Ian Linden: Dad's on Kamala's ticket - is Trump toast?

The sigh of relief on 21 July when Jo Biden stepped down as Democrat presidential candidate was deafening. Within less than a fortnight the Democrats nominated Vice-President Kamala Harris to replace the outgoing President with ratification to take place at their 19 August National Convention.

After intense consultations, at a Philadelphia rally on 6 August Harris presented Minnesota Governor, Tim Walz, as her Vice-Presidential running mate. Walz memorably described Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, as "creepy" and "weird". Walz's humour and masterful engagement with his audience in an acceptance speech was striking. To those watching from afar it suddenly felt like Trump was toast.

The Harris-Walz ticket is nicely balanced. Kamala Harris, a former senator who now presides over the United States Senate and a former Attorney-General of California, tough on crime, modern and colourful, father Jamaican heritage, mother Indian heritage, husband Jewish. Walz, white, Lutheran and folksy with a track record of worker-friendly policy in Minnesota and a personal history that might have been designed to counter Trump.

The son of an aspiring Nebraska Catholic family, Walz followed his father, a school superintendent, into teaching. He was his school's football coach - the nearest thing to a secular priest. In three years, he turned a dud team around to win a state-level schools' championship. The stuff of movies. He also served 24 years as a US Army reservist and, before entering politics in 2005, taught in China, his interest in human rights gained during this rich experience continues.

The religious dimension of the Democrat ticket is perhaps less well balanced. And given the significant white evangelical Christian support for Trump, this matters. Since the attempted assassination, Trump has been 'doing God' more and has found a fruitful narrative as beneficiary of divine intervention. Kamala Harris is a member of the progressive Third Baptist Church of San Francisco, established in 1852. It is led by the Reverend Amos C. Brown, a respected former black civil rights activist - taught by Martin Luther King - who supports same-sex marriage. Tim Walz, raised a Catholic, joined the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ECLA), the most liberal branch of Lutheranism and the largest in Minnesota where it makes up 20% of the state's Christian community, second only to Catholics.

He acknowledges his debt to his Catholic family. "My mum and dad taught us: show generosity to your neighbours and work for the Common Good". To read on see: www.ianlinden.com/latest-blogs/dads-on-kamalas-ticket-is-trump-toast