The men who would be vice president offer two completely different views of women.

Two weeks ago, no one knew who Tim Walz was. Then the 60-year-old governor of Minnesota went on a morning talk show and called Donald Trump weird — and now he's the Democratic candidate for vice president.

"These are weird people on the other side," said Walz on MSNBC's Morning Joe, pointing to Republican attacks on school libraries and abortion providers. "These are weird ideas."

All of a sudden, Michelle Obama's exhortation at the 2016 Democratic National Convention that "when they go low, we go high" had been superseded. It helped that Walz is rosy-cheeked and cheerful, and in fact a former teacher — clearly the cool one who addressed every kid he passed in the hallway by their last name. As an LA Times headline put it, "With a single word — 'weird' — Democrats may have found Republicans' kryptonite."

US presidential candidate Kamala Harris with vice presidential bet, Tim Walz. Image: AAP.

Until Walz's star turn on Morning Joe, other, much bigger names were floated for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' VP. Some jokingly called it Harris' Bachelor contest, as political realities dictated that the rose given by a woman of colour had to go to a white man. Despite their stellar credentials — former frontrunner Mark Kelley from Arizona was an astronaut; Josh Shapiro was the governor of the most important swing state in the whole election, Pennsylvania — none could compete with Walz's Big Dad Energy and his genial, "tell-it-like-it-is" energy.

Case in point? "For you" pages across social media yesterday were dominated by clips of Walz's appearance alongside Harris at their first campaign rally. Walz could have touched on his progressive record as governor, including initiatives like free breakfast and lunch for school kids, legalising marijuana, and giving parents an unprecedented 12 weeks of family leave in America. But no one really cared about that stuff. It was when Walz took on a meme about Trump's VP choice, JD Vance, that Democrats and their supporters felt electricity in the room.

Watch: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is Kamala Harris' running mate. Post continues after video.

"I can't wait to debate this guy," Walz said of Vance. "That is, if he's willing to get off the couch and show up." Sofa, so good! Internet lore is that Vance has a fetish for futons. That rumour has been debunked, if not categorically denied; Business Insider even tracked down the guy who first made the joke. Still, the fact that it took off the way it has must be in part because Vance does have some, well, weird ideas — about sex, and women, specifically.

There's the now infamous "cat lady" thing. A clip from Tucker Carlson's Fox News show resurfaced in which Vance denounced women politicians who don't have kids. The U.S., he complained to Carlson, is "effectively run" by "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives." He included Harris, who is stepmother to her husband Doug Emhoff's two children Ella and Cole, in this assessment. Jennifer Aniston, normally reticent about both her personal life and political views, wrote on Instagram "Mr Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day."

It's not just "cat ladies", though. In an investigation by CNN, the cable channel found "several examples over the course of a few years of Vance saying similarly disparaging things," including that women without children were "more sociopathic".

Listen to this episode of Mamamia Out Loud where Mia, Holly, and Jesse talks about JD Vance's "cat lady" comment. Post continues after podcast.

Vance's record in office as a senator for his home state of Ohio is similarly extreme. He equates abortion with murder and slavery. And in 2021, he made comments that suggested he was not even in favour of exceptions for rape and incest, noting that "two wrongs don't make a right".

You might be surprised to learn that Vance's wife Usha, whom he met at Yale, the nation's most prestigious law school, is an extremely accomplished trial lawyer. Born to Indian Hindu immigrants in California, Usha went on to clerk for the chief justice of the Supreme Court. The couple's wedding in 2014 was an interfaith ceremony. (Usha was also a registered Democrat at the time.) In a sit-down interview with Fox News that aired this Monday, Usha argued that her husband's "cat ladies" comment was actually a joke — "a quip in service of making a point that he wanted to make that was substantive," about how hard it is to be a parent these days.

US vice presidential candidate JD Vance with wife, Usha during a rally at Herb Brooks National Hockey Centre on July 27, 2024 in St Cloud, Minnesota. Image: Getty.

Tim Walz, remarkably tuned into online discourse despite being 60, wasn't buying it. "Turn on the internet and see what cat people do when you go after 'em," Walz, who is also a Swiftie, warned in a recent TV appearance. But while we can't know what JD — James David, born Donald before a series of name changes — truly meant by his remarks on Carlson's show, images from Harris and Walz's first rally together don't lie. Walz, who is just six months older than his boss, looked to understand that being asked to serve as Harris' VP is the honour of a life filled with them. Playing second fiddle to a woman, he appeared relaxed, respectful, and yes, joyous. And that made a lot of women around the world happy too.

Want to deep dive more into US Politics? Read our top suggestions:

• What to tell your friends when they say Kamala Harris will never win the election.
• Raised by a single mum and fighting for justice: Everything we know about Kamala Harris.
• Is Kamala Harris post-cringe?
• Two new women are being used in Trump’s campaign. They have one case to make.

Feature image: Getty.