Earlier today, Democratic Party nominee for the 2024 Presidential election Vice President Kamala Harris announced the winner of the veepstakes: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, to which many election watchers are asking, “Who?”
Who is Governor Tim Walz?
Tim Walz is the current Governor of Minnesota, after winning the gubernatorial race in 2018. Before that, he served in the House of Representatives from 2006-2019, representing Minnesota’s first district. His profession before entering politics was teaching at Mankato West High School, where he taught both geography and served as a football coach. As of Tuesday, August 6, Walz is the presumptive vice presidential nominee for the Dem ticket, which will hold its official party convention on August 19 in Chicago.
Five Reasons Tim Walz Would Make a Good Vice President
Unless you’re Dick Cheney, vice presidents don’t do much but attend funerals or break ties in the senate. However, welcoming a voice like Tim Walz to the ticket may portend good things for the policies Harris will put weight behind should she be elected president later this year. Here are five reasons Tim Walz would make a solid vice president.
1. He is an effective communicator
Remember a couple of weeks back when the Democratic Party line on the opposition was that they are “Weird?” Walz was the brainchild of this viral line of attack, which resonated with supporters, and was wildly triggering to detractors. Being a former high school teacher, Walz doesn’t wade into the buzzwords and over-wrought graduate school language that make otherwise good ideas inscrutable to many potential voters. Having a dude on the ticket who can communicate policy in effective ways is priceless.
2. He’s a Certified Wife Guy
Tim Walz met his wife Gwen when she was teaching in Nebraska, and they’ve been married since 1994. Just about every politician seemingly loves their wife, but there’s something about Walz’s face lighting up anytime they share a room together. This is charming on its own merits, but it also underlines major Democratic Party policy.
The Walz’s conceived their first child, aptly named Hope, through IVF. After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos used for IVF should be considered children in 2023, Walz signed a bill into law protecting both IVF and abortion rights for all Minnesotans.
“The message that we’re sending to Minnesota today is very clear: Your rights are protected in this state,” Walz said when signing the bill.
When pushing for the bill, Walz shared his own experience, and why it was important to protect those rights at the state level. Codifying Roe v. Wade into law will likely be a pillar of the Democratic Party platform, and it’s important that the VP not be wishy-washy on this policy in the least.
3. He’s Not a Lawyer
No offense to all the counselors out there, but it’s been a long while since a non-lawyer ended up on the Democratic presidential ticket. You have to go all the way back to Al Gore. Electing nothing but lawyers gets you some pretty dicey results, like passing a Republican healthcare bill with a legislative supermajority. And don’t get me started on ’90s welfare reform! But let’s not digress too far.
And while many lawyers get a bad rap, teachers are up there with nurses and nuns when it comes to professions that just about everyone (but the weirdos) have an inherit deference and respect for. A former student of his took to Twitter to tell how Walz helped him achieve his education goals. Compare that to vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance, who doesn’t inspire anything but revulsion.
4. He Gets Things Done
Unlike many creatures and ghouls in the political space, Walz harkens to a time when Democrats wanted to actually do things but scold soda drinkers and sweep homeless encampments. Walz doesn’t shy away from actually passing meaningful legislation. As he once brilliantly put it, “You don’t win elections to bank political capital—you win elections to burn political capital and improve lives.”
Some of the bills Walz signed into law include:
- Guaranteeing free breakfast and lunch for all Minnesota students
- Giving workers up to 20 weeks of paid family leave
- Free college tuition to families making less than $80k a year
- Banning noncompete agreements and captive audience meetings in labor disputes
- Banning junk fees
- Legalizing marijuana and expunging records of people conviceted for misdemeanor possession
- Capping insulin prices at $35 per month
- 100 percent Carbon free electricity by 2040
5. The Dude Radiates “Normal”
Corny as it sounds, there’s something to be said about having good vibes about you. Anytime you see a photograph of Vance, I feel like he’s about to have an urban community center demolished. Compare that with Walz, who radiates positivity. I don’t want to become someone who puts politicians on a pedestal, but he unironically looks like a guy you’d like to have a beer with.
Whether it’s a picture of him surrounded by happy children after signing the aforementioned free lunch bill, or festooned in a sweater petting a cat, there’s something eerily wholesome that begs to be shared, reacted to, and perhaps even spun into the TikTok trend of the day.
Compare that to a guy who can’t shake a terrible rumor about a couch.