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Just a few weeks ago, if you had said that Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton would be opening for Tim Walz, you would have been forgiven for thinking: Tim, who?
And yet, on Wednesday night, on the most important level of his life, Walz completed his remarkable transformation from unknown Minnesota governor to vice president of a newly revitalized Democratic candidate alongside Kamala Harris.
The governor has become known for his eagerness to mock Donald Trump and J. D. Vance, calling them and their ilk “weird,” generating countless memes, and launching a political strategy that helped bring the party’s base back to the breaking point of despair. And Walz did not hesitate to remind the Democratic National Committee audience of his preference for playing offensive: he criticized a supposedly “anti-elitist” Vance for his pedigree at Yale; mocked Trump for his leadership shortcomings and tendency to blame others; And yes, they called his program “weird”, but “also bad and. . . dangerous. “
Throughout his remarks, Walz drew heavily on his Midwestern “checkered dad” persona: the guy who headed to John Mellencamp’s “Small Town” to shout out loud. His wife Gwen and their two children, Hope and Gus, cried as they told their spouse biography. , from National Guard to social studies instructor and state championship-winning football coach to longtime politician.
“Never underestimate a public teacher,” he said to enthusiastic applause.
But the speech reached stratospheric heights when it led to a dramatic pre-match pep talk in the locker room, reminiscent of Al Pacino’s in Any Sunday.
“I haven’t given many big speeches like this,” Walz said, referencing his humble beginnings, “however, I have given a lot of pep talks. So let me close with this, team: We’re in the fourth quarter, we’re close to the basket, but we are on offense and they gave us the ball. We rolled in the area and, my God, we have the right team.
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Then he excited his quarterback, so to speak. Kamala Harris is tough, Kamala Harris has experience, and Kamala Harris is ready. Our job, our job, our job,” Walz continued, gesturing to accompany even those watching from home, “is to go into the trenches and block and tackle. . One inch at a time, one meter at a time, one phone call at a time, one knock on the door at a time, a donation of five dollars at a time.
And then, in a crescendo as a crowd of attendees displayed symptoms that read “Coach Walz,” he concluded, “Look, we’ve got 76 days, it’s nothing. There will be time to sleep when you are dead. We’ll leave it on the floor. This is how we continue to move forward. That’s how we got the page on Donald Trump. “
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