Getting to know a political candidate is not dissimilar to dating. You meet another individual, and slowly, information comes to light. They seek to portray themselves in the best possible way, and it's up to you to read potential telltale signs, or end up in a bad relationship.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Timothy James Walz might fit the part of an affable, aw-shucks, salt-of-the-earth Midwesterner, but something seems off. Let's look into why it feels that way.
At first, Walz seemed a bit zany. His exuberant stage entrances didn't match up with his oppressive gubernatorial record. Then we learned of his 95 mph DUI conviction.
Walz, then 31, had been drinking with friends. On the drive to his home, an officer tried to pull him over, but Walz accelerated up to 95 mph before finally pulling over. Walz, whose blood alcohol level was .128, well above the legal limit, plea bargained his way to a misdemeanor reckless driving charge. He lost his license for 90 days and paid a fine. Pretty happy landing after fleeing arrest.
A DUI in itself isn't that damning. Most people know someone who has gotten one, so it's reasonably relatable, politically speaking. The part that deserves attention is the impulse to run from the police. That's a display of poor impulse control. Much more on this in a moment.
Worse still is the fact that Walz's campaign manager repeatedly lied about the DUI during Walz's first congressional race in 2006, as reported by Slate:
"It seems that back in 2006 when Walz first ran for Congress, his campaign manager repeatedly told the press that the DUI charge against Walz was dropped and he was offered a plea to the lesser offense, reckless driving, because he had not been drinking at all. Walz, his then–campaign manager claimed, had suffered hearing loss during his time in the Army National Guard and had repeatedly failed to understand the police officer’s instructions, first when he signaled him to pull over and then during the sobriety test. He went on to claim that Walz had been allowed to drive his car from the scene of the arrest to the police station, something the police would not have allowed had Walz actually been drinking."
To be clear, a campaign manager says what s/he and the candidate have agreed upon behind closed doors. They're selling an image, and any contradictions between the two individuals is blood in the water for journalists. In other words, Walz and his manager agreed to tell a stupid, easily disprovable lie while running for a seat in the House of Representatives. This is underscored by the fact his manager told the lie repeatedly.
Again: it isn't the DUI. It's the fleeing from it, and the lying afterward. These are not leadership characteristics.
Then Walz's service record came under scrutiny. Let us be the first to say that anyone who serves our country in the military deserves the benefit of the doubt. But when the men Walz served with started to come forth with claims that he abandoned his unit once it became clear they would be deployed, it calls for an inspection.
What makes this accusation stick out like a sore thumb is that Walz was just a few short procedural steps from finalizing the rank of Command Sergeant Major (CSM), the highest rank an enlisted soldier can achieve. Instead, he quit with the rank of Master Sergeant.
That's small potatoes, though, at least for civilians. The bigger problem: the lies Walz told about it.
As reported by Politico, Walz was dressed down for multiple lies, including "carrying a weapon in war" (he didn't), and claiming to have retired with a higher rank (CSM) than he did.
He was called out by a group of Republican lawmakers:
“You have stated that you are ‘damn proud’ of your service, and like any American veteran, you should be,” the Republican members of Congress wrote, on a document with Trump-Vance campaign letterhead. “But there is no honor in lying about the nature of your service.”
The Harris campaign tried to stop the bleeding for Walz:
"And Walz in 2018 referred to 'weapons of war, that I carried in war' when decrying gun violence, though he did not serve in a combat zone. A Harris spokesperson has since said he 'misspoke' in saying he carried weapons in war, but that he did 'handle weapons of war.'"
In this case, the lies are bigger. The poor judgement is still on display. A pattern is forming. Walz is a runner, not a fighter. And when he does fight, he has others do it for him, in the most petty and un-American way imaginable.
What kind of governor tells troops and police under his command to shoot nonlethal rounds at nonviolent taxpayers?
Tim Walz did.
The weird mix of cowardice and anger that Walz possesses was on display during Covid-19 lockdowns in his home state of Minnesota.
Minnesota, you know? The home of "Minnesota Nice"? Well yah, you betcha, Walz turned loose an army of roving law enforcement officers with the command to shoot citizens with paintballs. And take it from us, that sh*t hurts.
The victims' crime? Standing on their porches or in their yards.
Claims that Walz did not order these heinous actions read like a Semantics 101 textbook. The Dems have nowhere to hide on this one. It was a disgusting, petty decision made by a man with a checkered, cowardly past.
The adjunct part of this segment is that Walz claimed to have been the "coach" of his employer, Mankato West High School, when the team won the football state championship in Minnesota in 1999. The fact is, Walz was an assistant coach. We aren't going to harp on this detail because it's a small one in the universe of Walz's mythic heightening.
But it is another example of his legacy of lies, of borrowing glory for political gain.
Coach Rick Sutton deserves the glory, not Walz, who was an unpaid volunteer on the team. Good on Walz for helping out, but honestly, give credit where it's due.
Just as an aside, Walz was recently photographed with the scion of the Soros kingdom. While this isn't an explicit example of "run away then lie about it", perhaps it is in the broader sense. Soros patriarch George Soros is well known for his role in looting Jewish homes for art and other valuables during WWII with the Nazis.
George has claimed that he was forced into the work. Yet his political empire's current actions cohere with his brutal yet subtle campaign against modern Jewry. The architect of so much of the world's pain continues his work unmolested, and his heir is making social calls on world leaders as if it were customary. George's mantle of electing mid-level figures such as district attorneys, congresspeople, and attorneys general has paid off in spades.
Mr. Walz, meet your future--or perhaps current--boss. Alex Soros is the beady-eyed son of George, eager to take the reins from his dad. He has been recently photographed with a great number of elected leaders, including Walz, perhaps as a signal of cabal approval.
Any parent knows the moment. A child is out of line, and the mother or father reacts in a way they wish they could take back. It happens. But what if that reaction is so ingrained that it comes out in front of global press coverage?
In the clip at the beginning of this article, we shared a moment where Walz sharply jerks the wrist of his developmentally-disabled son Gus. In another setting, the action might be forgivable.
In this instance, Walz's anger betrays his carefully crafted character. It's not a gentle tug. It's a hard jerk. Poor Gus reacts with a grimace-turned-smile for the cameras that he seems more aware of than his father.
Here it is again. This is Timothy James Walz, folks. Watch it carefully. This isn't a good man. And he stands to be an ugly mistake away from running the United States of America.
Maybe Walz was upset that he claimed his son was the product of IVF when it was really IUI for political points. He might have been upset that his son's display of emotion garnered so much internet attention, much of it, sadly, negative.
Gus was excited to see his dad deliver a speech on one of the grandest stages in American politics. That's awesome. What's sad is that his father--a lifetime myth-maker--would treat the product of his own genes like a rankling annoyance on the biggest stage of either of their lives.
The final question: will Walz run from this problem, and lie about it, like he has so often?
