In choosing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as his running mate, Vice President Harris chose an affable figure with dad-joke zeal and “Minnesota cool” energy.
But Walz’s time in the House reveals another dimension — that of a shrewd strategist, able to survive choppy political waters when other Democrats were sinking and play hardball to achieve his ambitions when the moment calls for it.
These attributes emerged not only in the act of winning the diplomatic votes that helped keep him in his competitive seat, but also during his rise to become the top Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee, eclipsing a more senior member in a game of power rarely seen in the Democratic Convention.
Sources say the dichotomous disposition — friendly Midwesterner combined with keen political pugilist — likely played a major factor in Harris’s choice of vice-presidential nominee, a position that traditionally encompasses the dual roles of party cheerleader and dog of attack.
Walz’s allies say he is the perfect person for the job.
“It reminds me of Harry Truman. He says we’re going to beat the Republicans and we’re going to make them like it,” said Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.). “Tim Walz is the kind of guy who will beat the Republicans and make them happy.”
Takano is in a good position to know.
As an interim member of the Veterans Affairs Committee in 2016, Takano was in line to fill that position permanently after former Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Florida) stepped down. amid a corruption scandal. In fact, the caucus rules provided for such a transition.
Instead, Walz accepted a challenge — a rare event in a caucus that heavily favors seniority — won the support of party leaders and knocked Takano out of the race.
“There was a fierce fight for the permanent role and I got significant support,” said Takano, recalling the episode eight years later. “But it was clear that leadership really wanted Tim. And I graciously stepped aside for the sake of unity.”
The dispute “was never bitter,” Takano emphasized, and Walz quickly offered an olive branch by bringing Takano in to help form the panel. The episode demonstrated not only the extent of Walz’s ambitions, but also his ability to rise through the ranks, maintaining good relations even with those he defeated on the way up.
Takano, who took on the ranking member position after Walz left Congress to lead Minnesota, said Walz paved the way for Takano’s advancement by lobbying other lawmakers on his behalf.
“This was only possible because Tim helped me close the deal,” Takano said. “And in that way I consider him a mentor.”
Former Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), who was chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee while Walz was a ranking member, recalled working well with the miner on the committee — but saw an ideological shift in Walz.
“Tim and I, just from a personal standpoint, got along really well. Yes,” Roe said, recalling Walz’s passion for addressing veteran suicide and veteran mental health.
“I noticed he took a sharp left turn when he became a candidate for governor,” Roe said.
Roe was surprised that Walz opposed a sweeping Department of Veterans Affairs reform bill, known as the MISSION Act, that former President Trump signed into law in 2018. The legislation was in part the result of years of work by the Congress to resolve 2014 Phoenix scandal. , Arizona, VA, where officials have been accused of maintaining secret waiting lists, with some veterans dying while waiting for appointments.
Walz, who was running in a competitive open primary for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination at the time, was one of 70 House Democrats to opposethe bill — and the only member of the Veterans Affairs committee to oppose it.
Walz said in a declarationat the time, he was concerned about the long-term financial sustainability of the bill and that it would “give the Trump administration the cover it needs to slowly privatize the VA.” Walz did not take the vote against the project lightly, he said.
Roe said that while Walz’s vote didn’t change their relationship, he “would have felt better if he had voted for and supported that bill,” given the committee’s long work on it.
“After watching how he’s governed, I assume that probably, you know, he was more liberal than I thought, which certainly didn’t show up until 2017, to me,” Roe said.
Before that primary, Roe noted, Walz faced different pressures in his competitive district.
“Your voting record exemplifies that, because you had to go home and explain your votes,” Roe said.
Indeed, although Walz was often a team player, he was also well aware of the delicate electoral challenges in his rural, red-leaning district, which led him to take a series of pragmatic positions that put him at odds with his colleagues. Democrats.
Despite his initial support for the Affordable Care Act in 2010, five years later he voted in favor of a bill to repeal the excise tax on medical devices. He later boasted that he had defied the Democratic National Committee’s advice not to talk about the health care law’s “warts.”
“I said, ‘I can’t do this, because it’s disappointing my constituents in so many ways,’” Walz said at an event, according to a clip posted by the Republican Governors Association when he was searchingthe government in 2017.
On environmental issues, Walz has received praise from the left for his initiatives as governor to sign and advance climate-related bills. But he got some low ratings from the League of Conservation Voters when he evaluated his votes in the House. He left Congress with a lifetime 75% rating with the group, being hurt by votes on items such as supporting the GOP-led forest management bill in 2015, opposing Obama-era rules to expand the of the Clean Water Act and being one of 25 Democrats will vote in favor of a proposal to weaken Clean Water Act protections against pesticide discharges in 2017.
Walz was also among 17 House Democrats who voted with the Republicans in 2012hold Eric Holder, Obama’s attorney general, in contempt of Congress for withholding documents related to the Justice Department’s Fast and Furious program, a failed crackdown on drug smuggling that led to the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.
Walz’s penchant for bucking his own party while in Congress helped propel him to five successful reelections in a traditionally Republican district that has been controlled by the GOP since his departure from Capitol Hill. Their victory in 2010 was especially notable: It was that year, just months after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, that Democrats lost 63 seats – and control of the House – in a landslide election that was largely a referendum on the Affordable Care Act. health signed by Obama. .
Walz, who voted for ObamaCare, survived the cycle – yet another example, in the eyes of his allies, of a unique political wisdom that practically defined his career in public service.
“He had to be an astute, capable and competent member of Congress to represent his constituents, while still seeking to hold firm on important items like the ACA. The ACA was the Big Kahuna,” Takano said.
“2010 eliminated a lot of Democrats – a lot of Democrats. But Tim was still standing… That exemplifies, I think, a tremendous ability to build trust with your voters,” he added.
“He is very frank. People pick it up. And it’s very difficult not to like him.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
