Tim Walz: A Golden Rule for Americans and for the Good, the Bad, the Ugly: What Do We Really Need to Know About Ourself?
In his wake, there hasn’t been much talk in national politics about ideals, principles and conscience — that is, until Wednesday night, when Tim Walz made an awfully persuasive case for Democrats as the party of old-fashioned, small-town and, yes, conservative values, stressing the theme of neighbors looking after neighbors and especially children as the measure of a country’s humanity.
The applause came from the convention hall in Chicago after the Democratic vice-presidential nominee said that they were banning hunger in ours while other states were banning books.
“We respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make,” Walz said, invoking his support for abortion rights while also noting his respect for those who hold differing views. Even if we wouldn’t make the same choices for ourselves, we have a golden rule. Don’t think about your own business.
The Astro Theater in the Omaha suburb of La vista was packed with people on Saturday as Tim Walz took the stage. Nearly 2,500 people were packed inside the auditorium, and thousands more were watching on big screens outside. It was the first time that the Minnesota governor had been to his native state since he joined the Democratic ticket. He contrasted Donald Trump’s upbringing with that of his running mate.
But Walz’s speech was really about something greater: a vision of a party and country that take pride in the military uniform, that show awareness for vulnerable families struggling with illness, poverty and debt, that prize the most essential workers (“never underestimate a public-school teacher” drew huge applause).
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all sugar and honey — he knocked Trump plenty, like saying “some folks just don’t understand what it takes to be a good neighbor.” Walz knows how to be an attack dog: Speaking of Project 2025, he drew on his football coaching days and said, “when someone takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re going to use it.”
The Story of Donald J. Walz During a 1963 Rural Correspondence with the Omaha Democrat (with a Reply from Mr. Harris)
It was a peroration that would make any progressive proud, but it also felt grounded in core values — dignity, humanity, privacy — that a great many Americans of all parties care about.
Ms. Harris, Mr. Walz reminded the audience, worked at McDonald’s in high school. “Can you picture Donald Trump working the McFlurry machine?” He asked. Later, he used a similar line of attack on Mr. Trump’s running mate. He asked if he knew one thing about Nebraska. “You think he’s ever had a Runza?” (A Runza is a German-style meat and cabbage roll that, improbably, can be purchased as fast food in Nebraska.) He said that the man would call it a Hot Pocket. “You know it.”
There are some limits to how much a candidate can accomplish on the ticket. Some parts of the country may no longer be in Democratic hands, regardless of how compelling the story the vice presidential candidate has to tell. The rural Nebraska counties where Mr. Walz grew up and which comprise part of the Third Congressional District, went 80 percent to 90 percent for Mr. Trump in the last two elections. In the last century, the state as a whole has never voted for a Democratic presidential candidate such as Franklin Roosevelt or Lyndon Johnson. Still, Democrats have an opportunity to win back at least some of these voters — but only if they talk about what Republican policies have done to rural people, many of whom have been forced to leave their rural hometowns to find education and work in urban centers like Omaha.