Thanks for this post. Until late July I knew nothing about Gov. Walz. But for a reason that's a bit abstract, I want to report something about how I not only learned about him, but how I learned that his teaching intellect is so powerful that it bears centrally on what, in my view, is his value AFTER the election is won.
On July 30, the journalist James Fallows posted a Substack about the governor:
"Election Countdown, 99 Days to Go: Who Is Tim Walz?"
The final section carries the heading "My fellow geographers… ." It contains a video longer than a half hour--a lecture he gave at a meeting of his teacher peers. Now, if you're like me, you already have way too much reading and watching to do, so you look with furrowed brow at proposals to invest that much time. So I won't recommend watching the whole thing, because you can get at least my point--for what it's worth--by reading that short final section and going part way into the video and just watching maybe a 4-minute random segment.
Here's what I think I learned. Yes, this man is a gifted teacher and explainer, but beyond that, he's an enormously sophisticated synthesizer and analyst of complex, high-level information. My impression from what Fallows posted is that beyond all of the finally-hold-the-raving-madman-accountable stuff--beyond the imperative to win the election and save the republic, beyond all of the contributions the governor can make to that--once in office, he would make shrewd and perceptive contributions to situation-room discussions and cabinet meetings and the real brainwork of governing. Don't let the folksy charm fool you. This politician has the stuff to lead the country.
Or anyway, that's what I saw. And it seemed to merit reporting here.
Fallows's final line about it:
"And by the way, as soon as Walz finished, the 20,000 members of the audience—tech-oriented, mainly young, his 'fellow geographers'—erupted in a spontaneous and excited-sounding round of cheers and a standing ovation."
I support the candidate who best understands how race and racism have impacted our society. In other words, if Walz taught about the Civil War and truthfully understood what caused it... if he understands that if Black enslavement never happened, the war would not have happened, then he sounds like he's a good man.
I agree with the other comment, this is well said. As a resident of MN I feel compelled to add; I think Walz is something of a Populist, but in the late 19th/early 20th Century traditional sense. But I also think he is something an FDR democrat in that he is not wedded to any one idea or set of ideas. I think he tries something and if it doesn't work he tries something else. Perhaps the best description I've heard in the past 24hrs is when MSNBC called him America's Dad.
Teachers are great, and several had a formative influence on me. I'd be delighted to have one as US VP. "Mr Walz" apparently taught a great unit on genocide that his students still recall in their 30s: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/08/tim-walz-genocide-prediction-teacher/
Hi Kev, I used to throw 100 $1 bills in my Economics classroom to help teach the value of money...Dad
You were a legend, Dad.
Thanks for this post. Until late July I knew nothing about Gov. Walz. But for a reason that's a bit abstract, I want to report something about how I not only learned about him, but how I learned that his teaching intellect is so powerful that it bears centrally on what, in my view, is his value AFTER the election is won.
On July 30, the journalist James Fallows posted a Substack about the governor:
"Election Countdown, 99 Days to Go: Who Is Tim Walz?"
https://fallows.substack.com/p/election-countdown-99-days-to-go
The final section carries the heading "My fellow geographers… ." It contains a video longer than a half hour--a lecture he gave at a meeting of his teacher peers. Now, if you're like me, you already have way too much reading and watching to do, so you look with furrowed brow at proposals to invest that much time. So I won't recommend watching the whole thing, because you can get at least my point--for what it's worth--by reading that short final section and going part way into the video and just watching maybe a 4-minute random segment.
Here's what I think I learned. Yes, this man is a gifted teacher and explainer, but beyond that, he's an enormously sophisticated synthesizer and analyst of complex, high-level information. My impression from what Fallows posted is that beyond all of the finally-hold-the-raving-madman-accountable stuff--beyond the imperative to win the election and save the republic, beyond all of the contributions the governor can make to that--once in office, he would make shrewd and perceptive contributions to situation-room discussions and cabinet meetings and the real brainwork of governing. Don't let the folksy charm fool you. This politician has the stuff to lead the country.
Or anyway, that's what I saw. And it seemed to merit reporting here.
Fallows's final line about it:
"And by the way, as soon as Walz finished, the 20,000 members of the audience—tech-oriented, mainly young, his 'fellow geographers'—erupted in a spontaneous and excited-sounding round of cheers and a standing ovation."
The video is well worth watching. Thanks for sharing that post.
Thank you so much for these links, especially about Congressional ignorance of maps. The more I learn about Gov. Walz the better I like this ticket.
I support the candidate who best understands how race and racism have impacted our society. In other words, if Walz taught about the Civil War and truthfully understood what caused it... if he understands that if Black enslavement never happened, the war would not have happened, then he sounds like he's a good man.
I agree with the other comment, this is well said. As a resident of MN I feel compelled to add; I think Walz is something of a Populist, but in the late 19th/early 20th Century traditional sense. But I also think he is something an FDR democrat in that he is not wedded to any one idea or set of ideas. I think he tries something and if it doesn't work he tries something else. Perhaps the best description I've heard in the past 24hrs is when MSNBC called him America's Dad.
Very well said, Kevin. I’m heartened and hopeful by the events of the last few weeks.