Walzamania is running wild. I checked out his resume and background. He is the best choice and a decent human. Which is rare in these times. I give props where it is due for Dems not fucking up here.
Hey! We didn’t say you could have him!
RUDE!!!
(Kidding. He will be an awesome VP.)
I’m sad cause the dude managed to get a ton of shit through with a one vote majority here. He’s a good politician that doesn’t bs too much. Course the right here is as crazy as anywhere, if more democrats in the us were like mn democrats more shit would get done ignoring the cheese and wine coalition.
There’s a reason why we are a consistently blue voting state in presidential elections. The vast majority aren’t wealthy landowning types. We also have a very educated population. Is it more educated than other states? I don’t know, but we pride ourselves on it.
I’m gonna miss him as governor, but damn if he doesn’t solidify the ticket.
I had the privilege of hearing him speak to the Kansas Democratic Party earlier this year and was kind of blown away by him. She made the right choice.
Not an astronaut but I’ll take it
Wondered where I remembered him from, it was this juxtaposition of photos:
Additional context: around the same time Governor Walz (upper) was signing a bill for guaranteed school lunches the Governer of Arkansas (lower) was signing a bill rolling back protections on child labor.
https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/gov-tim-walz-signs-universal-school-meals-bill-into-law/
That photo of him! Every person in it is so genuinely happy! Brought tears to my eyes.
Hot Damn! The DNC didn’t fuck up so fucking happy to be wrong and she didn’t pick Shapiro.
I’m shocked, honestly. Shapiro is the canonical post-Clinton Democrat, all the consent manufacturers were clearly pulling for him.
As one of the leftmost members of the D voting coalition its a strange feeling to not be getting continuously shat upon.
Yeah well lets hope this all true. All the articles are saying "sources close to " I want to hear it from her mouth. Regardless I am excited about voting for the first time since 2016 when Bernie first ran. Lets fucking go! Only thing stopping us now is if the GOP cheat which I hear they already planning a coup using the courts so lets make it such a huge landslide they can’t win that way.
She posted it to her Instagram:
.Awesome! Thank you I had not seen that.
❤️❤️❤️
Well then every gd progressive who says there are so many better get off their asses and vote then.
Not upset about the pick in the least but this is progressives time to shine.
Edit- you all act as if Im rooting against that. I actually want a ton of normal non-voters to actually come out and vote for Harris-walz
Whoa whoa whoa. So Harris is laffin, and Walz is smilin??? Too much happiness.
Yeah I know I’m well into auntie territory because I had the same reaction.
Those poor kids going to work in the mines in the lower pic.
The one kid totally has “wtf?” face going on. I feel bad for those kids. Their parents are all probably total scum bags.
They want to be at home playing Roblox, but their parents made them wear ties and have their hair slicked into place. All to support a bill where they’re going to be playing less Roblox.
I would also point out, not to give Huckabee any credit, but the silver lining of that bill might allow kids trying to gain freedom from abusive homes, permitting them to go job hunting on their own (although 14/15 seems super young regardless - they couldn’t without someone signing off otherwise). The downsides is parents forcing kids to go to work in dangerous jobs (to your point).
freedom from abusive homes, permitting them to go job hunting on their own
While i see what you’re saying, i think the lede is buried. the important change in law is here:
The state also no longer has to verify the age of those under 16 before they take a job.
The state isn’t even checking how old these children are. And the younger a kid is, the more easily they are exploited. And the power dynamic between boss and kiddo is worse. All this will do is make kids easy to exploit
I don’t have to tell y’all, right? How many hours got stolen from you as kids? Or what kind of crap did you put up with before you knew better?
Without laws letting child workers maintain their own bank account in their own name without parents being co owners allowed to drain it at any time, children working become money pinatas for abusive parents.
I say this as someone who would have benefitted from being independent earlier. My uncle did have me work at 14, and when I went to the bank I found he had stolen every penny, and because I was a minor I had no legal recourse to get it back.
A few years later the courts emancipated me, but it didn’t return the money he had stolen. Mind you, he was not working at the time himself and he got a few hundred from the state a month to care for me, and he spent what he stole on computer parts so he could game.
Children working only is in the child’s benefit if there are ironclad laws allowing them to keep their money, and right now there is not.
Gov. Tim Walz signs universal school meals bill into law
vs
Arkansas Gov. Sanders signs a law that makes it easier to employ children
I literally laughed out loud when I read the second headline. The kids faces says it all.
Brilliant pick. This is the kind of energy that will get the Midwest to drive this national election and bring enough casserole for everyone at the potluck
From Minnesota, respectfully, it is hotdish not casserole.
A casserole is a hotdish, but a hotdish is not necessarily a casserole.
Alright, I’ll bite, what distinguishes a hot dish from a casserole? Tater tot crust?
3 cups of Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Stuffing.
Nothing, it just makes them feel special.
Truthfully, the utilitarian nature of the dish.
I heard this in the voice of Pumat Sol
/ Walter White meme/
You Betcha.
Everybody anxious about a VP Shapiro can finally get a little bit of sleep now lol
What’s the nervousness about with regards to him?
He has a lot of baggage that has the potential to tank the ticket and stifle the positive trajectory Kamala has going. Part of her momentum is hoping for a better stance on Gaza compared to Biden and Shapiro would be harmful for that image. You can argue some of it isn’t justified, but politics is more emotional than rational and even past that some of his negatives are tough to swallow - like response to protestors, school vouchers, potential cover-up of an aides sexual misconduct…
It’s just an unnecessarily vulnerable pick.
So assuming Harris and Walz are going to be more difficult for Netanyahu to negotiate with, does this increase chances of a ceasefire in Gaza?
Probably.
I would think that it is more likely for Netanyahu to do something desperately stupid before the US election to try to change the conversation. Like start a war with Iran as the October surprise…
Waltz is a Zionist too, just not as zealous as Shapiro. I see no reason to believe the future will look any different from the current administration’s policies. Aka unconditional support for Israel with a couple strongly worded statements every once in a while
When he served in the House from 2007-2019, he frequently took pro-Israel votes, including voting to condemn a United Nations resolution affirming that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal
Mark Mellman, the chairman of Democratic Majority for Israel’s super PAC, praised Harris’ selection of Walz in a statement, calling him a “proud pro-Israel Democrat with a strong record of supporting the U.S.-Israel relationship.”
Walz has never diverged from the party line of unconditionally supporting Israel, a position illustrated by his comments earlier this year at an event held by the Jewish Community Relations Council.
“The ability of Jewish people to self-determine themselves is foundational … The failure to recognise the state of Israel is taking away that self-determination. So it is anti-Semitic,” he said.
Thanks, makes sense.
Mostly about Gaza. Iirc he was rough on shutting down protests and is pretty pro Israel in general. Not sure if he ever commented on Palestinian civilians directly.
Yeah people were assuming it was him because of the announcement being in Philly when it’s probably just a scheduling question
Just took a stroll through his Wikipedia page and he does seem a better than average politician
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Has a record of defeating incumbent Republicans
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Seems to be on the proper side of most policy
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But more importantly, by far, seems to be a guy actually capable of learning from his mistakes
But more importantly, by far, seems to be a guy actually capable of learning from his mistakes
Unfortunately many people like when their guy never makes mistakes (or at least convinces you that all of their egregious mistakes are someone else’s fault or were never actually mistakes to begin with)
Exactly, and often “we” even fault them from changing opinions which renders politicians unable to correct any stance
There is a huge difference between a flip flopper and someone who actually learns from the nuance of the issues and shifts their stance
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I am so fucking excited to vote.
I’m a registered libertarian. Despite the craziness, I don’t plan on changing that. I wouldn’t have voted for Biden, strictly because I live in a state that has 0% chance of flipping, BUT I routinely vote for democrats in senate/house/local races where my vote actually does make a difference. I also encouraged friends with similar mindsets in battleground states to vote Biden.
I think the democratic party needs to fracture, it just needs to fracture AFTER the republican party.
All of that is a setup to say: I also am excited, and if someone like me is excited, I think that’s a DAMN good sign. I cannot wait to piss and moan about a Harris admin. It is a big damn country, I look forward to disagreement returning to the point it doesn’t result in erosion of fundamental rights and democracy itself, not to mention godamn violent insurrection.
The only thing that can fracture the two party system is ranked choice or alternative voting systems. FPTP guarantees two parties.
The problem is that FPTP massively benefits democrats and republicans so they’re unlikely to want to vote against it. So, to get it passed you’d need to get a third party in power that doesn’t benefit from FPTP. But, you can’t get a third party in power because FPTP makes it virtually impossible to elect third party candidates.
It’s a catch-22 situation.
In Canada the Liberal party made an election promise that they would scrap FPTP if elected. They’re one of two main parties in Canada, along with the Conservatives. Of course, as soon as they won the election, they backed out of that promise.
Wasn’t Maine or some state experimenting with it?
And I can’t wait. I am firmly in support of ranked choice. I think it’s absence is the root cause of a lot of issues and should be a single issue voter issue… second ONLY to the fact that there is a “candidate” in the running who is responsible for a Temu quality coup.
Again (not for you but others), I know the issues of my party. It’s my party not my religion. I am uncomfortable with the compromises democrats make. The thing about coalition governments and multi-party systems is they allow compromises to happen while keeping support and acknowledging they are compromises in the name of pragmatism. It’s the way it should be, it’s how we get the best of all ideas.
There are things that should never be compromised. I’m a libertarian because Obama was in favor of “strong civil unions”, renewed the patriot act, and kept Guantanamo open. In a coalition government, I maybe could have understood that, but that’s the issue: without a coalition, and without ranked choice, those are now principles of the democratic party.
And again, it’s all secondary to being able to vote at all in 2028. Harris is going to have a hell of a time, but I’m excited for it.
In the the absence of Ranked Choice, we likely would need to get involved at the Primary level in order to fundamentally change the party. Primary turnout rates are like 10% or something absurdly low.
Giddyup. In the meantime I’ll vociferously vote for the folks who 1) aren’t seditionist assholes who call my friends non humans 2) don’t use passing point 1 to do other heinous shit. Voting in primaries is paramount, it makes people scared.
that is not the correct analysis. the correct analysis is that strategic voting in a fptp system leads to party consolidation. the solution is values voting
Oh you did it! You solved the spoiler effect! Let me know how that works for you.
Killing the GOP is in your best interest if fracturing the Democratic Party is what you want. Progressives have been ready to bail since 2016. It’s not likely to make American politics any less statist, though.
Significant electoral reform is the only other path, and any constitutional amendment is not happening without a major cultural shift in partisanship.
By the way for anyone reading that wants the end of the Trump era, I’m also in a 0% chance state, and this will be the first time I vote for the Democrat on the presidential ticket since moving here, and I encourage others in similar positions to turn out and do the same. I always vote third party to give them extra relevance, but this is a year where the popular vote total will matter. Running up the score will be necessary to make false election integrity claims irrelevant.
Killing the GOP is in your best interest if fracturing the Democratic Party is what you want. Progressives have been ready to bail since 2016. It’s not likely to make American politics any less statist, though.
'nuff said. Right there with you. As per the rest, like I said I vote out idiots when I can, and I’m avoiding naming the state because it’s the internet, but we do pretty well in terms of workers rights, civil rights, and healthcare (yes there are libertarians who support MFA etc), so I think it’s important to indicate that, especially for local issues, the national issue of the party means less.
But I hear you and you do you. I’m pretty damn far from accelerationist, but if we really can’t keep to clear cut things like the EC… well… we’ve got far bigger issues.
I am too. I went from being convinced we were heading straight to tyranny and now I am excited for a potential future with actual liberals at the helm.
Pleasence check your voter registration status, even if you always vote. They are doing what they can, to keep good people from voting.
Between the response to this ticket and the big antitrust win today, this is the most optimistic I’ve been about the direction of American politics in a very long time.
Is…is this… Is this what hope feels like? 😔
Doesn’t matter if we don’t actually go vote.
So to clarify (after the double negative), it DOES matter to actually go vote.
Yes. Your vote matters.
…Obama had kinda a nice butt
Whatever it is im killing it before it gets infectious, good work is never done and complacency ensures it wont be strong.
I’m in absolute shock that the Dems didn’t go with Shapiro.
Almost feels like those hopeful Bernie days. Happy to know Walz was his pick too.
My sister used to be the head of the environmental department of one of the suburbs of Minneapolis. She’s met Tim Walz a few times, and has had nothing but good things to say about both his personality and his attitude toward the environment. The US has pretty slim pickings for good politicians these days, but I really feel that Tim is on that list. I’m feeling hopeful about American politics for the first time since I learned about how American politics works!
There are some people who actively try to make you feel like politics in the US is hopelessly broken and you might as well just give up. There are many, many people who just want to make things better, whether that’s at the federal, state, local, or hyperlocal level. They might disagree on how to do it, and the best ones are the ones that know how to come up with a reasonable compromise when disagreements arise. If you’re interested, always look for opportunities.
This is the most hopeful I’ve felt about an election, and I’ve been voting since 1996.
Madame President Mamala Harris, thank you for making the correct choice.
I loved this guy since the juxtaposition photos between him and the child labor folks. I wonder if Harris campaign is getting to make decisions because this whole situation blindsided DNC officials/strategists who have historically made stupid calls. They haven’t had 4 years to overthink a campaign.
As cynical as I am, I think laughing Harris just felt a good feeling about smiling Walz that she just didn’t get from Shapiro, and no strategist hack was able to convince them otherwise.
DNC sucks at strategy. I think making quick decisive moves, especially with the public’s diminished attention span is proving very effective. Campaigns should probably focus on being like 3 months before the elections in this era.
Should Harris win (and especially if she wins big), I could see it changing the nature of campaigning here. Three months goes against all the conventional wisdom.
The media won’t be happy about it, but it’s past time we bring the press back to public service and away from profiteering anyway.
I think conventional wisdom on political strategy is long overdue for an update.
I suppose this is a good time for me to send that nice donation I’ve been putting off and hope it helps to let the DNC see what happens when they don’t disenfranchise progressives.
Harris’s primary campaign seemed to be defined by Harris herself taking progressive-ish positions and then later walking them back after someone in her orbit convinced her she had to be more status quo. Maybe that campaign flaming out has taught her to stop listening to those people.
New York Times called it a “vibes pick”. Sounds about right
A campaign stands or falls based on vibes.
Don’t get me wrong. This guy seems like a solid choice based on his record, too, but you really can’t overstate how important vibes are.
Absolutely, I’m in favor, don’t get me wrong
Sounds like NYT is salty.
the guy the popularized calling republicans weird nonetheless
It was an off the cuff remark that struck a nerve. We’ve all been there with that weird relative that is decked out in MAGA gear.
And they hate when their weirdness is pointed out.
Exactly why he feels like a great pick. He didn’t over engineer some tagline to game the attention economy.
He just said what the silent majority is thinking in a down to earth “this is so obvious” kind of way. These people are just weird and ruining the family gathering.
Crazy this dude is only a year older than her. Super happy with the pick btw
Black don’t crack baby
Being overweight and sedentary also ages you terribly quickly.
He also grew up on a farm and was in the military, sun exposure can greatly accelerate aging of the skin.
And the military ages everything under the skin
Yeah! I was so worried she’d tank her momentum by picking Shapiro and ham-handedly presenting it. I continue to be impressed with the Harris team’s ability to both politic and stay tapped into the people’s sentiments.
Except they missed the part where we need someone young instead of a geezer…
He is one year older than her.
Exactly… he’s a geezer. She needed to go with someone younger. If we assume she wins (twice), then Walz will be close to 70 before it is ‘his turn’. What a waste. If Dems had gone with someone younger then they could keep the momentum of the youth support AND they’d have someone ready to take over when Harris is done. Now, they’ll have to start over in 8 years.
I read that he doesn’t want to take his shot at the White House. If Harris wins the election he plans to retire after her second term. She didn’t want a veep who saw her as a stepping stone to the Oval Office.
Whether that is wise we will figure out on 2028 (hopefully) but if it’s true it provides some context.
I don’t necessarily think that the VP spot being a lead-up to a presidential run should be one of the top considerations right now. We need to win this race, 2028 and 2032 can wait their turn.
Beyond that critique, there’s a lot the Harris-Walz ticket can do to line up future Dem candidates for many races. For one, this is a big leftward shift for the Dems. That opens up the board for the Squad to make a run in the future. That opens up a path for other, more progressive candidates to fill other positions. We have no idea what the Harris cabinet will look like and a strong cabinet position is also an excellent prelude to a presidential campaign.
Plus, I don’t want to get my hopes too high here and indulge in fantasy, but look at what this is doing to Republicans. What if that party shatters post-Trump? Maybe in two: a returning center-right party and an actual fascist party? If the Republicans try to retake the center, that could drive the Dems further left longterm.
tldr, a Harris presidency could go many ways, and I’m not ready to be a pessimist yet! I think this is a good thing especially because it sets us up to do even better in the future!
I don’t necessarily think that the VP spot being a lead-up to a presidential run should be one of the top considerations right now. We need to win this race, 2028 and 2032 can wait their turn.
That is where I’m finding any comfort in the decision. I totally agree that #1 priority has to be getting elected.
As much as I would have liked to see her make a strategic pick who could help her win an at risk state like Arizona or Pennsylvania, he has less baggage than Shapiro.
I think too, there’s strategy in a non-strategic pick. The cynics would have said “Oh, she only picked Shapiro because she needs Pennsylvania” or “Yeah, yeah, he’s an astronaut, but she wants Arizona”.
In this case? I think he’s going to be a delight to watch. He’ll devastate Vance in the debate.
I think he’s pretty strategic, not to any specific state, but to rural Middle America in general. He grew up working on a farm, worked in a factory for a bit, joined the army then worked as a teacher and football coach, he’s the salt of the earth common American vance pretends to be. Not saying he’ll turn all the rural areas blue but even going from say 20% to 25% will help a lot in those swing states which have a large rural population.
Yeah, but he’s no salt-of-the-earth type like JD Vance who is a hilbilly* who attended Yale Law and then worked for totally normal guy Peter Thiel at his Venture Capital firm in San Francisco.
* Not really a hilbilly
I can see that for sure. Do you think his appeal is stronger than Kelly’s?
As a resident of a neighboring state, I’m excited to get to vote for someone from somewhere so close in a national election. If my annecdata happens to apply to more than just me that might help in Iowa, Wisconsin and the Dakotas (although culturally the dakotas are more comparable to their neighbors to the west, while Minnesota is culturally closer to Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin)
Granted I only married into a Minnesotan family and my experience with the Dakotas is fairly limited, but I would have said that they’re a pretty broad spectrum from east to west, especially in South Dakota. Rapid City is definitely pretty similar to Montana and Wyoming, but Mitchell, Sioux Falls, and Fargo are all far more similar to Minnesota
Then again, I’m thinking “culturally” not “politically,” so if you’re thinking about how they vote, you’re probably right that they’re likely more similar to MT than MN.
Think of it this way: Minnesota has a population of 5.7M, and almost 3M of that is in the metro area of Minneapolis. It’s not quite up to the level of Chicago or New York, where that one blue metro area completely dominates state politics, but it’s close.
What I’m getting at is while Minnesota does have areas that are more like the Dakotas, those aren’t the places where most of the people live.
I see your point, although it doesn’t match my anecdotal experience. People from the Twin Cities might vote differently than people in the small rural towns, but many of the everyday attitudes and cultural associations are pretty similar statewide, regardless of whether they are rural or urban. And in my experience, people from the Cities have a lot more in common culturally with the eastern Dakotas, Iowa, and Wisconsin than they do with Chicago and rural Illinois or with Montana and Wyoming.
He’ll devastate Vance in the debate.
So would a piece of cheese.
Or a fluffy enough pillow.
She only picked him because she needs to show that she’s committed to fixing immigration, because he’s from a border state. ;)
Removed by mod
Mocking a mod with a line item specifically against the civility guidelines is not a way to win friends and influence people.
Removed by mod
Mocking someone with a “M” next to their name when they can, with no trouble at all, remove your comment is not a good life choice. 2nd warning, temp banned.
Uh oh Donny! He’s a veteran, too! You wouldn’t shit on a veteran, right?
You mean again, right?
Oh of course! My bad
I’m curious what voters will think of the two VP candidates military service.
JD Vance was in the Marine Corps as an corporal for 4 years and served in Iraq, but he served as a combat correspondent, a military journalist, not in a combat capacity.
Walz was in the Army National Guard as an enlisted soldier for 24 years. AFAIK he was never in combat, but his specialty (heavy artillery) was definitely a combat-oriented one. He also achieved the rank of Command Sergeant Major, which is a very high rank for an enlisted soldier.
IMO, being in the Marine Corps sounds more impressive than being in the National Guard. But, 4 years as a combat correspondent sounds a lot less impressive than 24 years, starting out in artillery and moving up to a Command Sergeant Major role.
Vance was not an officer. I don’t mean that disparagingly, he just wasn’t. He served a 4 year enlistment.
If you’re comparing their careers, a sergeant major is a titan compared to a corporal. One of them was primarily concerned with taking pictures and not getting shot. The other made a career studying the art of leadership. It’s literally not even a contest.
Oops, I thought Vance was an officer, not an enlisted member. Thanks for the correction.
As for Walz, I don’t know how quickly he advanced through the ranks, but IMO a Command Sergeant Major is one of the most impressive titles. It’s a leadership rank but done the hard way. If you enter the military as an officer, you immediately outrank 80% of the military. A Command Sergeant Major has to practice the difficult art of leading people who technically outrank them.
Yeah. And quite often they’re the ones responsible for standing up to the officers to protect the privates. I’ve had bad ones but a good sergeant major can make a huge difference in a unit.
protect the privates
I’m all about someone who can protect the privates.
You can ask John Kerry about that
