Well, that was one helluva ride: One minute, they were toiling away in near-total obscurity — just another glib, plain-talking white dude with a pleasant sense of humor and some funny catchphrases. But then, out of the blue, they were thrust in the public’s eye — and suddenly, they were famous worldwide! Everyone wanted to interview ‘em! For a brief flicker in time, they ranked among the most well-known people on the planet. But now, it’s all over: The world’s moved on and forgotten all about ‘em.
I’m speaking, of course, about that Hawk Tuah girl. (Remember her?) But y’know what? That Tim Walz guy had a helluva ride, too.
Yesterday, the rascally governor of the People’s Republic of Minnesota broke his post-election silence in an interview with Politico. He dished about Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, and the future of the Democratic Party.
And he made it clear to the Dems: He’s ready to be their leader.
Weirdly, the Democratic base hasn’t lined up in droves behind “America’s Coach.” You’re not hearing a lot of liberals pounding the war drums for a Walz presidential run. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a path to the nomination: The Democratic Party bosses are surprisingly pragmatic and risk-adverse; you could certainly see a scenario similar to 2020, when no Democratic candidate stood out, the base was divided, and everyone coalesced around the older white guy as the “least unacceptable” option.
Tim Walz is nobody’s Prince Charming, but maybe he can be their Prince Acceptable.
Still, he has his work cut out for him: The lasting memory most liberals have of him is getting smashed on the debate stage by JD Vance. That poor performance — plus the sick stench of electoral defeat — isn’t exactly exciting the base.
But the upside of being the second banana is that you can deflect culpability. Everyone knows who was on the top of the ticket: “Hey, I had to be a team player. But just between you and me, I would’ve done it differently (and made all the right decisions, too).”
The article begins:
Tim Walz thinks he and Kamala Harris played it too safe last year.
He thinks they should have held more town halls. He thinks they didn’t have time to get their feet under them. And he thinks Democrats should have taken more risks and gone to more places.
Walz has two primary audiences: The liberal base of young activists, and wealthy, older liberal donors. He can’t go anywhere in 2028 without their strong support. And even though those two groups differ wildly on a whole host of issues (including Israel), they almost always agree with this: When the Democrats lose, it’s the messenger’s fault — and not the message.
That’s what Walz is selling: I’m the right messenger for the Age of MAGA.
Walz said the campaign’s risk-averse approach was a byproduct of the brief, 107-day campaign, because “these are things you might have been able to get your sea legs, if you will, 18 months out, where the stakes were a lot lower.” But he said, “after you lose, you have to go back and assess where everything was at, and I think that is one area, that is one area we should think about.”
In his assessment, “I think we probably should have just rolled the dice and done the town halls, where [voters] may say, ‘you’re full of s**t, I don’t believe in you,’” Walz continued. “I think there could have been more of that.”
“We, as a party, are more cautious” in engaging the media, both mainstream and non-traditional, Walz said. And during the 2024 campaign, he said, “in football parlance, we were in a prevent defense to not lose when we never had anything to lose because I don’t think we were ever ahead.”
First of all, Walz used a football metaphor accurately and correctly, so let’s give him credit: The kid is learning! But what he’s REALLY claiming is that his own brand of homespun, Midwest charm is precisely what the Dems need to win over hostile crowds. That’s his pitch to donors and activists.
(It’s also a not-so-subtle reminder that their bubble-wrapped 2024 campaign was orchestrated by Kamala’s keepers: “I woulda done more town halls… if only they let me.”)
Walz’s assessment of the campaign’s missteps — which he emphasized he also “own[s]” his part in because “when you’re on the ticket and you don’t win, that’s your responsibility” — was also one shared privately in interviews with more than a half-dozen former presidential campaign staffers, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss the issue candidly and many of whom lamented the vice president’s campaign schedule that had her avoiding unscripted moments with the press and voters late into the fall.
“He was underutilized and that was the symptom of the larger campaign of decision paralysis and decision logjam at the top,” said one former senior Harris aide. “Could he have changed a percent in Wisconsin? Maybe. We still lose even if we win Wisconsin.”
Even so, this aide added, Walz got put “in a box,” and “we didn’t use him the way we could’ve.”
Obviously, Tim Walz has a vested interest in advancing the perception that he’s a unique political talent who was underutilized and underappreciated by Harris’s hacks. Because otherwise, what’s the alternative? That they used him the best they could and STILL got shellacked by the Trump Train? Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
[Walz’s] prescription for Democrats now and in the midterms, he said, is that Democrats “should be everywhere.” Recently, he’s appeared on primarily friendly outlets, like MSNBC and the South by Southwest stage on Saturday. He’ll be featured on California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new podcast, where his interview has yet to air, and he recorded a podcast with The New Yorker’s David Remnick. But his post on X promising to show up at town halls in GOP districts, a Walz aide said, has generated a big response — hundreds of messages and phone calls from county party chairs and activists, hoping to bring him to town.
In Montana, where he addressed a crowd of Democrats at a state party dinner, Walz told them that there is “no charismatic leader who is coming to save us.” [emphasis added]
It’s lovely that his “prescription” for Democrats justifies him doing such a selfless media blitz. (Otherwise, you might suspect he’s doing it to elevate his own profile and/or raise more money. Nah, turns out he’s just trying to help.)
And by the way, that’s a helluva closing sales pitch: “There’s no charismatic leader who is coming to save us… so hey, why not me?”
But is he really, truly interested in the job? Good news, guys: He’s not ruling it out! [Slow wink]
For now, his line on 2028 and a presidential run of his own is that he’s “not saying no.”
“I’m staying on the playing field to try and help because we have to win,” Walz said. “And I will always say this, I will do everything in my power [to help], and as I said, with the vice presidency, if that was me, then I’ll do the job.”
Oh goody! What a selfless fella!
But on the other hand, Kamala Harris still has her supporters, sycophants, and true believers. They have futures to look out for, too. And believe me, they don’t wanna go down in history as the fall guy:
Walz also faced the national media’s scrutiny for the first time, which unearthed his own gaffes and misstatements. For example, he “misspoke” when he described handling weapons “in war,” the Harris campaign said at the time, as Republicans dug into his military record. He also “misspoke” when he misleadingly claimed he’d been in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
“This was a guy who definitely was embarrassed by his flubs, didn’t handle them well, and seemed like there was a never-ending supply of them, so that was part of the issue of getting him out there everywhere,” said a fourth former Harris staffer. “I don’t look back on that campaign and think that the way we used Walz was a critical error.” [emphasis added]
Yeah, I side with the fourth Harris staffer here: Kamala Harris didn’t lose because of Tim Walz; she lost because of Kamala Harris. He was a do-no-harm hire — not a generationally talented difference-maker.
No matter. Until the Donkeys settle on a new party leader, it’s an open casting call for a new Big Kahuna. Politicians on Tim Walz’s level have nothing to lose by “not saying no.” Hey, ya never know: Stranger things have happened.
Just ask Hawk Tuah.
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