Storm Lake Pilot Editor Art Cullen nailed it:
“Kamala Harris and the Democrats do well to have Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on their national ticket as the vice-presidential nominee. He’s rural, for real. Walz has broad appeal in Upper Midwest battleground states, is well-versed in the you-betcha vocabulary, and is well-suited in Carhartt with a camo cap. The blue brand can barely be peddled along the blacktops anymore. Still, somehow, Walz figured out a way to win a congressional seat in a red district around Mankato and, ultimately, the governorship. …”
Walz Voting Record
Proves he understands Rural America
Walz’s record shows that he served 12 years on the House Ag Committee and helped draft the 2008, 2014, and 2018 Farm Bills. He led the Subcommittee that oversees rural conservation and energy programs and worked for bipartisan legislation intended to protect grasslands from being converted by farmers into cropland.
Since becoming governor, he has worked to expand agricultural markets for Minnesota farmers and fund investment in agricultural research for enhanced productivity. He has also worked with Minnesota lawmakers to take advantage of USDA’s feeding programs so that school children don’t go hungry; they get free breakfast and lunch at Minnesota’s public schools.
Walz worked with Minnesota’s state government to approve a college financial aid program covering in-state public school tuition and fees for households earning less than $80,000 annually. Lawmakers also approved a $2.2 billion boost to K-12 education spending last year.
“Walz has consistently drawn support from labor, industry, consumer, and environmental groups for a suite of climate bills he’s signed as governor. Those include a law that mandates 100 percent clean electricity in the state by 2040, comprehensive energy permitting reform, boosting electric vehicles, and banning PFAS ‘forever chemicals.'” [Politico]
Essentially, every rural state needs these kinds of bills. Iowa and Illinois — the two states with the worst water quality of all, are particularly in need.
Electing a vice president who understands rural America and agriculture’s primary role has not happened since Harry Truman and Franklin Delano Roosevelt led this country.
As readers evaluate the many issues Politico tackles on Walz’s record, Politico notes that Walz “may bring rural appeal, but his policies reflect a progressive agenda.”
This makes me wonder. Why do journalism’s “experts” think that any government action benefiting families and their children is progressive, i.e., “progressive,” said with a tinge of sneer? Does the urban, coastal press think kids don’t get hungry in schools? As expensive as college is, family incomes are lower in rural America … do people feel that rural families’ kids shouldn’t go to college? And that rural residents like “forever chemicals,” many of them cancer-causing, in their water?
Essentially, rural families’ needs are the same as those of urban families, and rural voters (note that I am one) know when we get neglected by elected officials from faraway places. Walz understands this and has helped his state move forward instead of how Iowa’s Governor Reynolds has pushed her state backward. Rural America needs a hefty dose of “forward.” I can hardly wait!
POLITICO: Your Tim Walz policy guide: Where he stands on abortion, unions, energy and more