Who IS Tim Walz?

Who IS Tim Walz?

– By Lisa Rutherford –

My last column dealt with presidential candidate Kamala Harris. On August 6, she announced her choice for her vice-president: Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota. This name was fairly new to me. Frankly, I was in favor of Mark Kelly (Arizona) or Josh Shapiro (Pennsylvania) because of the electoral votes their states would provide. I definitely want a good, competitive election, which those votes would ensure. But, the more I learned about Tim Walz, the more I was able to understand why Harris chose him. This former teacher and football coach, former congressman, and Army National Guard veteran has an interesting background. Walz was born and raised in rural Nebraska and spent summers working on his family’s farm. At seventeen he enlisted in the Army National Guard leading to a 24-year career and achieving the highest rank.

His teaching started at a Native American reservation in South Dakota, followed by time in China before returning to Nebraska and then relocating to Minnesota in 1996.

When this rural Minnesota man was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006, he was able to flip the seat from Republican to Democrat – not only flip the seat but unseat a six-term incumbent in a district that had sent Republicans 102 of the previous 114 years! While in Congress, Walz voted to protect veterans, support abortion rights, advance the Affordable Care Act, and raise the federal minimum wage. When he left to serve as Governor of Minnesota, his seat flipped back to Republican.

The opposition is working to portray him as even more liberal than Harris including tying him to Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, questioning his record on foreign policy, and linking him to Biden’s economic policies. As a fiscal conservative myself, I was a bit taken back by his state’s economic situation while he’s been governor. But as with presidents not being totally responsible for our nation’s economy, a governor is not totally responsible for their state’s economy either. In spite of Minnesota’s economic situation, a recent Survey USA poll shows Walz’ job approval at 56 percent. So, he must be doing something right given the polarized politics of the state. And, he was able to work with legislative Republicans to get $275 million for roads and bridges, funds for opioid treatment and prevention, and a middle-income tax cut.

There have been accusations of fraud and mismanagement during the pandemic under Walz’ leadership. The state’s nonpartisan legislative auditor found that the Department of Education “failed to act on warning signs” which led to fraud of $250 million from a federal program. Walz’ response was, “I think what you’re seeing is, if you commit fraud in Minnesota, you are going to get caught, you are going to go to prison. It’s that simple.” He didn’t deny what happened.

He is his own man who makes his decisions on what he feels is right, and I like that, including voting with just a handful of Dems to hold then-Obama Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt during the investigation into the Fast and Furious scandal. The Star Tribune quoted Walz, “To do its job, Congress must have access to all the information it needs to make independent, sound judgments on behalf of the American people.” He can’t be totally progressive since, as a lifelong hunter, he won the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) endorsement and voted for the contentious Keystone XL pipeline that was generally rejected by the Democratic Party. However, once Walz was able to secure a majority in the Minnesota legislature, he did hew to the left regarding abortion (having had personal family experience with IVF needs), paid family leave, legalizing marijuana, and requiring that utilities produce carbon-free energy by 2040.

Tim Walz has had big issues to contend with as governor. During the rioting that followed the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, some questioned Walz’ handling of the situation. He clashed with Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey about how to deal with the unrest but ultimately sent the Minnesota National Guard to aid local law enforcement. Many felt the decision was later than it should have been. My study of the protest issue has not revealed clearly why Walz delayed sending in the guard, but a friend who served in a National Guard unit felt that given what was witnessed at Kent State in 1970, concern that something similar might happen in Minneapolis could have been on Walz’ mind. The reasons behind the Kent State killings have never been clearly determined but “Hindsight suggests that another method would have resolved the confrontation.” In any case, regarding the damage done to Walz politically, a recent Reuter’s article points out, “He has significant support from conservative Republicans in Minnesota, including Trump supporters.”

Opponents are challenging Walz’ military record saying that he quit just before the guard was deployed to Iraq. Walz was named Nebraska’s Citizen Soldier of the Year in 1989, he served as command sergeant major, and his career included responding to natural disasters in the U.S. as well as deploying to Italy in support of U.S. operations in Afghanistan. Walz admits he never saw combat and that others did far more than he did. When Walz went to Congress he was the highest-ranking retired enlisted soldier to serve. Trump never served in the military. J.D. Vance was a marine who served in Iraq for just four years as a military journalist. Vance saw no combat himself. Allison Jaslow, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America praised Harris’ choice for VP saying, “Walz’ leadership on behalf of his fellow veterans when he was in the U.S. House of Representatives is notable at a time when our all-volunteer force continues to struggle to recruit.”

Waltz’ popularity gained steam when he started calling Trump and his followers “weird” because of their idea of what “freedom” seems to mean to them: “Freedom to be in your bedroom. Freedom to be in your exam room. Freedom to tell your kids what they can read.”

In the final analysis after learning about Walz, he seems to be a man who has firm positions but can also change when needed. Take his position on the XL Pipeline. He supported that but then supported requiring that utilities produce carbon-free energy by 2040. Perhaps, just as some of us from the oil industry, including myself, have acknowledged that climate change is human caused, he, too, has followed the science and gained a new perspective. To me, that’s not flipflopping, that’s learning, and that’s what we need in leaders: the ability to learn and use that information to make better decisions.