Washington Edition: Invitation to return

Walz, Clinton and the lost voters [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( This is Washington Edition, the newsletter about money, power and politics in the nation’s capital. Readers of the Balance of Power newsletter are also receiving this special edition in which Bloomberg Businessweek national correspondent Joshua Green looks at what Tim Walz and Bill Clinton might have been aiming for last night. [Sign up here]( and follow us at [@bpolitics](. Email our editors [here](mailto:dcnewsletter@bloomberg.net). Reclaiming Lost Votes Kamala Harris’ emergence has helped Democrats to quickly restore much of the electoral coalition that Joe Biden put together four years ago, but couldn’t maintain because of angst about his advanced age. There was a broad and diverse collection of speakers at last night’s Democratic convention, including entertainers and artists like Oprah Winfrey and Amanda Gorman as well as rising party stars like Wes Moore and Josh Shapiro. Two, though — Bill Clinton and Tim Walz — stood out for their prospective appeal to a group that Harris, like every recent Democratic presidential candidate, has struggled to win over: White men. Walz Democrats have been losing their hold on rural and non-college educated men who, a generation ago, might have been Bill Clinton voters, but now tend to align with Donald Trump. The night’s recurring themes of American pride and patriotism often felt as if they were designed to lure them back. Clinton has always had a strong connection to rural voters and did his best to tout his party’s accomplishments in language that might appeal to them. In his Arkansas twang he boasted, “We, Democrats, right now, have a lot of hay in the barn.” But the thrust of his remarks was to undermine Trump’s standing particularly with the White male voters who constitute his core support, by casting him as selfish and needy. “The next time you hear him,” Clinton said, “don’t count the lies. Count the I’s.” Walz made an affirmative case to the same voters when he accepted the vice presidential nomination. His walk-up music was John Mellencamp’s “Small Town.” A video introduced him as “a son of the Nebraska plains.” From his 24 years of military service to his boasts about hunting to the appearance on stage of the high school football players he’d helped lead to a state championship, everything in his self-presentation seemed pitched to enhance his appeal to that lost cohort of voters. It’s worth adding that the Democratic pitch was by no means limited to Clinton and Walz. Winfrey was the evening’s most stirring exponent of pride, patriotism and “loyalty to the Constitution,” as she put it, prompting chants of “USA! USA!” that rang across the arena. If that’s an association that at least a few undecided White men make with the Democratic ticket, it can only benefit Harris and Walz come November. —[ Joshua Green]( Key reading: - [Walz Offers Democrats Pep Talk on Freedom, Jabs Trump With Smile]( - [Harris Had More Donors in 11 Days Than Biden Did Over Entire Run]( - [Trump Says It’s Hard to Talk Policy With Obamas Attacking Him]( - [Harris Supports Policies to Expand Crypto Industry, Aide Says]( - [Shapiro Sees ‘Close’ Pennsylvania Finish With Economy in Focus]( What’s Next The House and Senate are on their summer break and aren’t scheduled to return to Washington until Sept. 9. Trump and Harris are scheduled to debate on Sept. 10. Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance and Walz are set to debate on Oct. 1. 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