Tim Walz and the true definition of ‘Midwest Nice’
Has Kamala Harris's running mate been fooling us all along?
[Harris says she picked Walz because the chemistry between them was good Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons]
You must have heard of Tim Walz.
He’s the cheerful 60-year-old governor of Minnesota Kamala Harris picked to be her vice presidential running mate and join her team of “happy warriors”.
When the news was announced there were lots of reports about his upbeat demeanour, his description of Republicans such as Donald Trump as “just weird”, and for a few weeks the Harris campaign appeared to enjoy forward momentum simply by feeding off those positive vibes.
Broadcasters noted that among Harris, Trump and the Republican running mate JD Vance, only Walz among them likely knew how to fix a car and replace a carburetor.
They liked the fact he served more than two decades in the National Guard, and that before he entered politics he was a high school geography teacher and coached the basketball and American Football teams.
When Harris first campaigned with him in Philadelphia after announcing her pick, she introduced him as “coach”.
Many had expected Harris would opt for Josh Shapiro, the polished governor of the battleground state of Pennsylvania, known for his ferocious debating skills.
Yet Harris let it be known Walz was selected because the chemistry between them was good.
It was also made clear, her campaign hoped Walz could help shore up support among white working class voters, especially men, who have for two decades been turning to Republicans and in particular the populist, blame-the-world’s-problems-on-somebody else rhetoric of Trump.
Walz and Vance shared something of a similar background. The Democrat grew up on a small farm in Nebraska, while Vance spent a number of poverty stricken years in Kentucky’s Appalachia – events he would write about in his best- selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy.
But they ended up in very different places.
[Vance has become the Maga standard bearer second only to Trump Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons]
Vance, a one-time outspoken critic of Trump, turned increasingly conservative, opposing abortion rights, and ended up as as the Mega standard bearer second only to the former president.
Walz was the heartland everyman, who had defended individual liberties and ensured school children got free meals as governor, but could get along with everyone.
When the two met for the vice presidential debate, people wondered which version of “MidWest nice” would win out.
And while Vance probably scored higher for his debating skills, Walz also struck some powerful blows, not least on Trump’s ongoing refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election.
Did [Trump] lose the 2020 election,” Walz asked, almost at the end of their 90-minute back-and-forth.
“Tim, I’m focused on the future,” Vance replied.
“That is a damning non-answer,” Walz said. “I'm pretty shocked by this. He lost the election. This is not a debate, it's not anything anywhere other than in Donald Trump's world.”
The interaction underscored what everyone from the MidWest knows; that “nice” does not mean “nice”.
While people from the heartland states have a well-earned reputation for being friendly to outsiders, it ought not to be taken too far. People will seek to avoid outright confrontation, but often the results in a simmering passive aggression that simmers below the surface.
Revenge is often sought later on.
I write these words with caution. With many lovely in-laws in Tim Walz’s home state, I have always been treated with utter warmth.
Yet as anyone who has seen Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar operate, people know “niceness” can often be matched with steel.
With a month to go until election day, the Harris campaign has been sending out Walz for more and more interviews.
He spoke to CBS News’s flagship 60 Minutes, and chatted to comedian Jimmy Kimmel who has a evening talk show and introduced him as “America’s sweetheart”.
Kimmel played a montage of clips showing Trump refuting the idea that he is weird. “If you have to tell people numerous times you’re not weird, you might be weird,” Walz said.
The appearance was part of a flurry of interviews Harris and her running mate have been doing, picking up the pace after barely doing any in the aftermath of her securing the Democratic nomination.
Harris appeared on the Call Her Daddy podcast with Alex Cooper, which has a a massive social media following. She also spoke to veteran radio host Howard Stern, who has over 2 million subscribers on YouTube, and who was once a favoured platform for Trump.
Yet probably the most anticipated interview was Walz’s appearance on Fox News where he was interviewed by Shannon Bream and pressed over his stance on abortion.
Many Democrats avoid the right wing channel, and the Walz’s interview was considered something like stepping into the depths of Mordor
“I have been clear. The restoration of Roe versus Wade is what we're asking,” Walz said when Bream asked him whether the Democrats would allow abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy.
“The law is very clear. It does not change that. That was been debunked on every occasion.”
He added: “It puts the decision back on to the woman, to the physicians.”
Walz smiled and grinned throughout the 20-minute interview and called himself a “knucklehead” for getting wrong the specific time he was in China and Kong Kong during the 1989 democracy protests.
If he felt exasperated that he had to correct another “mistake” when he said he and his wife had used IUI rather than IVF when they were trying to have a chid, he did not let it show.
Walz smiled to the very end and signed off: “Thank you Shannon.”
Talk about Midwest nice.