired to run for Congress.
In an interview on Fox News on Wednesday, Trump called Walz a "radical" liberal and said he was "thrilled" Harris had picked him.
Trump also said he would debate Harris in the "pretty near future" and that details would be announced soon. He said his preference was for Fox to host the debate.
Last week, Trump proposed a debate with Harris on Fox News on Sept. 4. The Harris campaign said Trump was trying to back out of a debate that had already been set with ABC on Sept. 10.
WALZ'S DEBUT
Democrats regard Wisconsin and Michigan as near must-wins in the 2024 election. The states have loomed large for the party since Hillary Clinton's unexpected defeats there helped clinch Trump's 2016 win.
Biden beat Trump in both states in 2020. But opinion polls showed him facing a close battle in Michigan before he dropped out of the race last month, with much of the state's significant Arab and Muslim American population fuming over his administration's support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attacks.
Harris' rise to the top of the Democratic ticket two weeks ago has dramatically reshaped the race. Polls show she has erased the lead that Trump had built during the final faltering weeks of Biden's campaign, and a re-energized Democratic Party has flooded her campaign with donations.
The Harris campaign said it raised $36 million in the 24 hours after announcing Walz as the vice presidential pick.
Walz, who was first elected Minnesota governor in 2018 and again in 2022, has pursued progressive policies, including free school meals, measures to combat climate change, middle class tax cuts and enhanced paid leave for workers.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Joseph Ax, additional reporting by James Oliphant and Doina Chiacu, editing by Colleen Jenkins, Deepa Babington, Jonathan Oatis and Alistair Bell)
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