A Decent Pick

Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her vice president and running mate.

Walz is a decent pick. That’s why I’m pleased and excited by this news.

I know it doesn’t sound like that because we often use the adjective “decent” to refer to a kind of baseline minimal acceptability. “He’s a decent guitar player” is not a rave review. “She’s a decent student” implies a report card full of B’s and C’s.

But here we’re talking about politics. And in the realm of politics, decency can seem extraordinary. I’m not talking about “civility” or mere politeness, but rather about what it can mean when basic decency and kindness are allowed to guide policy.

For an example of that, here’s one of my favorite Tim Walz stories from reading about this man over the past few days. This is from before he entered politics: “New Minnesota governor Tim Walz was a state champion football coach at Mankato (Minn.) West HS”:

When asked for a story from his life that exemplifies his calling to serve, Walz told the Minneapolis Star Tribune about something he took on himself while coaching at Mankato West:

Tim Walz was an enlisted soldier in the Minnesota National Guard in 1999 and defensive coordinator of the Mankato West High School football team. A student at the school, where Walz taught geography, wanted to start a gay-straight alliance.

This was three years after the president, a Democrat, signed a law forbidding same-sex marriage. Soldiers suspected of being gay in Walz’s own unit could be discharged from the military. But Walz … had seen the bullying some students endured and agreed to be the group’s faculty adviser.

“It really needed to be the football coach, who was the soldier and was straight and was married,” Walz said. In other words, he would be a symbol that disparate worlds could coexist peacefully.

Clearly, Walz was a coach who led for the sake of helping student-athletes.

That’s basic decency and kindness. In 1999, it was also extraordinary leadership and courage.

Walz realized he was in a position, as football coach, to help protect kids who were getting bullied. But I think he also realized that he needed, as football coach, to protect some kids from becoming bullies. He did both. That’s a more impressive achievement as a football coach than that state championship.

Walz got his BA from Chadron State College in Nebraska and his masters from Minnesota State. Trying to remember the last time we had a national ticket with no Ivy League diplomas attached. It’s refreshing and, I think, a very positive development.

Anyway, here are the first set of links I read today about Walz and what he might bring to the ticket and the nation:

Here’s the campaign’s introductory ad. But instead of embedding that video, I’m embedding this local news clip of the governor’s visit to the state fair with his daughter: