Don’t get me wrong, I like the governor of my state, Tim Walz, and have happily voted for him, twice, against the weirdos—see what I did there?—with whom the GOP reliably counters. But some of the stuff being said about him on National Shows is the kind of hooey he occasionally falls into himself, like when after supplying the best answer to a question he proceeds to append the second best, the third best, and eventually the fourth worst answer before the need to inhale functions tardily as a period.
The largest chunk of hooey concerns how in Congress Walz represented a red district and is a proven vote-getter in the rural and small-town Midwest. Here’s a little electoral history [rolling up my sleeves in the manner of Kornacki]:
Before Walz defeated the Republican incumbent 53 to 47 percent in 2006, Minnesota’s first congressional district had been represented for six terms in the 1980s and 1990s by Democrat Tim Penny. After easily winning re-election in 2008, Walz’s races became progressively closer until, in 2016, the year of Trump’s presidential victory, he won his sixth term by 50 to 49 percent. He then announced his intention not to seek a seventh term in order to run for governor.
His district wasn’t actually red. It was purplish, and then became red, partly on account of redistricting, while he represented it. He’s ambitious and can tell which way the wind is blowing seems more accurate than He won over a lot of rural and small-town white Americans to the Blue Team.
Walz’s statewide races for governor tend to confirm this view. For example, the contours of his 2022 gubernatorial re-election are almost a perfect match for Biden’s win over Trump in our state two years earlier. Both men won by between 7 and 8 percent of the statewide vote. Both won 14 of Minnesota’s 87 counties, and the rosters of their counties won overlap by 13. Both owe their victories to winning between 70 and 72 percent of the votes cast in the counties of Hennepin (Minneapolis and most of its suburbs) and Ramsey (St. Paul and many of its suburbs).
My parents both grew up in rural Minnesota and so I’m inclined to use their old stomping grounds as benchmarks. My mom was raised on a farm in Watonwan County (biggest town is St. James). Walz lost Watonwan County by 37 to 60 percent. Biden had lost it by 38 to 60 percent. My dad grew up in a town of fewer than 200 people in Kandiyohi County (biggest town is Willmar). Walz lost Kandiyohi County by 32 to 65 percent. Biden had lost it by 36 to 62 percent.
It’s just not the case that Walz has a record of out performing other Democrats in rural areas of the Midwest. Compared to Biden, he’s performed, if anything, slightly worse in rural Minnesota.
Of the things I’ve learned about him in recent days, my favorite relates to the gay kid in his social studies class who felt comfortable approaching a guardsman and football coach about starting a “gay-straight alliance” at their high school. Walz offered to be the new club’s faculty advisor. This would have been at least 20 years ago. Probably seemed “weird” to a lot of people in Mankato, Minnesota, but thanks in part to Walz, that adjective is now being applied to more deserving subjects.
Let’s get by the weird because what I think is weird and you think is weird could be totally opposite. I think we’re past that long haired freaky people need not apply! Have you been to a restaurant in south mpls! But I do think some respect should be shown to the people your serving and working for whatever you want to do with your body and whoever’s body you want to do it with that’s up to you . Walz is no different than most politicians he claims a lot things but in reality talks a lot . The best part about the Harris vp choice is we may have avoided about six more Mn tax hikes from this fool
Pat Borchardt
Posted by: Pat Borchardt | August 10, 2024 at 10:04 AM