At first, Postindustrial Founder Carmen Gentile was disappointed by the choice of Tim Walz as Kamala Harris’ running mate. But the campaign made an excellent pick, which goes to show how much he knows.
I’ll admit it: being a son of the Keystone State, I was pulling for Gov. Josh Shapiro to get the VP nod.
So when news broke that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a relative newcomer to the national stage, won the veepstakes, I was a little bummed.
[You can take the boy out of Pennsylvania, but you can’t take the PA homerism out of the boy.]
However, then I thought about it and eventually recognized the reasoning and strategy behind the pick.
And it wasn’t just because Walz is the brilliant author of the “weird” moniker for Trump and MAGA minions, which Democratic leaders and talking heads have utilized to great benefit in recent weeks.
But goddamn, what an amazing way to best explain today’s GOP. Walz wielded the word “weird” in this interview from last month, as many midwesterners would when describing the oft-odd behaviors and ideas birthed by Trumpism.
This interview is masterful, really. He starts out talking like a traditional politician, enumerating Harris’ accomplishments, extolling the virtues of the candidate and the party, condemning the opposition for being divisive and having bad policies, etc.
Then, he boils all that down to Americans wanting to make it through another Thanksgiving without getting into an argument with their “weird uncle” over Biden body doubles and Dr. Fauci’s war crimes.
Boom. Mic drop.
With that single word Walz and Democrats finally found a way to break through to voters in ways they previously, repeatedly failed to do.
It took a former school teacher, and football coach, turned congressman, then governor, to figure out how to properly message Americans on Trump.
Forget the “existential threat” rhetoric, the hand-wringing about fascism, and Project 2025. But it just wasn’t landing with an ominous THUD! sufficient enough to resonate with Americans, many of whom don’t know firsthand what the yoke of fascism and dictatorship feels like (though Joe Biden is somehow both hopelessly senile and a dictator.).
But “weird?” Yeah, a lot of voters recognize weird when they see it. And I’m not talking about “good weird,” like dressing your pitbull in a tutu or drawing crop circles in your lawn to prank neighbors into thinking a UFO landed.
I’m talking about Trump’s odd behavior and the cavalcade of weirdness, hate, and violence it inspires.
Because let’s face it: today’s GOP is really fucking weird.
Look at this freak show
That’s gamer and casual racist Adin Ross dancing with Trump in front of a cybertruck (i.e., douche-mobile) wrapped in an image of Trump after he was shot. Ross gave the truck to Trump after interviewing him and before dancing to “YMCA” in front of it.
Dude, that’s fucking weird. There’s no better way to explain it.
Before Walz unleashed “weird” onto the political stage, Democrats would have spent countless, pointless hours discussing the fact that Ross hosted loathsome white supremacist Nick Fuentes on his show before interviewing Trump (I guess they have Nick in common) to no avail with voters.
Now? All that heinous stuff about them gets mentioned, of course. But just look at that video of these two racist goofs dressed the same – though 60 years apart in age, which is totally normal – and dancing in front of that dickhead truck.
That’s super fucking weird.
And that’s what’s seemingly, finally breaking through to voters of all ages and stripes.
And we have Tim Walz to thank for that, not that “weird” is his only contribution to the Harris-Walz ticket. Just watch him bring down the house in Philadelphia with this amazing speech.
In addition to being a passionate, plain-spoken, dutiful public servant, Walz comes across as a pleasant guy who does right by his Minnesota constituents. Those folks enjoy one of the better standards of living in America and live in one of the happiest states in the country.
Walz and Minnesota lawmakers worked together to provide free meals for school-age kids in need, legalized recreational marijuana use, made abortion a right in the state, and so much more. Sounds good to you?
So yeah, adding Tim Walz from Minnesota to the ticket was a smart move.
Nothing weird about it.
