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DOMRADIO.DE: The American elections 2024 seem to be quite historic with Joe Biden not running for reelection and the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. The latest trending topic is Kamala Harris' choice of Tim Walz as potential VP, beating out Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. This was no surprise to you, was it?
Massimo Faggioli: It wasn't a surprise to me, nor to anybody - for political reasons of balance on the ticket and also for the importance of the Israeli question, it became unlikely in the last few days that Shapiro would be the nominee. Tim Walz is an interesting choice.
I have lived in Minnesota for seven years. So I know a little bit of what it means to be a Lutheran from Minnesota, in terms of politics and culture of that area of the United States, which is crucial to win the election.
DOMRADIO.DE: He has Scandinavian heritage, as do many people from Minnesota, especially Lutherans. You said, he's an interesting choice. What makes him so interesting?
Faggioli: It's interesting politically, because he reassures the left of the party, but not exactly the new left, the left of identity politics. But it's a more traditional left within the Democrats, what we would call in Europe a social democratic culture in the view of the economy, of the role of government. That is essential to build a wall against the other nominee on the other ticket, JD Vance.
It's about the Midwest, the blue collar workers, deep America, which is not the West Coast from where Kamala Harris comes from and it's not the East Coast, which is Donald Trump's cradle, financially and culturally. So it's an interesting choice. And it says something on where the Democratic Party sees the balance of the next election.
DOMRADIO.DE: You already mentioned he's a Lutheran, he would be the first Lutheran as vice president of the US. How does America view the Lutheran denomination? America is a quite diverse when it comes to christian denominations.
Faggioli: For a couple of centuries, America has been dominated by Protestantism. But within Protestantism, Lutheranism has been a particular kind of its tradition. Tim Walz belongs to the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), which is the mainline tradition within Lutheranism, which is the more progressive - a centrist progressive, I would say.
It's the kind of Protestantism, which is very different from the other Protestants that we have seen in the White House. It's not Evangelical in the sense of "born again", it's not charismatic. It's closer in some ways doctrinally and culturally to Catholicism. It doesn't bring the convert ethos in politics, it is reserved, it is more shy about the role of faith within one's personal life.
But it's one of the most important religious traditions within the Midwest, which is historically one of the places where an election is decided. On the East coast and West coast, the majorities are very clear. While in states of the Midwest and of the upper Midwest, like Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, it's important for the Democratic Party to make clear, that it is on the side of the workers, of the unions, of the middle class family, which is what this ticket needed in the eyes of Kamala Harris and her team.
DOMRADIO.DE: What I found quite interesting looking at his vita, is that he has Catholic parents. Does this play a role? In Europe a family doesn't usually change denominations between parents and children.
Faggioli: In America, that happens a lot. Americans change their affiliation, their belonging quite often, and in some cases multiple times in their lives. It happens often for practical reasons. It's determined by reasons of marriage or because the city you move to hasn't got a church of your denomination.
In his case, it doesn't mean a dramatic change in worldviews or in his religious background, culture or spirituality. He's very much part of what I would say, is a European like consensus on what it means to be a Christian in public life, serving the common good in ways that are different from a European typical case.
He has served for 24 years in the military, he's a proud hunter, he has distanced himself from the gun culture only a few years ago. So there's an important difference from European Christian democratic, CDU-kind of culture.
DOMRADIO.DE: Let us take a look through the Catholic viewpoint on this upcoming election. Joe Biden dropped out as a Catholic president, as the second Catholic president. So, on the Democratic side, there is no Catholic running. On the Republican side, J.D. Vance has converted to Catholicism as an adult. Do these religious affiliations actually play a role or does no one, who's actually voting, actually care about what religion the person on the ticket has?
Faggioli: Very few voters vote because of the religion of the candidate, but certainly it contributes to the coalescing of a certain consensus around a candidate. And I think that most Catholics, who were inclined to vote for the Democrats, are quite happy with Tim Walz. He's culturally closer to Catholicism than most or any other candidate that was considered for vice president.
So it's interesting because it really brings to the stage a radical alternative to the Christian narrative of J.D. Vance, which is more recent in terms of his conversion. He's more ideological, is more focused on a very narrow set of issues and different ones. While Tim Walz brings the issues of the Democratic Party on abortion rights, on a certain light-footed idea of the role of religion in public life, J.D. Vance is much closer to an integralist view. It's the perfect counterbalance to J.D. Vance, the choice that Kamala Harris made.
The interview was conducted by Renardo Schlegelmilch.
