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    • Tim Walz comes to Michigan for the UM vs. Minnesota football game
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    Tim Walz comes to Michigan for the UM vs. Minnesota football game

    Caradoc Wyn Posted on

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    VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was greeted by soggy but enthusiastic University of Michigan students Saturday as he arrived at Willow Run Airport near Ypsilanti for a day of support for Vice President’s Democratic campaign Kamala Harris to fight.

    The students, some playing wind instruments from the UM band, gathered on the tarmac in front of a school bus, wrapped in a banner that read: “Put me in, coach.” Many tried to cover themselves with plastic wrap because of the cold Rain began shortly before Walz’s arrival and continued after he exited the plane. Walz moved along the line of students, laughing and posing for photos, but did not report publicly at the airport.

    Michigan is a key battleground state as polls show the election will be close both within Michigan and nationally.

    Walz, a former congressman, has been governor of Minnesota since 2019. The military veteran and former high school teacher and assistant football coach attended Saturday’s NCAA football game in Ann Arbor between the 12th-ranked UM Wolverines and the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

    Walz and his wife, Gwen, entered Michigan Stadium just before noon and he spent part of the game greeting and mingling with students and leaders from both universities, campaign officials said.

    Saturday’s events were part of Walz’s third visit to Michigan since Vice President Kamala Harris chose him as her running mate in August. Previously, Harris and Walz campaigned together in the Detroit area on August 7th and 8th, and Walz made a solo visit to Grand Rapids and Lansing on September 12th and 13th.

    Walz arrived in Michigan on Thursday and plans to spend several days in the Harbor Springs area holding mock debates with U.S. Transportation Secretary and Michigan resident Pete Buttigieg in preparation for his Tuesday debate with Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president, is preparing to become president, the Petoskey News-Review reported.

    Among the students who greeted Walz was Audrey Clayton, co-president of Students for Harris at UM, where she is a student.

    “We’re young people at a Midwestern college, and Walz has that Midwestern father energy that I think we can all relate to,” Clayton told the Free Press. “And it just brings an authenticity to the campaign that I think people can really relate to.”

    Clayton said her group has knocked on nearly 5,000 doors, spoken to students about issues and registered to vote, and attendance has been strong at debate watch parties and a recent event with actress and activist Jane Fonda.

    Reproductive rights and the health of U.S. democracy are important issues, she said.

    U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, was also at the airport to greet Walz, along with Wayne County Executive Warren Evans and other local officials. She warned that the economy was a key campaign issue for workers of all ages. Students “want to make sure they have a job when they graduate; they are worried about accommodation.”

    Democrats still have a lot of work to do, and “we can’t take any of it for granted from now until Election Day,” Dingell said.

    In 2016, Dingell correctly warned that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton would lose Michigan to Trump and unsuccessfully tried to allocate more campaign funds to the state. Dingell did not directly respond when asked how worried she was today compared to the same point in the 2016 campaign.

    “No one is winning this state right now,” Dingell said as she waited for the plane carrying Walz to land. (Republican candidate) Donald Trump did not win this state. Kamala Harris did not win this state.

    She said she believes the campaign is doing what it needs to do and “it’s nice that people are listening to them.”

    Voters still need to get to know Harris, Dingell said. “It just has to be real; she has to be herself. They have to go to the union halls, they have to talk to the workers, and when people see what they are really fighting for and we create the contrast, that is how we win.”

    Victoria LaCivita, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign in Michigan, said Saturday that neither the Minnesota football team nor the Minnesota governor will be winners in Michigan.

    “The Wolverines will send Minnesota’s Golden Gophers away — just like the Michiganders will send Tim Walz back to Minnesota this November,” she said.

    This story will be updated throughout the day.

    Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or [email protected].

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    Caradoc Wyn
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