My wife and I really like him. He’s a card carrying member of the DFL (we have our own Democratic party), he’s smart, has progressive credentials, gets shit done.
He wasn’t my first choice of governor, but he’s turned out to be great.
This is in the face of the same kind of often nonsensical road blocking that’s become the de facto standard of the Republican party.
Bonus, he doesn’t do fake folksy or dye his hair…
Some light reading:
He’s also got a smart mouth that I like
“How often in 100 days do you get to change the trajectory of the world? How often in 100 days do you get to do something that’s going to impact generations to come? And how often in the world do you make that bastard wake up afterwards and know that a Black woman kicked his ass and sent him on the road? And you know that’s something that guy’s gonna have to live with for the rest of his life.”
“My God, they went after ‘cat people,’ good luck with that! Turn on the internet and see what cat people do when you go after ‘em.”
Thanks mainly to the right-wing Mighty Wurlitzer, which pushes the bogus idea that the views of the bigoted Know-Nothing 27% and a handful of ultra-wealthy greedpigs are shared by at least half of Americans; and thanks to Bothsideist corporate media outlets like the NYT that don’t question that narrative.
I particularly hope the latter group bloody chokes on the choice of Walz.
As one of the resident ‘cat people’ (furry, has an indoor and outdoor clowder that they dote on), I approve wholeheartedly. 
He seems like a really smart pick. She had to pick someone who was popular already in a swing state, even better in the Midwest, and “teacher” and “military service” (even if it’s National Guard) is going to play a lot better than whatever the hell Vance is pretending to be this week.
I wonder if she should announce some other potential picks for Cabinet positions (like Pete) to head off the “I’m not inspired by Walz!” crowd, although that could be twisted as being “arrogant” because it’s usually a post-election conversation. And people do love calling out women (and WOC) for being “arrogant” for something a white bro would get away with.
Shapiro was going to be a nightmare for his Gaza statements. Waltz is the opposite, and may be able to bring some folks from the Uncommitted Movement who were wavering about voting in November back.
And the corporate media outlets are stuck discussing those policies, because they can’t do their usual concern tr0lling about “is America ready for a [female | PoC | LGBTQ | Jewish | etc.] VP pick?” with Walz.
A bit less of an issue, but not by much, is Shapiro’s support of school vouchers. That ticked me off.
Ooh, yeah, that’s a big NOPE for me, too.
MN doesn’t have term limits on governors, but MN’s governorship seems at least marginally safer than PA’s for dems.
- He named a highway after Prince and signed the bill in purple ink. “I think we can lay to rest that this is the coolest bill signing we’ll ever do,” he said as he signed legislation naming a stretch of Highway 5 the “Prince Rogers Nelson Memorial Highway” after the one-time Minnesotan.
They forgot to add he’s furniture-safe…
Ah, a white cis-het dude who was using his privileges for good even in the 1990s. I like that.
He was an early supporter of gay rights. He sponsored Mankato West High School’s first gay-straight alliance in the 1990s and has said it was important at that time for the sponsor to be “the football coach, who was the soldier and was straight and was married.” When he won his House seat in 2006 in a conservative district, he ran on support for same-sex marriage.
The NY times article makes me wonder if they think at least half of that list is not complimentary? The only one I didn’t like was that in the past, he’d received money from the NRA. But he’s moved away from that towards red-flag laws and more gun safety since. Which does show an ability to grow.
Tim Walz is a great choice. I’d been hoping for Kelly, but that was partly due to my total ignorance of Walz’s record, which, I now see, is really terrific. And he’s infinitely better than Shapiro, whose position and actions re: Gaza, in a word, suck.
This feels like a decision from the Democrats that, for once, isn’t a slap in the face to their progressive wing. I’m feeling upbeat about the Dems for the first time in forever.
The choice of Walz also makes me feel better about Harris. I’ve been glad for her galvanizing effect on the party, but about her herself I’ve been like, “Sure, fine.” But this decision has definitely changed my feelings.
I guess one way to spin that NRA bit might be for him to take the reform the NRA stance…?
I also am very happy with this choice. This is Harris’ de facto first major public decision as a candidate, and it shows her well as being both bold and smart. Everyone was watching this decision, and it could have been a stumble out of the gate. Instead, her navigating this choice helps continue the trend of positive coverage. With good fortune, this trend can continue all the way through and after the upcoming Democratic National Convention. The longer it continues, the more swing votes she earns.
It’s a pragmatic reality that she had to balance her ticket with a straight white dude, or lose key voters in swing states. So in Walz she found pretty much the most progressive candidate with executive experience - which helps keep key progressives aligned. Walz has already shown he’s great and fun as a speaker. I understand he was the first to coin the very effective phrasing of Trump and Vance as weird.
In a perfect world, policy would matter most. In this world, to win elections, it’s key to match up policy with personality. This helps complete the Harris ticket as that pairing.
Agree heartily with all that. I also was pro-Kelly, but Walz shows up as better for campaigning. I’m sure Kelly can and will still be of help in border states, and help swing Arizona.
Shapiro has a couple of negatives, which the GOP would have exploited as much as possible. It’s nice to see that Walz doesn’t appear to have those same negatives.
Feeling very good about this. No complacency of course. But it is a relief to feel good that this stage appears to be going well, knock on wood.
