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Because Tim Walz’s name is floating as a VP pick, here are some impressions as a person who’s lived with him as a governor here in MN 2019.
The short of it: I'm not excited, but…could be worse, as the locals say.
The slightly longer of it: 
1/ #uspol
He’s not particularly exciting. He has all the charisma and fortitude of wet cardboard, and is •pathologically• conflict-averse. Don’t expect him to say anything bold…ever.
The flip side of that is that he is •extremely• non-threatening. That’s how he won and re-won statewide election here in MN. The GOP’s attempts to attack him never stuck. It was like they were trying to shoot bullets into oatmeal. In particular…
2/ #uspol
…Walz knows how to be non-threatening to whiteness. He just won’t set off white alarm bells. Just won’t. Even more: I’d say his presence is actively •calming• to white fragility.
I grudgingly admit it’s a politically useful tool. I do think the Walz White Calming Field helped shield our Black AG Keith Ellison, for example, who singlehandedly rescued the botched prosecution of Derek Chauvin. That could be an asset to counterbalance the misogynoir backlash against Harris.
3/ #uspol
The flipside of that is that Walz has been bad on police issues: very much in the “reform don’t defund” camp.
What does that look like in practice? He helped — truly helped — support the authoring of this •extremely• damning report on the Mpls police (just read the TOC, sheesh): https://mn.gov/mdhr/assets/Investigation%20into%20the%20City%20of%20Minneapolis%20and%20the%20Minneapolis%20Police%20Department_tcm1061-526417.pdf
…but he’s also staunchly resisted any sort of deep changes to the police. Very much in the “weed out the bad apples, show the rest some powerpoints, and give them raises” camp. Feh.
4/ #uspol
His record on other issues is a mixed bag; he tends to be on the good side of a lot things but in a some-but-not-too-much kind of way. Gave us a few key environmental wins. Mixed but more-positive-than-not record on labor.
Ultimately the best thing I can say about him is that he doesn’t stand in the way of big progress when it's initiated by others. The stuff in this thread passed because he went along with it, and that is a •lot• more than nothing: https://hachyderm.io/@inthehands/110499378582910135
5/ #uspol
Take all that as you will. I am not a political consultant, and have zero sense of candidate nomination strategy.
If he is the VP, well, personally I’m not all •that• excited, but he’d probably be better on policy than many alternatives — and I sure wouldn’t mind his vice gov being in charge of the state.
6/ #uspol
That's about all I care to offer to the Harris VP debate. As I've written before, it matters, but other stuff matters a lot more: unifying against fascism and doing the •work• of building that coalition, fighting hard against voter suppression, fighting the oncoming racist and misogynistic and misogynoir zone-flooding, fighting disinfo, gearing up for absolutely miserable nonsensical fights in a compromised judicial system, etc. VP choice is just one little piece of all that.
/end #uspol
@inthehands
As a fellow Minnesotan, I cosign all of this, especially excitement for a Flanagan governorship.
#MNastodon #uspol #uspolitics
@inthehands Walz’s bio as a veteran and teacher from rural America are also important. And give him credit for partnering with a very progressive indigenous Lt Gov in Peggy Flanagan. Also MN faired better than our neighbors during Covid due to his leadership.
@andyw350
His handling of COVID was mediocre in my view, but certainly miles better than the appallingly low bar set by our immediate neighbors.
@inthehands That seems highly Minnesota-optimized, tbh. I no longer live there, but admire him from afar and… can’t see him on the national stage.
@kmck
Generally agree. But political theater casting is not my expertise, so…who knows, I kind of expect to be wrong.
@inthehands This is making me nervous, because so much of the enthusiasm I'm hearing about him comes from his "attack dog auditions", but what you're saying sounds a lot like Tim Kaine.
@misc
There’s definitely something to that comparison. I’d say he’s less quirky and even better at the nonthreatening moderate schtick — though perhaps a bit more progressive in his actual outlook.
@misc @inthehands Walz has a definite “Dad” vibe about him, part of that means he knows how to bring on a folksy sort of snark when responding to dumbasserie. I think that will play well with voters who are not deeply engaged.
I also want to add that his leadership by getting out of the way is a real asset imho. Many politicians want the spotlight and he is good at giving it away.
@inthehands Also a MInnesotan: I agree with you about a lot of this, but don’t think you give him enough credit for picking Flanagan. She’s a ground-breaking choice and we’ve seen multiple Native American folks get elected to the Leg with her support. If I were Harris, I could see that relationship being a solid point in his favor.