Democrats Can Win on Families. Walz Shows How
By backing popular, commonsense policies like free lunch and abortion rights, the VP nominee makes his opponents look weird.
I think I can pinpoint the recent moment that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz went from an obscure candidate in a packed veepstakes race, to a Twitter fan-favorite for the vice-presidential nomination. Shortly after President Joe Biden withdrew his reelection bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, Walz gave an instantly viral MSNBC interview in which he criticized Republican policies as “weird.” The insult took off and is now a central refrain in Democratic campaigns.
Democrats have spent the better part of a decade describing Donald Trump’s cohort as dangerous fascists. I agree with those labels. A second Trump presidency is a frightening prospect. But regardless of where you land on the “is Trump a fascist” debate, it’s dishearteningly clear that this emotionally charged messaging was not swaying an electorate already burnt out on fear and grim prognostications.
“Weird” (and Walz’s overall interview) stuck because Walz was able to identify the everyday off-putting quality of Republican policies, especially as they relate to paranoia and division around schools and families. And just as importantly, Walz was able to offer a positive, alternative vision, grounded in shared institutions like public education.
Walz is hardly the progressive candidate of my dreams. Neither is Harris! But I think the groundswell of Walzmania suggests a genuine appetite for a candidate who can neatly refute the conservative demands for privatization and isolation of education and family life. He can discuss schools, in vitro fertilization, and family food subsidies like a person who is, well, normal.
In his MSNBC appearance, Walz argued that Republican policies “are what destroyed rural America. They’ve divided us. They’re in our exam rooms, they’re telling us what books to read, and I think what Kamala Harris knows is bringing people together around shared values: strong public schools, strong labor unions that create the middle class, healthcare that’s affordable and accessible.”
This is a compelling message that recognizes censorship laws as what they are: not just a headache for educators, but an intrusive, divisive, and weird force. And it offers public education as a unifying institution in a country desperate for that sort of thing.
Harris would be less able to run with this talking point if she had picked Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, whose support for school vouchers led labor leaders to pan him as a problematic VP candidate. But Walz (a former teacher) has so far been able to hit Republicans on the inequality of their education policies.
“Robber barons like JD Vance and Donald Trump gutted the midwest,” Walz said in his MSNBC interview. “They talk about private schools. Where in the heck are you going to find a private school in a town of 400 people? Those are great teachers out there making a difference.”
Walz, so far, has excelled at plainspoken messaging that emphasizes the material benefits of a Harris presidency. After a Biden candidacy that spent too much time arguing on Trump’s terms, I suspect Walz’s style resonates with voters who are burnt out on Republican culture wars, and would rather hear what a candidate can concretely provide for their families.
Walz has plenty of fodder from his own record, especially where it contrasts with the GOP’s plan for families and children. Where JD Vance has lobbied against policies that would help working mothers, Walz recently signed a law that will give almost all Minnesota workers paid family and medical leave. In 2023, when Republican governors across the country were scrapping a free food program for low-income kids, Walz passed a law giving free universal lunch and breakfast to Minnesota students. Where the right rails against abortion and IVF, Walz is an outspoken backer of abortion rights and has a daughter who was conceived through IVF.
Walz isn’t doing anything radical here. Instead he’s supporting programs like free school lunches and robust reproductive rights that arguably have more support from voters than from politicians. These should be easy, easy wins for Democrats.
The fact that the other side opposes this stuff at all? That’s just weird.