Opinion: Walz is a hunter, a former soldier, and a 'rural for real' man on the Democratic ticket

Art Cullen

This opinion piece by Art Cullen, editor of the Storm Lake Times Pilot in Iowa, has been gently edited for Rural Blog brevity.

"Kamala Harris and the Democrats do well to have Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on their national ticket as the vice-presidential nominee. He’s rural, for real. Walz has broad appeal in Upper Midwest battleground states, is well-versed in the you-betcha vernacular, and is well-suited in Carhartt with a camo cap. . . . Somehow Walz figured out a way to win a congressional seat in a red district around Mankato and ultimately the governorship.

"Republicans will have a hard time defining the former master sergeant in the Army National Guard as an out-of-control elite liberal. He is an expert marksman, claims he is a better pheasant shooter than his counterpart JD Vance, and suggests that vegetarians should eat turkey since it is not really meat. He hails from West Point, Neb., from whence you can almost see South Dakota, and once got popped for drunk driving as a young school teacher and coach. [He] gave up on drinking under his wife’s advice.

"Walz subscribes to the standard Democratic orthodoxy — pro-choice, supports gay rights, believes in feeding children at school, champions a living wage and backs labor unions. . . Walz favors some gun controls, as Ronald Reagan did. . . . [He's] pretty much your White Midwestern dad dude who coached Mankato West to a state football title.

"As a congressman, Walz was a staunch advocate for ethanol and biodiesel, which creates immense water quality problems in southern Minnesota and Iowa. As governor, he made way for pipelines supported by union pipefitting brethren. As vice president, he could focus attention on rural areas left behind by the bicoastal economic expansion. He could make a difference in trying to reorient agriculture toward a more diverse production system that is resilient against economic and climatic extremes.

"Rural America is more than resentful people in red caps. It’s the complicated challenge of feeding the hungry while not despoiling the richest land in the world. It’s people with ambition and ideas held down for generations by corporate power with little regard for community. Walz gets it. That could be a powerful antidote to the decline of political choice . . .

"Rural communities struggling to survive need an alternative, something other than simply more tax cuts and lousy roads and rivers choking in toxins. . . . The Harris campaign will task Walz with campaigning in Wisconsin, Michigan and western Pennsylvania. . . . Simply having a candidate on the national ticket who actually baled hay under the Nebraska sun should buck us up."