Tim Walz’s Holy Trinity of Normal

Joshua Green: “In a presidential campaign that’s become all about who’s ‘weird,’ Kamala Harris’ just-announced running mate on the Democratic ticket, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, comes across as entirely—almost suspiciously—normal.”

“That was my impression when we first met way back in 2005, when I wrote a profile of him during his first run for Congress. Even then, national politics was becoming so warped that ‘normal’ seemed like an exotic quality, and Walz exuded it…”

“Although the focus of my profile and much of the subsequent news coverage was on Walz’s military background, what stood out about his candidate skills as we traveled around Minnesota’s 1st congressional district was that he possessed a sort of Holy Trinity of Normal. As a coach, teacher and veteran he could talk to anybody about anything (even reporters!) and relate to them not as a grasping, needy pol angling for their vote, but as something like the opposite: an amiable guy you might meet at a barbecue who just happened to be running for the US House.”