A Tim Walz Face-Off: Radical? Moderate? We Debate!
A few weeks ago, very few people outside of the Beltway and niche media circles had ever heard the name Tim Walz. Almost overnight, the relatively obscure governor from Minnesota started to gain traction thanks to a viral clip where he called J.D. Vance “weird.”
In interviews Walz has said he join the National Guard in 1982 to earn money for college. He decided to retire form the National Guard after learning his unit was on the list of Minnesota Army National Guard units likely to be deployed to Iraq. According to FactCheck.org, “On March 20, 2005, Walz’s campaign put out a press released titled “Walz Still Planning to Run for Congress Despite Possible Call to Duty in Iraq.” Walz retired on May 16, 2005. His brigade received mobilization alert orders on July 14, 2005.
For 24 years Walz drew military pay to prepare for a combat deployment. He also qualified for a lifetime pension. But when it came time to deploy to a combat zone, he made the “hard decision” to abandoned his post rather than than his political ambitions. His unit spent 22 months in Iraq without Walz and returned in June 2007. Walz first became a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives in January 2007.
Though I enjoyed hearing the conversation and perspectives, it didn't come off as much of a debate. If anything, the conversation revealed the fundamental confusion that many have in distinguishing the difference between the parts of the country that are made up of the people who don't travel in their circles. As someone who grew up in Iowa and Minnesota, currently lives in Northern Virginia, and who had lengthy stints in California, Washington and Florida, I know intuitively that these differences are real and are often substantive.
But even if you don't know that by lived experience, there are ways to get a sense of how different Minnesota is, even from Tim Walz's home state of Nebraska. Just look at the politicians from Minnesota who have run for President and who they vote for in Presidential elections (Nixon and Eisenhower being the last Republicans to win). Look also at the voting results by district from the 2022 governors race.
Bottom line, I believe that Walz was a gift to Trump. Choosing Walz exhibits the easy condescension and disdain that many in the Democratic leadership apparently have for what I guess they imagine to be the easily placated (fooled) fly-over voters. Although in the end it may make little or no difference in the election, I can't help but believe that Shapiro would have been a far better choice. Especially if you are trying to improve your chances to win the election and more importantly, to govern in a way that would be more acceptable to more Americans in the very demographic the Walz choice is purported to be aimed at
I think they picked Walz to confuse the "everyday man" ...... wo-man and man. The middle American working for the weekend, raising kids, or barely making ends meet people.
What's the difference between Vance and Walz ..... their same-same right? I think that's what they were attempting to get people to into thinking ........ :)
My favorite part of this - friends with differing opinions discussing the issues like adults. My mind wasn’t changed but I appreciated and learned from the conversation.
When Batya talked about the discrepancy between vibes and policy, did she totally forget about Trump endorsing the extremely unpopular plan to overturn the ACA that would have left millions currently with health insurance uncovered?
When talking about Walz she brought up things about his record. When discussing the Trump/Vance ticket, she talked about what they’re running on. She knows that when you compare two things you need to make an apples to apples comparison right?? I’m pretty sure Walz is not running on Covid medication rationing policy.
Would love to know what Harris is running on this time. Walz will just mimic her like a good VP hopeful. Maybe she'll hold a press conference at some point...right now all we have is "vibes".
All of this fussing and comparing when one of the reasons she chose him is that when they met he made it clear that he understood his role was to support her. Shapiro asked all sorts of questions about his role. It was clear he would have a hard time being second fiddle. As usual most of the reasons things happen have less to do with cynical overthought political stuff and something as simple as she thinks she can work with him. As for her beliefs or not believing anything at Peter said… I say horseshit. How would he know. That’s just some silly facile assessment that makes him sound “smart” Harris did not perform well in 2020. It wasn’t a good time to be a centrist democrat. She tried briefly to walk that difficult line and wisely dropped out when it wasn’t working. This does not translate to not believing in anything. Please. This kind of political blah blah blahing is useless abs toxic.
Nocera's snark, "Oh, I forgot that neither Donald Trump nor J.D. Vance lie..." is well taken. That said, to say that he likes Walz because Walz said the tagline "it's none of our damn business," is such an enormous lie, and such a dangerous one, that I have a tough time understanding Nocera's "joy." Walz set up a hotline to rat our your neighbors if they weren't sufficiently stifling their freedoms--and Walz said, "I think we need to push back on this....there's no free speech...especially around our democracy." I heard it and was astonished at the Orwellian mastery.
Another disappointing episode. As a commenter said on a previous post, “throwing spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks.”
Don’t call it a debate if it’s two people on one side and one on the other. Especially when the solo debater is the “in-house liberal.”
I came to the Free Press because of their promise for fair and free reporting. If you’re simply becoming an echo chamber with one liberal on staff (I recognize this may be facetious but is a telling comment all the same) then don’t advertise fair and free reporting.
This episode is labeled a debate yet the sides are stacked. All one has to do is read the description of the episode to see their cards laid out. They have a measly paragraph on one side of the debate and then several wandering paragraphs on the other side. “Radical,” “leftist,” “anti-semitism.” It’s unfocused and obvious.
The past several episodes have been uncharacteristically trite. “Are we heading towards an Orwellian state?” Come on! I can go to Fox or CNN for alarmist pablum.
“The democrats claim democracy is on the ballot but what about Kamala becoming the nominee?”
Bleh. How many times have we heard this from every outlet, left and right?
They’re not unwarranted points. My disappointment is less about the points and more about the lack of nuance or fresh insight.
I truly hope this turns around. The Free Press has been a safe haven for myself as a radical moderate. If this doesn’t turn around I’ll have to unsubscribe. There’s enough reactionary and politically biased media I can find online for free.
A debate is not reporting; it's opinion. This was a discussion about whether Walz is a moderate or a radical. I think some of the points made about Walz and why his was picked to be the VP candidate were fair and accurate.
I also think traveling with candidates and asking the opinions of faithful is never a good idea, as one commentator intends to do. A better idea would be to visit the bars, bowling alleys, city parks and grocery stores, to get a better pulse on America.
Once the Harris/Walz honeymoon is over, The FP will have actual reporting on what the Democrat platform is, their policies, and their vision for America. I have more trust in what I read here than anywhere else these days.
Let's see now. Now that I am listening to my betters, I consider myself educated. According to what I hear on TV, the radio, and read in the papers, Walz is a moderate, and Bernie Sanders is a Conservative. Wow, have I been voting wrong all these years.
The academic left likes to break everything down to power—who has it, who doesn’t. Consider broadly who has power in the US and where:
Entertainment: the left
Social media: the left
News media: the left
Education: the left
Entrenched bureaucrats (the “deep state”): the left
Private sector HR departments: the left
Senate: the left
Presidency: the left
House of Reps: the right
SCOTUS: the right
And you say that you are more comfortable with Harris/Walz than Trump/Vance? Here’s what the (leftist) news media are willfully ignoring: Donald Trump, by himself, isn’t much of a “threat to democracy.” But what is a threat to democracy is the political left getting all the levers of power. Once that happens, you will see democracy die (observe the UK for this struggle *in medias res*). Not in “darkness,” as WaPo would say, but in silence. These people hate the First Amendment even more than they hate the Second.
We all agree: Donald Trump is a wretched excuse for a president. He couldn’t build a wall and never will. But he could be the wall that protects the Bill of Rights from an all out assault by the left if they manage to tick off a few more boxes.
Peter Savodnik said something that exemplifies why the working class no longer feels comfortable working for the Dems.
He said "The same people who got teary eyed when Vance said 'a million cheap toasters is not worth a single American job' will then go out and buy a toaster at Walmart."
Please notice he failed to say that the same people who get teary eyed about exploited workers will then go out and buy an Apple Watch or iPhone or a Macbook Air - all of which are often created using SLAVE labor.
If the working class do it, it's chaotic and irrational.
But when Peter's class does it, well, we just won't talk about that.
Sorry to say Walz is an idiot and so is his wife who opened her windows and loved the smell of burnt tires from their city while it was burning to the ground. We don’t need destruction we need people to build and to believe. BTW WHO BOUGHT THE PROPERTIES? I’m an immigrant and wouldn’t think of destroying properties people have worked hard for their whole life. This is a land of plenty and some people will have more than others. Let’s find solutions.
See my comment above. Echo chamber. If their work isn’t forcing you to consider the nuance of the situation, they’re as good as any other milquetoast media outlet.
Josh Shapiro started his term in January 2023. Being okay on Covid at that point is nothing to write home about.
In interviews Walz has said he join the National Guard in 1982 to earn money for college. He decided to retire form the National Guard after learning his unit was on the list of Minnesota Army National Guard units likely to be deployed to Iraq. According to FactCheck.org, “On March 20, 2005, Walz’s campaign put out a press released titled “Walz Still Planning to Run for Congress Despite Possible Call to Duty in Iraq.” Walz retired on May 16, 2005. His brigade received mobilization alert orders on July 14, 2005.
For 24 years Walz drew military pay to prepare for a combat deployment. He also qualified for a lifetime pension. But when it came time to deploy to a combat zone, he made the “hard decision” to abandoned his post rather than than his political ambitions. His unit spent 22 months in Iraq without Walz and returned in June 2007. Walz first became a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives in January 2007.
Joe was the Alan Colmes of this episode, defending the absurd position that Walz is a moderate because somebody had to. Nice effort I guess.
Though I enjoyed hearing the conversation and perspectives, it didn't come off as much of a debate. If anything, the conversation revealed the fundamental confusion that many have in distinguishing the difference between the parts of the country that are made up of the people who don't travel in their circles. As someone who grew up in Iowa and Minnesota, currently lives in Northern Virginia, and who had lengthy stints in California, Washington and Florida, I know intuitively that these differences are real and are often substantive.
But even if you don't know that by lived experience, there are ways to get a sense of how different Minnesota is, even from Tim Walz's home state of Nebraska. Just look at the politicians from Minnesota who have run for President and who they vote for in Presidential elections (Nixon and Eisenhower being the last Republicans to win). Look also at the voting results by district from the 2022 governors race.
Bottom line, I believe that Walz was a gift to Trump. Choosing Walz exhibits the easy condescension and disdain that many in the Democratic leadership apparently have for what I guess they imagine to be the easily placated (fooled) fly-over voters. Although in the end it may make little or no difference in the election, I can't help but believe that Shapiro would have been a far better choice. Especially if you are trying to improve your chances to win the election and more importantly, to govern in a way that would be more acceptable to more Americans in the very demographic the Walz choice is purported to be aimed at
LOL The sheets and the streets!
I think they picked Walz to confuse the "everyday man" ...... wo-man and man. The middle American working for the weekend, raising kids, or barely making ends meet people.
What's the difference between Vance and Walz ..... their same-same right? I think that's what they were attempting to get people to into thinking ........ :)
My favorite part of this - friends with differing opinions discussing the issues like adults. My mind wasn’t changed but I appreciated and learned from the conversation.
When Batya talked about the discrepancy between vibes and policy, did she totally forget about Trump endorsing the extremely unpopular plan to overturn the ACA that would have left millions currently with health insurance uncovered?
When talking about Walz she brought up things about his record. When discussing the Trump/Vance ticket, she talked about what they’re running on. She knows that when you compare two things you need to make an apples to apples comparison right?? I’m pretty sure Walz is not running on Covid medication rationing policy.
Would love to know what Harris is running on this time. Walz will just mimic her like a good VP hopeful. Maybe she'll hold a press conference at some point...right now all we have is "vibes".
All of this fussing and comparing when one of the reasons she chose him is that when they met he made it clear that he understood his role was to support her. Shapiro asked all sorts of questions about his role. It was clear he would have a hard time being second fiddle. As usual most of the reasons things happen have less to do with cynical overthought political stuff and something as simple as she thinks she can work with him. As for her beliefs or not believing anything at Peter said… I say horseshit. How would he know. That’s just some silly facile assessment that makes him sound “smart” Harris did not perform well in 2020. It wasn’t a good time to be a centrist democrat. She tried briefly to walk that difficult line and wisely dropped out when it wasn’t working. This does not translate to not believing in anything. Please. This kind of political blah blah blahing is useless abs toxic.
I don't remember Joe Lieberman's religion being an issue when he ran as Al Gore's VP? What are we missing?
"progress"
Nocera's snark, "Oh, I forgot that neither Donald Trump nor J.D. Vance lie..." is well taken. That said, to say that he likes Walz because Walz said the tagline "it's none of our damn business," is such an enormous lie, and such a dangerous one, that I have a tough time understanding Nocera's "joy." Walz set up a hotline to rat our your neighbors if they weren't sufficiently stifling their freedoms--and Walz said, "I think we need to push back on this....there's no free speech...especially around our democracy." I heard it and was astonished at the Orwellian mastery.
Another disappointing episode. As a commenter said on a previous post, “throwing spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks.”
Don’t call it a debate if it’s two people on one side and one on the other. Especially when the solo debater is the “in-house liberal.”
I came to the Free Press because of their promise for fair and free reporting. If you’re simply becoming an echo chamber with one liberal on staff (I recognize this may be facetious but is a telling comment all the same) then don’t advertise fair and free reporting.
This episode is labeled a debate yet the sides are stacked. All one has to do is read the description of the episode to see their cards laid out. They have a measly paragraph on one side of the debate and then several wandering paragraphs on the other side. “Radical,” “leftist,” “anti-semitism.” It’s unfocused and obvious.
The past several episodes have been uncharacteristically trite. “Are we heading towards an Orwellian state?” Come on! I can go to Fox or CNN for alarmist pablum.
“The democrats claim democracy is on the ballot but what about Kamala becoming the nominee?”
Bleh. How many times have we heard this from every outlet, left and right?
They’re not unwarranted points. My disappointment is less about the points and more about the lack of nuance or fresh insight.
I truly hope this turns around. The Free Press has been a safe haven for myself as a radical moderate. If this doesn’t turn around I’ll have to unsubscribe. There’s enough reactionary and politically biased media I can find online for free.
A debate is not reporting; it's opinion. This was a discussion about whether Walz is a moderate or a radical. I think some of the points made about Walz and why his was picked to be the VP candidate were fair and accurate.
I also think traveling with candidates and asking the opinions of faithful is never a good idea, as one commentator intends to do. A better idea would be to visit the bars, bowling alleys, city parks and grocery stores, to get a better pulse on America.
Once the Harris/Walz honeymoon is over, The FP will have actual reporting on what the Democrat platform is, their policies, and their vision for America. I have more trust in what I read here than anywhere else these days.
I hope they develop a platform. I doubt there will be much pressure to do so.
Let's see now. Now that I am listening to my betters, I consider myself educated. According to what I hear on TV, the radio, and read in the papers, Walz is a moderate, and Bernie Sanders is a Conservative. Wow, have I been voting wrong all these years.
The academic left likes to break everything down to power—who has it, who doesn’t. Consider broadly who has power in the US and where:
Entertainment: the left
Social media: the left
News media: the left
Education: the left
Entrenched bureaucrats (the “deep state”): the left
Private sector HR departments: the left
Senate: the left
Presidency: the left
House of Reps: the right
SCOTUS: the right
And you say that you are more comfortable with Harris/Walz than Trump/Vance? Here’s what the (leftist) news media are willfully ignoring: Donald Trump, by himself, isn’t much of a “threat to democracy.” But what is a threat to democracy is the political left getting all the levers of power. Once that happens, you will see democracy die (observe the UK for this struggle *in medias res*). Not in “darkness,” as WaPo would say, but in silence. These people hate the First Amendment even more than they hate the Second.
We all agree: Donald Trump is a wretched excuse for a president. He couldn’t build a wall and never will. But he could be the wall that protects the Bill of Rights from an all out assault by the left if they manage to tick off a few more boxes.
Peter Savodnik said something that exemplifies why the working class no longer feels comfortable working for the Dems.
He said "The same people who got teary eyed when Vance said 'a million cheap toasters is not worth a single American job' will then go out and buy a toaster at Walmart."
Please notice he failed to say that the same people who get teary eyed about exploited workers will then go out and buy an Apple Watch or iPhone or a Macbook Air - all of which are often created using SLAVE labor.
If the working class do it, it's chaotic and irrational.
But when Peter's class does it, well, we just won't talk about that.
Sorry to say Walz is an idiot and so is his wife who opened her windows and loved the smell of burnt tires from their city while it was burning to the ground. We don’t need destruction we need people to build and to believe. BTW WHO BOUGHT THE PROPERTIES? I’m an immigrant and wouldn’t think of destroying properties people have worked hard for their whole life. This is a land of plenty and some people will have more than others. Let’s find solutions.
This was a great debate. I still firmly believe Walz is a radical progressive and hasn’t given any evidence to the contrary.
See my comment above. Echo chamber. If their work isn’t forcing you to consider the nuance of the situation, they’re as good as any other milquetoast media outlet.