“Never underestimate a teacher,” Tim Walz said when accepting Kamala Harris’s vice presidential nomination.

governor Minnesota, Tim Wallsunified for her Nomination for Vice President To the United States, in addition to Kamala HarrisThis Wednesday, the 21st. In a speech on the third night of the Democratic Convention, Walz revived his “coaching spirit” and highlighted his commitment to families and the individual freedoms of Americans.

“It is the greatest honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States,” Walz said shortly after offering his thanks. Joe Biden “For four years of strong and historic leadership” and to Kamala “for inviting me to be part of this amazing campaign.”

Walz’s speech was a significant undertaking given the pressing challenge of introducing himself to the country, with about 70 days to go until the election. Compared to some of the other candidates Kamala considered potential contenders, it played well for Walz because he faced less scrutiny on the national stage.

On the other hand, this lower profile also means that he remains largely unknown to national voters. An ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted in July, shortly after Biden dropped out of the election, indicated that only 13 percent of Americans knew enough about Walz to have an opinion about him.

Walz, 60, a former high school teacher and football coach, was born in West Point, a rural town in Nebraska. After high school, he joined the National Guard and graduated with a degree in social science in 1989. His past seeped into some of his speeches to Democrats tonight, incorporating the “coaching” ethos of his time as a student football coach and highlighting that he and Kamala are “the right team.”

About a third of American adults (36%) have a favorable view of Walz, while about a quarter (27%) have a favorable view of him, an AP-NORC poll released Wednesday showed. JD Vancevice presidential candidate Donald Trump. Far more adults also have a negative view of Vance than Walz, 44% to 25%. Walz took aim at Republicans by invoking Project 2025.

“Their 2025 project is going to make things a lot harder for people who are just trying to live their lives. They’ve spent a lot of time pretending they don’t know anything about it. But hey, I’ve coached high school football long enough to know. And trust me on this, when someone takes the time to put together a playbook, they’re going to use it.”

Walz’s speech highlighted his track record as an “advocate for families,” and recounted the in vitro fertilization process he and his wife participated in that produced their daughter, Hope., And “protector of our fundamental freedoms.” In his political history, the candidate has enacted laws to protect access to abortion rights and transgender people.

“We protect reproductive freedom because in Minnesota we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make,” he said. “And even if we don’t make the same choices for ourselves, we have one golden rule: Mind your own business.”