Minnesota Governor Tim Walz
At the 2016 Democratic National Convention, First Lady Michelle Obama said about Republicans, “when they go low, we go high.” That was after more than seven years of Republicans going ever lower and lower, both in their rhetoric and their actions. Some of these many Republican low points include falsely and repeatedly questioning President Barack Obama‘s citizenship (i.e. “birtherism”), and denying President Obama a hearing for his U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland.
Eight years later, it appears Democrats finally have had enough of Republicans’ low behavior. The fantastically enthusiastic response of Democratic voters to the 2024 presidential ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz demonstrate that the party’s base wants leaders who not only are smart and competent, but who are also willing to go on offense against Donald Trump, his running mate J.D. Vance, and the Republican Party.
First of all, in supporting Vice President Harris, Democrats are getting someone with a background as a tough prosecutor. Thus, the theme of The Prosecutor vs. The Convicted Felon (meaning of course Donald Trump, already convicted of 34 felonies and facing more prosecutions) is a natural one that will surely be used over and over.
Moreover, by choosing Tim Walz as her running mate, Vice President Harris doubled down on taking the fight to the Republicans. Indeed, that became obvious even before Harris announced Walz as her running mate, as Walz coined the term “weird” to describe Trump and Vance back on July 23. This “weird” meme has really taken off, and in his first appearance with Harris, in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Walz went one better, saying that Trump and Vance were both “creepy, and yes, just weird as hell.” In his speech, Walz even alluded to Vance’s problems with couches (those unfamiliar with the subject can easily look it up). This shows that Walz is savvy when it comes to new media, such as Tik Tok, that he says his Gen Z kids use.
These Democratic fighting skills will come in very handy, as Republicans, flailing and down in the polls, are throwing all kinds of mud to see what will stick. For example, on Wednesday, Vance stalked Harris and her plane on the tarmac in Wisconsin. Vance is apparently following Harris wherever she goes on the campaign trail, which only reinforces the “creepy” narrative against him, and might even result in a talking to by the U.S. Secret Service. Vance also tried to denigrate Walz’s 24 years of military service, a weird choice given that it calls attention to Trump dodging the draft during the Vietnam War with a phony “bone spurs” excuse.
Between the combative Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, and the feisty Democratic voter base, it seems very likely that this time, the Republicans won’t get away with their usual dirty behavior, and, indeed, will be punished for it at the voting booth.
Photo by Tony Webster, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/ZAWjVi
