Column: 'Weird' and kinda wonderful: Why Walz is exactly what Harris needs

Kamala Harris has choosen the most down-home dude in the Midwest as her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — the guy who ingeniously dubbed MAGA Republicans “weird.”

This development is likely giving a fierce case of heartburn to two other political rivals.

First, Gavin Newsom. No matter what our wavy-haired leader says, he’s had his eye on the Resolute Desk. Now, even if the Harris-Walz ticket doesn’t win, he’s got Walz ahead of him in line. Ouch.

And second, of course, is JD Vance, who must be downing Pepto-Bismol with glasses of buttermilk after hearing this news. About a week ago (which is approximately two millennia by the current political calendar) Walz dubbed Vance “weird.”

By today’s standards of labeling immigrants as “animals” and “rapists,” as former President Trump has done, weird sounds like it would be the least of insults.

But it has stuck like gum on the sole of MAGA shoes. Or maybe stuck to their souls. For some reason, it hit home, especially with Vance.

Since then, Trump has had to defend his pick, who can’t shake the image of being strange. Of course, his “childless cat ladies” remark didn’t help.

But the weird label has even Trump on the defensive.

“They’re the weird ones,” he claimed in a recent interview. “Nobody’s ever called me weird. I’m a lot of things, but weird I’m not and I’m up front, and he’s not either, I will tell you, JD is not at all, they are.”

That’s the “I’m rubber, you’re glue,” defense, popular in first-grade classrooms across America.

But if there’s anyone who’s not weird in this election, it’s Walz, which is what makes him such a terrific pick.

This guy. He’s pure Minnesota, in the best way. He was in the Army National Guard for 24 years. He coached football. He was a social studies teacher, on a Native American reservation, in China for a year, then at a public high school where he served as advisor to the first gay-straight alliance club.

Since then, he’s been a champion for LGBTQ+ rights, in a part of the country where there’s often little political capital for doing so.

He has signed laws protecting gender-affirming healthcare. He’s stopped book banning for containing gender issues.

He’s protected abortion rights. He’s banned so-called conversion therapy, the controversial practice of attempting to un-gay people through religion or other methods.

He is hands-down a progressive, even though he looks like central casting sent him to play “conservative grandpa,” though he’s only 60 — clearly a Minnesota 60 is an L.A. 80. No offense, but he doesn’t look young.

But he acts young — and is definitely young at heart.

Perhaps most endearing, he posts videos with his college-aged daughter, Hope, that are pure fun-dad and delightful to watch. They’ve got some real Fargo humor going. (Yes, I know that’s North Dakota. Close enough.) I just watched one of them at the Minnesota State Fair (Walz in a Springsteen T-shirt) that made me laugh out loud:

Walz: We’re going to get some food. Corn dog?

Hope: I’m vegetarian.

Walz: Turkey then.

Hope: Turkey’s meat.

Walz: Not in Minnesota. Turkey’s special.

Yes, it’s silly-dumb. But man is this guy wholesome. You want to argue about family values? Good luck bringing that to Walz.

Which is why this choice by Harris is so strong. Walz is just a good guy. Whether you ask in political circles or dig back into his life, he’s made a habit of standing for the values MAGA Republicans claim to love, but also love to squash.

Put him in a debate with Vance, and my prediction is that Vance will come across as shrill and small. Walz has proven with his leadership in Minnesota that you can have government that is kind and inclusive without the world falling apart.

Last year, Walz created a plan to “make Minnesota the best state in the nation for kids to grow up in.”

That is exactly what Vance claims to be doing — albeit by shoving kids and families into a tiny white Christian nationalist box.

Walz, by contrast, has given free school lunches to children; made college free for more people; and provided substantial state tax credits for families.

How ’bout them policies, Vance?

And when MAGA put IVF in their crosshairs? Well, Hope is an IVF baby. So Walz had this to say about it:

“Even if you’ve never gone through the hell of infertility, someone you know has. When Gwen and I were having trouble getting pregnant, the anxiety and frustration blotted out the sun. JD Vance opposing the miracle of IVF is a direct attack on my family and so many others.”

You may recall that we have yet to hear many specific policies from Trump or Vance, other than the promise to break apart immigrant families and deport millions of people.

By contrast, “We’re leading the nation on climate, gun safety, and protecting reproductive rights. We’re investing in education and ensuring no child has to learn on an empty stomach. We’re expanding voting rights, expanding workers’ rights, and reducing child poverty,” Walz said on Twitter (now X) last year.

Walz has what even Harris lacks — a real track record of doing the right thing successfully.

And, as a bonus, if a Harris-Walz ticket won, Walz’s lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, would become the first Native American governor in American history.

So yeah, I’m a Walz-a-maniac, and there’s nothing weird about that.