Walz Is From Nebraska: This Small Town Girl Approves

No wonder I like Tim Walz so much

Friends, I had something totally different written for today. But then Vice President Harris chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate…

And I just couldn’t contain myself.

Over the last few weeks, as America has gotten to know Governor Walz, he’s impressed everyone with his easy style and his folksy dad humor. We’ve seen photos of him snuggling piglets and crafting sculptures of school buses out of butter. We’ve heard about his amazing background of public service – as a school teacher, coach, national guardsman, Congressman, and Governor.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz snuggling a piglet at the state fair.

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There’s a whole lot to like.

But I like him because he reminds me of home.

I grew up in Elkhorn, Nebraska – a small town not far from Omaha. In the last few decades, Omaha has sprawled to the west and swallowed my little hometown like an amoeba.

But when I grew up there, we were truly a small town.

There was a horse farm across the road; a feed lot down the hill. (You couldn’t go to the pool some days when the wind was blowing from the wrong direction because of that darn feed lot; I learned how to hold my breath while riding my bike past the lagoon.)

Your summer job choices were lifeguard, babysitter, ice cream slinger, or corn de-tasseler. Detasseling paid best.

I chose ice cream. I worked at Dairy Chef, where we served Buzzards rather than Blizzards. (I hear they’ve since been renamed as Storms, which is good marketing.)

Driving 30 minutes to Taco Bell was considered a treat. We happily drove 3 hours to championship football games. (We usually won.) Our haunts were “The Rocks,” “The Tree,” and the Kwik Shop.

If you grew up in a small town, this all probably sounds familiar. If you didn’t grow up in a small town, here’s what I think you should know.

When you grow up in a small town, if you want something done, you have to be willing to do it yourself. I mean that quite literally. Want the school to have an environmental club? Congratulations, you’re the founding member and first president. (True story.)

But you also have to be willing to be the ultimate team player. Whether or not you’re athletic, you’re probably going to have to play a sport at some point – if for no other reason than the team needs bodies to qualify, and refusing to play may ruin it for everyone else. Ditto for choir, and the school play. In my small town, there was always something you could do, and you were encouraged to do your best. Nobody would sugar coat it if you were terrible at something, but you always got points for trying.

(Maybe that’s why everyone I’ve ever known who grew up in a small town has an enduring capacity to be intimately involved in far too many things, coupled with a cheerful eagerness to pitch in when anyone asks them for pretty much anything.)

In a small town, you don’t have the luxury of a crowd to hide among. You get the community that you have; you learn how to make differences work. You learn how to resolve conflicts, see other sides, negotiate compromises.

And, perhaps most importantly, you learn how to put differences aside on Football Fridays.

As I’ve been watching Governor Walz make the rounds on the cable shows, slinging midwestern zingers with a smile – I’ve wondered what it is about him that’s so darn familiar. I’ve never met him. And I’d only seen him a handful of times before the past few weeks.

But this whole time, I just felt like I knew him from somewhere.

Now I know why.

Today I learned that, like me, Tim Walz is from small town Nebraska – just about an hour north of where I grew up.

And it made perfect sense.

I may not know Tim Walz personally, but I know who he is. He’s the wide-smiling Nebraska dad who will tell hilariously, intentionally bad jokes to put you at ease – and greet friends and strangers alike with the “farmer wave” as he drives by. (In case you’re not from Nebraska or Iowa, the farmer wave is when you lift your pointer and middle finger up off your steering wheel, while nodding at the person passing by. It’s obligatory.)

He’s the high school football coach who demands the best from the boys – both because he knows they need the discipline, and because they deserve the satisfaction that comes from doing hard things well.

He’s the small-town Nebraska boy who’s been to the big city, but never lets it get to his head – and sure as hell doesn’t let it define him.

He’s the neighbor that you respect because he’s honest with you just like he’s honest with himself. You might agree sometimes, and might disagree other times, but you always know where you stand.

In my little town, there was plenty of conflict. But there was also a sense of community spirit, and belonging, and a rough-around-the-edges Nebraska optimism that I truly long for.

I see that now in this ticket.

The email that the Harris campaign sent out this afternoon under Governor Walz’s cover was wonderful.

In it, he said:

“[I]t feels like the first day of school. America is smiling.

America is smiling, indeed.

Let’s get to work.

Small Deeds to Do for the Week of August 6, 2024

Here’s the part where – if you are so inclined – we roll up our sleeves and engage in what I like to call Action Therapy. Each Tuesday I share a few “small things” – usually a Small Thing to Read, a Small Event to Attend, and a Small Call to Make or Action to Take. You can tuck these actions into your week with ease – and know that you’re doing something today to make tomorrow better.

Small Event(s) to Attend:

Tonight – Rural Americans for Harris!

This was always going to be a great event, but now it’s going to be supercharged. Governor Tim Walz is scheduled to speak (and so far it looks like he will!). The guest list is amazing, and includes Jess Piper – the original Dirt Road Democrat. Link to join here.

Force Multiplier: H/T Robert Hubbell

Force Multiplier invites you to Zoom with Heather Cox Richardson and help turn out the vote in nine battleground states! Join historian Heather Cox Richardson, author of the popular Substack "Letters to an American," on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, from 7-8:00 pm ET . Donate and Register Here.  Note that the donation levels are suggested. All are welcome. Donations will support the America Votes/Force Multiplier Blue Surge Turnout Fund which funds initiatives by vetted grassroots groups in critical states.  Because we are anticipating a large audience, we ask you please send questions for HCR in advance here.   Zoom Link will be sent the day of the event. 

Women Wednesdays for Harris (8:30-9:30 eastern)

You answered the call; now it’s time for the next step. Come take action in coalition with Women for Harris at our new weekly Zoom space. Every Wednesday, now through the election, we’ll come together around the most urgent and effective ways you can take action. Let’s keep the momentum going until Kamala Harris is in the White House! Register here: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/657943/

Small Thing(s) to Read: Marc Elias’s take on Georgia and Jay Kuo’s Explainer on Musk’s PAC

These are both great, and short reads. First, read Marc Elias’s take on what is happening in Georgia here: Trump Reveals Plan To Subvert Georgia’s Elections

And then check out Jay Kuo’s excellent explainer on what Musk’s PAC is doing: Elon Musk’s PAC Is Harvesting Voter Data, by Jay Kuo

Elon Musk’s PAC Is Harvesting Voter Data

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