By all accounts, as Vice President Kamala Harris narrowed her search for a running mate, the Democrat had six finalists in mind. They were, in alphabetical order, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Each had an impressive resume, and each would bring real value to the party’s 2024 ticket.

Buttigieg, for example, is an incredible communicator. Kelly, meanwhile, is a decorated veteran. Shapiro and Pritzker were positioned to help the ticket in the nation’s most competitive region, while Beshear has demonstrated an ability to deliver a compelling Democratic message to rural and conservative voters. Of these five, some had experience in statewide office, some had experience in Congress, and some served in the military.

But only one of the six finalists checked all of those boxes, combining all of the other candidates’ best qualities — and he’s the one who’ll stand alongside Harris. NBC News reported:

Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate, according to three sources with knowledge of the pick, adding a popular Midwestern state executive to the Democratic ticket as the party gears up to hold onto key Northern battleground states this fall.

As my MSNBC colleague Clarissa-Jan Lim noted, “Harris’ choice of Walz as her running mate could broaden the ticket’s appeal: Harris as a Black, Asian woman from California with experience as a prosecutor, and Walz as a white, folksy Midwesterner with a record of enacting progressive policies.”

I can imagine there are going to be a whole lot of voters nationwide who’ll respond to the news with the same question: “Tim who?” But it’s also safe to say that those who don’t yet know the governor are going to be impressed by his story.

Walz enlisted in the National Guard as a teenager and served for more than two decades, including overseas deployments. He was a high school social studies teacher and football coach. When he ran for Congress, Walz was expected to struggle in a rural district that rarely voted Democratic, but he prevailed anyway and held the seat for 12 years.

He then ran two successful gubernatorial campaigns and racked up some impressive progressive policy wins.

As Clarissa-Jan’s report added, “Since 2022, when Democrats won control of the state Legislature, Walz has passed billions in funding for schools, including free school lunches; shored up abortion rights; secured stricter gun violence prevention laws; expanded legal protections for transgender youth; and restored voting rights for formerly incarcerated people.”

NBC News’ report went on to note that Walz also “enacted laws expanding paid family leave, banned most non-compete agreements … and capped the price of insulin in Minnesota (three years before Biden did it nationally).”

Not too shabby.

But to appreciate why Harris tapped Walz for the Democratic ticket, it’s also important to emphasize just how impressive his audition has been. The entire party just went through an intense and compressed “mini-primary” process in which a bunch of would-be vice presidents engaged in public and private campaigns.

As some of Walz’s MSNBC appearances helped prove, he stood out in impressive ways, earning raves from engaged and online audiences.

As for the electoral implications, Democrats have expressed confidence of late that Walz will be a valuable asset throughout the Midwest.

For his part, Trump recently insisted he’s “leading” in the North Star State and expects to win Minnesota “easily.” He should probably start lowering expectations drastically.