# Kamala Harris's choice of Tim Walz as VP **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** kamala-harris\ **Created:** [August 6, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352 "2024-08-06T21:19:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/203 "2024-08-07T21:44:22Z")
For those who were moved, buoyed, heartened, and impressed by that rally in Philly – particularly by the ‘appearance’ of Tim Walz – just an FYI: > [@](#): > > As Kamala Harris finalized her decision on who would be her running mate, Tim Walz made a startling admission - he had never used a teleprompter. > > The Minnesota Governor, 60, told Harris’ vetting team that he would need a crash course on using the device if selected. The talking heads were saying he was in Teleprompter practice, back stage, right up to the beginning of the event. I think maybe this makes me like him even a tiny bit _more._ [**SOURCE**](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13717149/Tim-Walz-teleprompter-running-mate-kamala-harris-vetting.html) Incidentally (anecdote time): A good friend is from the town where Walz taught and coached. I reached out to ask my friend if he knew Walz, or had him as a teacher/coach. Here’s the verbatim reply: > **Summary** > > > I had Mr. Walz as both a coach and a teacher, plus his wife as a teacher too. I always had good interactions with him (even if I wasn’t being the best kid) and in general he was liked. If you like classic midwestern people then he’s the choice for you (also if you’re like me and despise Trump then he’s even more the choice for you! I haven’t decided on Vance yet but if Trump chose him then I probably don’t like him.). I think he’s great for a politician; well grounded but adaptive too, listens, not arrogant. I’m sad for the mud-slinging he’ll receive and have read several stories from FoxNews to get the dirt but nothing him or I can’t handle. I think he’d be great in this role plus others and I hope the rest of the country realizes that too. > > Fun story, I went to DC to lobby on behalf of [trade organization name omitted] several years ago. I was living in CO so I was only assigned to meet with CO representatives but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to meet up with my former coach in DC so I put an inquiry into his general webpage not expecting a return. Instead I got a face to face meeting with him which is more than I can say for 4/5 other representatives we met with who just had their 20-something aids meet with us and nod their heads and take our brochures. I remember how “real” he seemed despite being in his new role. He remembered me and my cousins, showed me the cot he slept on in his office while in DC, listened to my pitches, seemed to already know what I was going to say as if he had done some research, and was exactly the guy I remembered from growing up. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/204 "2024-08-07T22:09:59Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > He reenlisted. By my reckoning, he reenlisted in 1999, when Gulf War 2 wasn’t a thing. > [@](#): > > Then he took the position of CSM knowing it had at least a two year commitment to become permenant. I’m not clear on whether the promotion came before or after the medical retention board cleared him to serve out the final _two years_ of his contract. I’m also not clear on whether he would have been permitted (or whether he would have needed) to stay beyond those two years in order to fulfill that commitment > [@](#): > > If he didn’t like the current operations he could have retired prior to the unit call up. And, of course he was _not_ permitted, while on active duty, to publicly come out against the war. All of my comments above are based on my assumption that his 2005 retirement coincided with the end date of his final enlistment contract. If you can show that assumption to have been faulty, please advise. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/205 "2024-08-07T22:19:38Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Harris has always had a reputation for being far left. Fuck that. _Far left_ is Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, and the rest of the Chicago Seven. It doesn’t exist within the Democratic Party. Fuck the concept of the Overton Window, and fuck all arguments that rely on it being valid. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/206 "2024-08-07T22:29:36Z")
Well, no, the Overton window is a valid concept, but what it tells us is that American politics has shifted way to the right in the past half-century. Consider that Nixon established the EPA (which most Republicans today would love to shut down completely) and had proposed a health care plan with similarities to Obamacare that Democrats rejected as not going far enough. Fifty years ago today’s Democrats would be considered at least center-right, and today’s Republicans would be unrecognizable and unbelievable. And you don’t have to go back 50 years – by the standards of most of the civilized world today, the same perspective applies: today’s US Democrats are mostly center-right, and Republicans are mostly insane. Calling either Harris or Walz “radical left” is just meaningless loony-tunes rhetoric. They’d say that about any Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/207 "2024-08-07T22:33:35Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > _Far left_ is Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, and the rest of the Chicago Seven. It doesn’t exist within the Democratic Party. Naw, I would say that “The Squad” is pretty far left. Note that it is a tiny minority… > **[The Squad (United States Congress)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Squad_(United_States_Congress))** > > Founding members > Subsequent additions > The Squad is an informal left-wing group of nine Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives. It was initially composed of four women elected in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. They have since been joined by Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri following the 2020 United States... _The Squad is well known for being among the most [progressive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressivism_in_the_United_States) and [left-wing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing) members of the [United States Congress](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress)._ ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/208 "2024-08-07T22:33:42Z")
By the standards of 1975, though, today’s Democrats are far left on some issues. Support for LGBT rights, legalizing pot, and thinking that racist police brutality is a serious problem are all things that would have been considered extreme fifty years ago. There were certainly no self-identified socialists in Congress at that time. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/209 "2024-08-07T22:37:28Z")
That’s a valid point. The Overton window is not monolithic, but has shifted one way or the other on specific issues. It’s tended to shift leftward on some social issues, but rightward on most others. In 1975, things like LGBT rights (I don’t think the term “LGBT” even existed then) wasn’t a “leftist” thing – it wasn’t even on the spectrum). ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/210 "2024-08-07T22:40:18Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Well, no, the Overton window is a valid concept, but what it tells us is that American politics has shifted way to the right in the past half-century. American politics has shifted, but _far left_ is exactly where it was fifty years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/211 "2024-08-07T22:42:00Z")
It’s kind of stretched both ways, though. Fifty years ago, I doubt you would have found anyone in Congress who was in favor of single-payer health care OR of privatizing Medicare. And gay rights were starting to be a thing in the 70s. I remember in 1977 we had a referendum in Eugene, OR trying to outlaw anti-gay discrimination in rental housing. It failed 2-1, but it was a start. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/212 "2024-08-07T22:46:51Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > _Far left_ is Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, and the rest of the Chicago Seven. It doesn’t exist within the Democratic Party. You know Tom Hayden served several terms as a Democratic California legislator, right? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/213 "2024-08-07T22:47:49Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The Squad is well known for being among the most [progressive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressivism_in_the_United_States) and [left-wing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing) members of the [United States Congress](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress). Agreed, but some of the statements I’ve seen from some House members (not sure if they’re considered members of “The Squad” or not) were along the lines of literally “defund the police” and “cancel all mortgages” and similar nonsense. To call this “progressive” is an abuse of the term and falls into the Republican trap of poisoning it. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are progressive and justifiably proud of it. Some of the above-mentioned Congresscritters aren’t “progressive”, they’re far-left lunatics. There are far more lunatics on the far right than on the far left, but there are extremists on both sides and we should acknowledge that. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/214 "2024-08-07T22:57:42Z")
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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/215 "2024-08-07T22:58:30Z")
**Moderating** : I think we’ve wandered off the topic of the OP here. **If you are responding to something in a thread that is basically off-topic or likely to lead to a hijack, try this:** How to **Reply as a linked Topic** : Click Reply, in the upper left corner of the reply window is the reply type button, _looks like a curving arrow point to the right_. Choose **Reply as linked topic** and it starts a new thread. As an example, you can choose GD, IMHO or The Pit for it. That is actually the best method. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/216 "2024-08-07T23:13:08Z")
This topic was automatically opened after 14 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/217 "2024-08-07T23:23:10Z")
Read note-never mind. ---
**Author:** ![anny\_m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@anny\_m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anny_m)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/218 "2024-08-07T23:41:41Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Fox News: “Pay no attention to the fact that our preferred presidential candidate is Putin’s lapdog and would let Putin overrun Ukraine while jeopardizing our own national security. What you need to know is that **their** VP candidate once visited China!” 🙄 Which is of course the same country run by Xi, who Trump recently called “a very good friend” and “a great guy.” ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/219 "2024-08-07T23:54:59Z")
One more Walz talking point bites the dust: Trump praised Walz in 2020 about Walz’s response to the Floyd protests. Caught on tape. > **[Despite new criticism, Trump told Walz in 2020 he was 'very happy' with his...](https://abcnews.go.com/US/despite-new-criticism-trump-told-walz-2020-happy/story?id=112616502)** > > Allies of Donald Trump are slamming VP candidate Tim Walz for his handling of riots in the wake of George Floyd’s murder -- but Trump expressed his support at the time. ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/220 "2024-08-07T23:55:51Z")
I’ve run across this on a couple of generally right-wing sites. Can anyone verify whether this is a valid quote from Tim Walz: > There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech, and especially around our democracy. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/221 "2024-08-08T00:00:54Z")
I have yet to find a source for this quote that I would also trust to give me the correct recipe for a peanut butter sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/222 "2024-08-08T00:05:53Z")
That said I, pretty hard line on the free speech side, agree with it. We’ve had debate threads here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352.md?page=12)