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- Pour One Out for Walz' Career
Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota who ran for vice-president in 2024, announced on Monday that he is abandoning his quest for a third term in office.
The move comes after ongoing fraud of social services cases caught the attention of US Republicans, including Donald Trump, who then used the cases as a pretext to go after Somali residents.
Walz said in a statement that he wasn’t able to “give a political campaign my all”.
“Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences,” Walz said. “So I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.”
The excerpts I’ve seen from the (paywalled) Star-Tribune story say that a number of DFL (what Dems are called in MN) legislators talked to Walz and encouraged him to drop out.
I’ve been meaning to write about Trump’s latest retaliation against Democrats, which was in the form of him cancelling childcare funding in Minnesota over the latest ragebait right-wing propaganda about some (actual) COVID relief fraud that has long been under investigation. A weirdo right-wing Youtuber tried to break into daycare centers in Minnesota as part of the coordinated onslaught against Walz and Ilhan Omar.
I haven’t followed politics in Minnesota closely, so maybe there’s more to the story. But from the outside, man, this is a terrible look for the Democratic Party. We let a right-wing freakout end the career of one of our rising stars, with no coordinated defense.
Walz was lightning in a bottle for a short time after he was named Harris’ VP. His down-to-earth personality and use of “weird” was catching on. Of course, that had to be stopped by the terrible Biden/Harris consultants, who over-coached and muzzled him into a terrible debate performance.
Walz’ bio, manner and approach to life are something Democrats need, badly. He’s not a rich guy, didn’t go to Ivy League schools, and he’s not a lawyer. He wasn’t afraid of passing important, progressive legislation when he had a razor-thin majority. He was unabashedly pro-union. He was good at talking about the negative impact of Fox News, Trumpism and MAGA on rural communities in a compelling and authentic manner, which is extremely rare in the Democratic Party.
Amy Klobuchar is talking about running for governor. I think she’s at best a mediocre politician, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she was working behind the scenes to undermine Walz. Part of the appeal of Walz as a non-traditional politician is that he seems to be a genuine team player. Klobuchar clearly isn’t that. Expect no bold moves, and no inspiring words, if she wins.
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