Posted on 08/07/2024 6:36:20 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. -- Minnesota Governor Tim Walz beat out Democratic governors and senators from across the East and West coast to be named the Vice Presidential nominee running alongside Kamala Harris. But what do Wisconsin voters think of our Midwestern neighbor getting on the ticket?
"I think Walz is more consequential for Wisconsin than the other possible candidates were," Barry Burden, Political Science Professor and Director of UW-Madison's Elections Research Center said.
And some Wisconsin voters seemed to agree Tuesday, like Rod Rotar after watching Walz's acceptance speech in Pennsylvania. He spoke to News 3 Now after grocery shopping on the West Side of Madison.
"It was just like watching someone from Wisconsin here," he said, "it was honestly like watching Tommy Thompson, except for the other party. And it was actually a great speech."
Before getting into politics in Minnesota, Walz was a high school teacher and football coach. He grew up in rural Nebraska, and served for 24 years in the National Guard.
According to Burden, that and Walz's working class look as a husband to his wife of 30 years and father to two kids makes him more familiar to Wisconsinites than Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro or Arizona Senator Mark Kelly would have been.
"Harris has some connections, she lived in Madison as a young person, but I don't think she has that kind of relatability outside of urban areas in Wisconsin that Walz can can make a stab at," Burden said.
Back in the Metro Market parking lot Tuesday, Richard Hughes believed picking Walz was a good move to reach general Wisconsin. "He seems to have moderate Midwest values. It's a nice compliment to the Harris ticket, I think."
"When you get outside of Madison or the Metropolitan areas, it gets pretty rural and pretty Trump fans," Hughes said. "At least they'll get Independents, I think."
Burden does expect the GOP to go after how Walz handled the unrest across the Twin Cities area in 2020 following George Floyd's murder, and his "friendly measures" toward undocumented immigrants.
"Giving them driver's licenses and access to state benefits, that will fit into the Republican theme that Democrats are soft on immigration and that Kamala Harris in particular, has not managed the the border well," Burden said.
He could also see Republicans trying to paint their VP pick JD Vance, who is from Ohio and spent part of his youth in Kentucky, as more of a rural Midwesterner than Walz.
"Republicans are already looking for ways to peel those two apart and to show that Walz is not the genuine article when it comes to, you know, connecting with white voters outside of urban areas," the Professor said. "I think that particular criticism is likely to fall short, just given Walz's deep experience in small towns, you know, where he grew up, where he was a teacher, where he spent most of his life."
But with a bit of a sports rivalry between Wisconsin and Minnesota, how do Wisconsinites feel about the other side getting on the ticket?
"I had grandkids who went to the University of Minnesota, so no comment," Hughes said.
"While they still have a bad football team, they did have a good governor," Rotar said.
Are Wisconsin voters going to vote for “Tampon Timmy”?
“. . . moderate Midwest values”?!?! Yes, this is obviously a fluff piece. I heard other Minnesotans say they’ll be glad to be rid of him.
LOL! You know SOME of them will. Those of us that live rural won’t be. Plenty of TRUMP signs out here. ;)
This is what passes for hard hitting urinalism.
The Wisconsinites who live off government cheese are going to love and vote for Weird Walz. He’s just weird enough for them.
The other thing this has a potential to do is to make suburban baby-killers a single issue voter. And we all know how that ends up. The will have to defend all of the left-wing lunacy by both Klammy and The last Walz. It's going to be difficult to do.
“moderate midwest values.” Right.
He’s the wacky Timmy Kaine VEEP we never got to have. ROTFL.
A “man in the street” article. You pick the right men, you get the result you want.
Of course, they interviewed people in Madison for this.
I might have a bit more faith in this article if they had interviewed people in Marshfield, Antigo or Richland Center.
And the “reporter” didn’t ask what the grocery shoppers thought about the cost of groceries?
I guess not.
Thirty trips to China. Just an average small town Dad...
Tim Walz = Bernie Sanders
Socialists and Marxists is all that the party consists of.
Going on record early with this fraud: I’ve sized this guy up fast as I know his type and thankfully, there are only a few I’ve encountered. He’s a no talent fraud who stumbled early into the “skillset” of charming children and, later, their parents. However, he’s discovered his true power in those children whom have quickly grown to become his adult constituents! Shrewd. His payoff is being the cool adult, in the form of teacher and coach and he sticks to what works - which is manipulation. His authenticity is paper thin and he’s motivated by being “liked”. This is also why he frequents China; there is another emotional payoff for him there, and he’s since enrolled in their doctrines. His intelligence is also paper thin, masked by only doing what he perceives is hot with the “popular crowd”. He’s attracted to whatever affirms his ego, but when the going gets tough, he gets going...away from it. His biggest fear is being shown as a failure or needing to dig down to do any real, hard work or any expense of authentic emotion. Guys like him are actually very angry not so deep down. To expose this “Good Time Charlie”, JD Vance must irritate him by going intellectually deep and also by calling him out on his cowardice and lack of true connection to both people and the issues. “Good Time Timmy” plays it safe and has skirted any confrontation of true intellectual firepower because no one has yet spotted his fraud and called him on his fraud. It’s time to expose his true narcissism and fear, all on the world stage.
Hope your’re right.
This Wisconsinites thinks and knows he is a commie SOB.
Supporters of Tony the Teacher will love him.
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