Tim Walz: A Jovial American Firebrand
Kamala Harris may have reignited the country, but her vice presidential pick, Tim Walz, might just be the beacon of hope for which the country has been yearning.
August 8, 2024
By: Daniel Miller
I realize that I am among many who share this same feeling, but it’s not often that the Democrats impress me. They play weak politics against an undemocratic opposition that finds conspiracy theories at every turn and wants to effectively abolish the coveted First Amendment. The playbook is actually quite simple: give the people what they want and need. Since the majority of the country wants and needs material benefits such as universal healthcare and education, a raise in wages for workers, taxes on the rich and corporations, paid family leave, and upgraded public infrastructure, the candidate should be running on those issues.
This strategy always works, whether a country is a democracy or a dictatorship. Many Central and South American leaders were elected (and later overthrown) because they promised to nationalize resources controlled by American and other foreign interests. In Iraqi Kurdistan, despite most wishing he had been deposed in 1991, many lament the fact that, under his tyrannical rule, government paychecks arrived on time.
The alternative is choosing a party of cultists with no governing agenda except to cut taxes, eliminate safety regulations, and dismantle public goods and benefits. They deny climate change and label anyone who acknowledges it as a communist or socialist. A winning strategy isn’t difficult to figure out, but because corporations are viewed as people in the United States and money is considered free speech, the Democratic Party is filled with politicians beholden to their corporate donors. Lobbyists do the bribing and think tanks write the laws for their puppets to sign. The corporate rot within Washington is the biggest obstacle preventing systemic change that would favor the people.
Although now it seems like the tide is shifting, the tables are turning, and the shoe is on the other foot. Vice President Kamala Harris has invigorated the country, and the polls reflect that. Trump, now losing steam, is calling them rigged for the first time this election cycle. Contrary to what’s heard in right-wing echo chambers, Harris isn’t exactly the progressive beacon that those on the left hoped for, but Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is like a Midwestern Bernie Sanders—an affable, witty, small-town grandpa whose communication skills resonate with people. He will keep her pulled to the left, unlike Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who would have steered her in the other direction.
Walz doesn’t just talk, he has a stellar record of accomplishments. With just a one-seat Democratic majority, he was able to pass:
universal free school meals, both breakfast and lunch
marijuana legislation, making it legal for recreational use
carbon-free electricity by 2040
12-week paid family and sick leave
tax rebates up to $1,300 for workers making less than 150,000 a year
a ban on conversion therapy
red flag laws and universal background checks
automatic voter registration
free public college for those making under $80,000
a ban on forever chemicals
sectoral bargaining for nursing home workers
an increase in public school funding by $2.2 billion
A few other notable accomplishments both as a Governor and US Congressman:
opposed the 2008 Wall Street bailouts
voted against many outsourcing deals
100% rating from Planned Parenthood
banned non-compete clauses
raised wages for small businesses
raised taxes on multinational corporations
protected gender-affirming care
banned medical providers from withholding care over debt
protected construction workers from wage theft
passed a massive Minnesota infrastructure bill
A Harris-Walz ticket will also win back many disaffected Muslims, Arabs, and others, as neither supports the genocidal actions of the Netanyahu government in Palestine, and Walz has called for a permanent ceasefire. Additionally, through their proposed economic policies, they are likely to attract and possibly convert a significant number of younger voters who are fed up with a corrupt system and disillusioned from always chasing the American Dream.
While Bernie Sanders was relentlessly attacked by the media during his presidential campaigns as a scary socialist outsider, the mainstream corporate media can’t approach Harris and Walz in the same way. Harris partially represents the status quo and corporate interests, making her less susceptible to attacks from them. Tim Walz, on the other hand, is pro-business rather than pro-corporate, with Minnesota ranking fifth in business. Because they are on the same team, the public discourse will now have to shift to the left. He is more likely than anyone to openly advocate for the same or similar progressive policies on which Bernie ran, and he would be doing so from the position of vice president if elected — a role that a progressive hasn’t held since Henry Wallace in the early 1940s.
The right wing isn’t able to attack Walz in the same way they did Bernie because the “socialist” buzzword is losing its effect on people who aren’t terminally online. Walz embraces any label thrown at him by defending his accomplishments mentioned above. While most Americans still can’t define what socialism is, they know it’s not the scary dystopia that conservatives are always fear-mongering about, which further exposes their retrograde radicalism for what it truly is. Tim Walz has championed meals for kids, while Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has repealed child labor laws and safety regulations. The two parties are not the same.
While Bernie galvanized a revolutionary movement, he was more concerned with civility than delivering effective attacks on those who smeared him. Walz, on the other hand, has come out swinging by simply referring to conservative social policies and Trump’s VP pick, J.D. Vance, as “weird,” and it’s been effective so far. He’s correct, those people are weird, and they are now panicking because they don’t have any substantive attacks on him. With only three months left until the election, a Harris-Walz ticket could not have come at a better time. It has revitalized a country on the brink of democratic backsliding and transforming into a Christian nationalist hellscape. The American democratic experiment isn’t over yet.
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