Is Tim Walz the Midwestern Dad Democrats Need?

The Ezra Klein Show

New York Times Opinion

Society & Culture, Government, News

4.6 • 11K Ratings

🗓️ 2 August 2024

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I’ve watched a lot of presidential campaigns, and I can’t remember one in which the contest for the Democratic vice-presidential nomination has played out quite so publicly. One breakthrough voice has been Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota. Before last week, he didn’t have much of a national profile. But then he went on “Morning Joe” and said of Donald Trump and JD Vance, “These guys are just weird.” That one line has transformed the Democratic Party’s messaging, with everyone from Vice President Kamala Harris to Senator Joe Manchin using similar language. But it’s the kind of criticism that risks coming off as condescending to those who support Trump and Vance, similar to Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” comment in 2016. But what has stood out to me about Walz’s political ethos is his confidence in speaking on behalf of everyday Americans — a confidence his track record backs up. Walz comes from a very small town and repeatedly won House races in a district that heavily favored Trump. So I invited him on the show to talk about how he walks this line between attacking Republican politicians without alienating Republican voters and how he thinks Democrats can control the narrative of this election and start winning some of those voters back. Book Recommendations: The Most Secret Memory of Men by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr Command and Control by Eric Schlosser The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs. This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Rollin Hu. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, with Kate Sinclair and Mary Marge Locker. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Annie Galvin, Elias Isquith and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Sonia Herrero.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From New York Times opinion, this is the Ezra Klein Show. I've watched a lot of presidential campaigns and I can't remember one where the
0:28.5	contest for who is going to be the next Democratic vice presidential nominee has played out quite so publicly.
0:37.2	You've watched these Midwestern and Southern white male Democratic governors and possibilities, cabinet members in the case of Pete
0:45.2	Buda judge fanning out across the media to make their case.
0:49.3	And that's allowed for some voices and figures to break through who you might not have imagined before.
0:56.4	And foremost among them is Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz.
1:00.4	I don't think anybody else in the party has shot as rapidly from somebody who fairly few people to heard of.
1:07.0	I mean, you know, if you follow who's the chair of the Democratic Governance Association, you might have known him, to somebody that all of a sudden is on the
1:14.8	short list all of a sudden has a loud proud excited online fan base and not just
1:21.2	up but somebody who has changed the entire rest of the Democratic
1:25.2	Party's messaging and what began it the core of Waltz's slingshot to
1:31.4	national prominence was one interview on Morning Joe.
1:34.8	I think this is going back to the bread and butter, getting away from this division.
1:38.8	We do not like what has happened where we can't even go to Thanksgiving dinner with our uncle
1:43.7	because you end up in some weird fight that is unnecessary and I think bringing back
1:48.8	people together well it's true these guys are just weird and it's you know they're running for he man
1:54.7	women-haters club or something that's what they go at that's not what people are
1:58.6	interested in that was the interview heard round the Democratic Party I
2:02.0	remember it hit me on social media. I saw that and thought oh that really connects and all of a sudden it was all you heard from Democrats, right? Weird, weird, weird, these guys are weird, they're weird and creepy.
2:13.4	You ever see this guy like when he's on the stage he like kind of meanders over, you know, can't really walk well
2:19.2	and he goes over to the flag and he like hugs the flag and I love the flag but it's a weird
2:24.7	thing he does. Some of what he and his running me are saying let's just plain
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