CHICAGO — Anyone who watched Minnesota governor and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz speak at the Democratic National Convention last night came away feeling good. Anyone who watches his teenager roll her eyes at him during his “Don’t text and drive” public service announcement comes away feeling good. And anyone who sees Walz’s genuine admiration for Kamala Harris when she speaks comes away feeling good.
It’s a theme. And yes, it feels good.
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Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ plain-spoken running mate, is the no-nonsense, feel-good balm our country needs. A social studies teacher, football coach and farmer — “America’s dad in plaid” as Amy Klobuchar called him last night — Walz will help a divided nation regroup after a national nightmare.
Walz came on stage to John Mellencamp’s “Small Town,” as the crowd waved cardboard cutouts of smiling Tim Walz faces. His son and daughter had tears on their cheeks as he told the enthusiastic crowd what Kamala Harris will do if she’s elected.
Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz celebrates with his son Gus Walz (C-L) and wife Gwen Walz (R) after accepting the Democratic vice presidential nomination on stage during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 21, 2024, in Chicago. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
“If you’re middle class, she’ll cut your taxes. If you’re getting squeezed by big pharma, she’ll cap your drug costs. If you’re trying to buy a home, she’ll make it more affordable. And she’ll fight for your right to live the life you want to lead,” Walz declared.
Speaking at the Democratic National Convention, Walz said the Harris-Walz vision is an America that puts workers first — a theme he has hit consistently since becoming governor of Minnesota. Walz sees blue collar workers as the backbone of a strong economy, and he thinks government policies should be designed to support them.
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Walz believes workers must have the right to organize, since corporations and billionaire CEOs won’t voluntarily share their wealth with anyone, including their employees. For-profit corporations will work employees as hard, as long, and for as little pay as they can get away with. Last week, at Walz’s first solo campaign speech in Los Angeles, he said that he and Harris had “both joined workers on the picket line.”
Walz’s speech at the DNC also touted his record as Minnesota governor.
“I signed one of the biggest pro worker packages in history into law. In Minnesota we made it easier for workers to form unions, and strengthened workers protections.” He has often repeated, “When unions are strong, Americans are strong.”
Walz likes to point out that former President Donald Trump is aligned with wealth, not workers. Last week after the Harris campaign posted a video of Trump bragging to his wealthy donors that he would cut their taxes again, Walz said, here’s a “guy who goes to Mar-a-Lago, he sits there and tells his rich as hell friends, ‘we’re going to cut your taxes.’ Then he turns around and tells workers their wages are too high.”
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“Trump and J.D. Vance,” Walz says, “they see the world very differently than we do. The only thing they know about workers is how to take advantage of them.”
“Who do you know,” Walz rhetorically asked, “who else (but Trump) is looking to cut taxes for billionaires, but wants to stiff working people?”
At last night’s convention, Walz talked about Trump’s attempt to distance himself from Project 2025, the right-wing governance plan written by Trump’s inner circle.
“Project 2025 will make life much harder for people,” Walz said. “It’s an agenda that does nothing for neighbors in need. It’s weird.”
And Walz isn’t buying Trump’s attempts to disavow knowledge of the plan. Drawing from his coaching days, Walz said, “When someone takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re going to use it.”
Walz reminded the Democratic National Convention crowd that Trump’s own people are warning that the next four years, if Trump gets reelected, “will be much, much worse” than the four years from 2017 to 2021. Walz offered a distilled version of what he said last week about Project 2025’s attack on unions: “It’s not what they’ve done. It’s what they’re going to do.”
Walz has said repeatedly that, “In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors, and we respect their personal choices. We might not agree, or make the same choice. We have a rule that works. We mind our own damn business.”
Walz acknowledged that the election will be tough, and he reminded Americans eager for change that Harris-Walz are the underdogs — at least for now. Drawing from his coaching days, he closed with a football analogy about the state of the race:
“It’s the fourth quarter. We’re down a field goal. But we’re on offense and we’ve got the ball and we’re driving down the field. Our job is to get in the trenches and do the blocking and tackling. One inch at a time, one yard, one phone call, one door knock, and one five dollar donation at a time.”
Tim Walz is the right candidate at the right time to help America heal the wounds of division Trump has sown relentlessly over the past nine years. Whether you agree or disagree with Harris and Walz that government should make life better for the common man, Walz makes you want to have coffee with him and at least talk about it, because you’d genuinely believe it’d be a two-way conversation.
And talking — to each other, not at each other — is exactly what our country needs.
Sabrina Haake is a columnist and 25 year litigator specializing in 1st and 14th Amendment defense. Her Substack, The Haake Take, is free.
