Sam Cabral
Feature, BBC, Washington
With a single viral line on cable television - "these people are just twisted" - Tim Walz was launched into the race to be Kamala Harris' running mate if she wins the US presidential election in November.
This 60-year-old brings with him a popular, open and sharp approach to confronting the Republican opposition.
He has a very impressive resume - he was a public school teacher, an American football coach and a member of the National Guard before entering politics.
His political experience — representing a Republican-leaning congressional district and then implementing left-leaning policies as governor of Minnesota — could have broad appeal at a time when American politics is so polarized.
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Teacher, coach, congressman
Born in rural Nebraska, Volc farmed and hunted in the summer, and enlisted in the National Guard at age 17.
He served in this volunteer unit for 24 years.
His father, a public school administrator, encouraged him to enlist in the military before he died of lung cancer when Volc was 19.
The governor of Minnesota talked about how Social Security for surviving spouses saved his mother and that the Marine Corps Act put him through college.
Well-trained in educational techniques, Volz accepted a one-year teaching assignment in China at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
He later honeymooned in this country with his wife Gwen Whipple and also organized summer educational camps in China for American students.
After returning home to Nebraska, Volz became a teacher and football coach until his wife - herself a teacher at the same school - dragged him back to her native Minnesota.
As a teacher at Mankato West High School, Volz helped build a football program that led to the school's first state championship.
Former members of his team appeared on stage when Volz addressed the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
In his addresses to party supporters, he used metaphors from American football a lot, saying: "We have the ball in our hands, and, man, what a good team we have."
During his teaching career, Volz was also praised for agreeing to be an academic advisor for the school's gay-straight alliance at a time when homosexuality was largely frowned upon.
He is running for office for the first time in a heavily agricultural district that includes much of southern Minnesota, which is largely rural and leans Republican.
But Volc campaigned as a moderate representative who cared about public service and representing veterans, leading to a swing in the election.
Attitudes and beliefs
During the 12 years he was in Congress, it was difficult to characterize his ideology.
He voted in favor of the Affordable Health Care Act, co-sponsored labor measures, including a bill to raise the minimum wage, and supported the failed cap-and-trade initiative to reduce carbon emissions.
But he also found a common language with the Republicans.
He voted to continue funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, supported stricter vetting of refugees entering the US, and tried to block the bailout of Obama-era banks and auto companies after the 2008 financial crash.
Once supported by the pro-gun National Rifle Association (NRS), which donated to his campaign, he spoke out in favor of a ban on assault weapons after the Parkland school shooting and lost their support.
Volz won the 2018 gubernatorial race in Minnesota by more than 11 percent, but his first term was overshadowed by the covid pandemic and the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Volz has been sharply criticized by Republicans for being slow to bring the National Guard into the streets when some protests turned violent, and for allegedly failing to investigate a $250 million pandemic-era fraud scheme in his own state.
The governor was re-elected, albeit by a narrow margin, and his second term was marked by a very busy period, as Democrats controlled the state legislature by just one seat.
State Democrats have succeeded in enacting abortion rights, passed paid family and sick leave, introduced stricter gun laws, funded school meals for all, and invested in affordable housing.
The frenzy of activity caught the attention of former President Barack Obama, who wrote: "If you need a reminder that elections have real consequences, pay attention to what's happening in Minnesota."
"These are twisted people"
Mostly unknown on the national scene, Volz quickly gained popularity during the vice presidential nomination period for his scathing descriptions of Republicans.
"On the other side you have twisted people," he told MSNBC, which became a label that has been in widespread use ever since.
"They want to ban books. They want to peek into your doctor's office."
But Republicans quickly characterized what he was doing in Minnesota as too radical for ordinary Americans.
Tom Emmer, the third-ranking Republican in the US House of Representatives, accused Volz of trying to "turn Minnesota into Kamala Harris's native California."
Since his election as the US vice presidential nominee, Volz has also come under fire for his handling of the military after Republicans revived some old accusations by other veterans.
Vol said his track record "speaks for itself," but admitted that he occasionally "expressed himself poorly."
His allies, among them leaders of the labor movement, believe Volz can boost Kamala Harris' ratings among rural and working-class voters.
Angie Craig, a House Democrat locked in a highly competitive re-election race, praised Volc as a "battle-worn leader."
As a "proven winner who has never lost an election in many tough races", she told the BBC she believed he was the best possible boost to Kamala Harris' ticket.
Volco's family: "My whole world"
"That's my dad": Tim Volc's son's tearful reaction to his speech
Tim and Glen Volz have two children: Hope and Gas.
Volz's family was at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago, and in his speech he called them "his whole world."
This remark caused Gus to stand up, crying out through tears, "That's my papa."
Ahead of the convention, the Volks spoke to People magazine about their "brilliant 17-year-old son, saying he has a learning disability, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and an anxiety disorder — all of which give him 'super powers.'
During a speech in Chicago, Volz ingratiated himself to middle America by talking about the fertility issues he and his wife were going through, among other topics.
In vitro fertilization (IVF) fertility treatment has become an integral part of the American abortion rights debate, and Volz has repeatedly alluded to the process during his campaign tour.
His wife recently clarified that the couple went through a difficult process to have children, prompting Republican criticism that Volz was misleading the public on the issue.
Volz and Harris had their first interview together on CNN in August, when he said he was enthusiastic about "the idea of inspiring America to what it could become."
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