Harris Campaign Plans to Deploy Tim Walz as Her Anti-MAGA ‘Sledgehammer’

24 comments

1. Let’s do this, I am so Walz pilled ⚒️⚒️⚒️

2. “You could have a steam train . . .”

3. He’s great for many reasons, but a big one is that he can go *anywhere* and appeal to voters. Rural Michigan, rural Pennylsvania, suburbs, cities.

   He’s a former football coach, a hunter, a veteran, a teacher. He was born in a town with a population of 400. He’s genuine, plain-spoken, relatable. I liked several of the other candidates, but no one can do what he does in terms of broad outreach.

4. *”I want to be your sledgehammer. Why don’t you call my name?”* – Tim Walz

5. Those fist pumps were electrifying

6. Tim is a sort of left wing, Midwestern Thor.

7. ***From Rolling Stone’s Asawin Suebsaeng and Andrew Perez:***

   It’s been less than a day since Vice President Kamala Harris officially rolled out progressive darling Tim Walz as her 2024 running mate, and he already has a specific mandate from his boss: drive Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, and the right as crazy as he possibly can.

   According to multiple Democratic sources on and close to the Harris 2024 campaign, the vice president and her allies are planning to deploy Walz over the next three months in the media and on the campaign trail as an omnipresent, MAGA-trashing attack dog. Walz is set to be, in the phrasing of one Harris 2024 source, the campaign’s go-to “sledgehammer against Vance and Trump” from now until Election Day.

   Read more: [https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/kamala-harris-tim-walz-sledgehammer-trump-vance-1235075356/](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/kamala-harris-tim-walz-sledgehammer-trump-vance-1235075356/)

8. Angry grandpa cuts through the bullshit, calls out their weird, regressive antics, and is ready to remind all the moderates who have been voting red through this mess exactly what “normal” really looks like.

   This dude is the quintessential blue collar Joe Schmoe from the midwest who went on to become a fantastic progressive governor. What a terrific choice for VP.

   Bring the hammer down, we’re ready.

9. As an upper midwesterner, some of the most cutting statements I’ve ever been on the receiving end of are delivered in ‘Minnesota nice’.

10. Looks like the Trump Campaign paid a lot of money for those “Kamala Crash” posters.

    Maybe Kamala can buy them if the Trump campaign crosses out “Crash” with “Surge”. I think they need the cash…

11. Walz has got a superpower that Maga can’t defeat.

    He isn’t weird.

12. Tim Walz is an excellent VP choice and can do the dirty work without coming off as gruff. He doesn’t give you a politician vibes and speaks clearly and in simple terms that will appeal to everyday voter. During the campaign rally last night his speech felt like a roast and it was the perfect tone. Nice jabs at the GOP and the Orange Turd.

13. Unleash the dad we’ve all lost to Fox News against Fox News… sounds good to me.

14. Walz represents precisely the “Great” America which Poor Donald and Couchfucker want you to believe no longer exists.

15. Vance accused Walz of “stolen valor” for serving in the national guard and never seeing combat.

    Despicable and insulting to millions of military families

16. He’s just so natural and likable. You can immediately tell when a politician is *trying* to be comfortable (ahem… J.D.) but he has the life experience to talk in a human manner. His goal was never to be VP but because of who he is, he fits so perfectly into this. If he can do even half as well as he did yesterday, people are going to see that he’s a seemingly regular guy who has found himself in this scenario.

17. If his speech last night was any indication, he’s going to be very effective at this job. I’m a conservative and even I was cheering for him. I did roll my eyes a couple of times at some of his more ridiculous statements. But it was overall a very effective speech.

18. He’ll be great for that. He’s got Teddy Roosevelt energy (in a good way).

19. Who coulda predicted that calling him “Fascist, Authoritarian, Pedophile, Liar and Psychopath” wouldn’t bother him a bit, but the second you call him weird, which he is, he’s like, Wait! No I’M NOT.

    Well, I guess one person predicted it.

20. This is the thing that so much of the VP analysis is missing:

    Walz is going to be the biggest Kamala Harris cheerleader over the next 100 days. He’s going to be all over the Midwest leading rallies to excite people about voting for her. He’s going to dunk all over the old rapist and his weird ass VP pick, while coming off as a genuine person that people can say “I think that guy’s speaking from the heart and really cares about this.”

    The other potential picks were great leaders also that had solid backgrounds in important topics. But have you heard either of them give a public speech? They don’t have that charisma and relatability. They’re not going to rile up a crowd like Walz and Harris will.

    She chose a dude that could open up a WWE show and get the crowd fired up.

21. Two places he needs to visit:

    1) Marquette, Michigan. Show the UP some love and the whole state will reward them.

    2) Omaha, NE. The electoral vote here could come into play. As a native son of Nebraska, they will love him.

22. Some will take this as a pejorative, but I assure you it’s not. Walz gives me strong Jimmy Carter vibes.

    From a small town, public school education, military service, successful in a “real person” job (teacher/coach), state executive experience, etc.

    I wish more of our national level candidates fit this profile. We’re not a nation of multimillionaires and there are far too many of people with that as a family background in our political machine for our governance to reflect our population’s needs.

23. I saw the line that Walz is the dad everyone lost to Fox News. I’m British and it hit hard as that is exactly who he is. I’ve read post after post about family members lost to the cult and here is this wonderfully warm but fierce guy who will remind everyone of what they lost when they put politics before their loved ones. We don’t have the cult here but I’ve definitely lost respect for my older family in the last decade of Tory rule, the riots here are the result of a decade of hate against the ‘other’ and it’s still not as bad as what you guys are dealing with. There are millions around the world just as hopeful and excited about the new trajectory the Dems are head in, we need them to win almost as much as you do. Vote everyone!

24. It’s a smart strategy. A woman, especially a woman of color, can’t show too much anger. He, on the other hand, is incredibly effective at using a splash of anger mixed in with his jovial dad vibes–it’s almost the “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed. I still love you but you have to make better choices” conversation we’ve all had with our kids. MAGA folks will be able to relate to him much more than they will ever be able to relate to her.