Tim Walz's "aww shucks" force field
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CHICAGO — Democrats are banking on Gov. Tim Walz's affable, everyman personality to shield against GOP attacks and even blowback over his own mistruths and exaggerations.
Why it matters: Republicans in Minnesota, where Walz has won two terms as governor, say his likability has long made it difficult to land attacks on "big blunders," including his response to looting and arson during some of the 2020 protests over the police killing of George Floyd.
- "An affable, authentic appearance gets you a long way," Amy Koch, a veteran GOP Minnesota strategist, told Axios. "That's just a reality of politics that people forget."
- "Governor Walz talks how normal people talk," a spokesperson said this week following questions about his imprecise description of the family's fertility treatment.
Reality check: The bar is going up. Every word from a VP Walz would be scrutinized on a higher level than a Gov. Walz.
Between the lines: While he remains relatively unknown, Walz is better liked than GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance, per a new AP-NORC poll.
- Walz also outperformed Vance on a range of authenticity and compassion questions in a new Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll.
Zoom out: Longtime Walz defenders argue his down-to-earth, say-it-like-it-is "Coach Walz" persona is genuine and driving his support.
- Minnesota state Sen. Nick Frentz (D), who's known Walz for 20 years, writes off the governor's verbal missteps as the "kind of slipups you and I make every day," and believes voters will too.
- "He looks like them, he talks like them and he acts like them," Larry Ceisler, a Pennsylvania-based public affairs executive, told Axios on Walz's relatability.
The bottom line: Frentz credits some of the goodwill on the deluge of former students and others who knew Walz pre-politics who have come out to vouch for him.
- Those testimonials will get an even bigger audience Wednesday night, with the lead-up to Walz's speech expected to include videos featuring people he taught as well as served with in the National Guard.
