Tim Walz captivates Madison audience, talking politics and decency | Government

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz reached national notoriety last year as former Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in her ultimately unsuccessful bid for president.

Along the campaign trail, Walz wooed voters with a wholesome “Midwest Dad” vibe that convinced rally-goers he could teach them how to change the spark plugs on a car just as well as he could discuss meaningful progressive policy. 

Throughout 2024, the five-time U.S. House member and three-time winner of Minnesota’s congressional hotdish competition traded his flannels for blazers in an attempt to convince swing states like Wisconsin that he and Harris were the right choice for the White House.

Walz has since returned to governing Wisconsin’s neighboring state. The Democrat has weathered two major shootings in recent months, one of which took the life of a close friend and political ally, all while courting the possibility of an unprecedented third term at the helm of the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

While the football coach-turned-politician would not confirm Friday night whether he will again seek re-election, his hinted direction could be perceived easily enough by most in the crowded Shannon Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Memorial Union. 

“It sure doesn’t feel like now is the time to leave the field,” Walz told Cap Times Associate Editor John Nichols. 

The Minnesota governor’s conversation with Nichols Friday night marked his first return to Madison since losing the November election. Walz visited Eau Claire earlier this year in March to campaign on behalf of now Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Susan Crawford — an electoral success Walz commended the Wisconsin Democratic Party for handily securing. 

Last November, about 75% of Dane County voted for Harris and Walz. In Madison, more than 80% supported the ticket and, as Nichols noted, certain precincts in Madison “busted 90%.”

“Highly educated people,” Walz quipped. 

A combination of charm, wit and self-deprecating humor quickly reminded the audience why voters became so easily fond of the governor as he launched what most can attest to being a national popularity contest. 

Running alongside Harris in the 107 days that led up to Nov. 5 was “the privilege of a lifetime,” Walz said. 

That 15-week roller coaster came with tough lessons, the governor acknowledged, ranging from learning how to use a teleprompter to losing the election itself. 

Walz did not attend his first political rally until he was 41 years old. He coached football and taught social studies and, as he says, “had the luxury” of being able to check out of politics. 

He worked on a campaign for John Kerry in the longtime U.S. senator’s race for the White House against former President George W. Bush. 

Acknowledging he was no spring chicken when he entered the world of campaign politics himself in a run for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District in 2006, Walz said he learned how to be humble before entering the electoral circus — a lesson the governor said many currently in office have yet to learn. 

A “lack of basic humanity” in current politics is a source of deep concern for Walz, who acknowledged that while he preaches reason and humility, he finds himself becoming angry about what President Donald Trump is enacting in office. 

“The president brings out the worst in me,” Walz said, reflecting on his anger at Trump’s reverence for the assassinated far-right media personality Charlie Kirk but not for slain Minnesota Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman or her husband, who were shot in their home on June 14 in a chilling series of political attacks by a gunman targeting Democrats.

“I don’t know how you push back on the cruelty that’s out there without becoming a little cruel,” Walz said. “It’s a real dilemma and I don’t have it figured out.”

Political violence itself is not new to the United States, the country that saw the assassination of figures from Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X to John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln. 

“What’s different now is it’s more ordinary,” Walz said. 

The strong-man posturing befitting a high school football match has now found its way into the very foundation of the presidency, presenting a great problem for the American people, Walz said. 

“We’ve got a White House that sees every single interaction as a zero sum —somebody has to win and somebody has to lose,” Walz said. “It’s just not like that in life.”

Nevertheless, Walz remains optimistic — not a through line for all Cap Times Idea Fest speakers this week. 

“We have to organize ourselves out of it,” Walz said of the current political status of the United States. 

It’s important to remember, he said, that nearly 90 million eligible voters skipped the November election altogether. 

Reaching those disillusioned with the state of the American electoral system is how Democrats win back the country, he suggested.

“Good politics follows good policy,” Walz said. “When we have the opportunity, we don’t go big enough.” 

The governor cited his own track record after assuming office in the state Capitol for the first time in 2019.

That session, he and a Democrat-led Legislature passed into law a slew of progressive policies such as constitutionally protected abortion access, paid family leave, expanded Medicaid, free meals for school children, protections for labor unions and free or reduced-cost state college for low-income families. 

“When you win elections and you get power, you don’t bank that political capital to win the next election,” Walz said. “You burn it to improve lives.”

Democrats lack a sense of urgency to implement meaningful policy that will help secure voter loyalty, the governor said. 

“Our policies are super popular. Our party, not so much so,” Walz said. 

This is not the end of American democracy, the governor told the crowd. 

“We will win (again), and when we win back next time, we better have the same sense of purpose and urgency (as Donald Trump does now),” Walz said.