Coach Walz
Before I “expound” on anything else, let me give you my reaction to Vice President Harris’s choice of Governor Tim Walz as her running mate: “Welcome to the show, Coach”. The rally yesterday at Temple University in Philadelphia was a showcase of the “next generation” of Democratic power. First, Governor Josh Shapiro gave a powerful speech in support of the Harris-Walz ticket. It seemed clear that he was disappointed it wasn’t Harris-Shapiro. But it was also clear that he knew his duty to the “greater good” of the Party and America. He’s “all-in” to elect Harris and Walz to the White House, and he showed it.
Then Vice President Harris came out and introduced her choice for Vice President, Tim Walz. She gave a solid speech, outlining where Democrats want to go: to a future of freedom, not “back” to a past of restrictions and limitations. The slogan, “We Aren’t Going Back” sums up the whole thrust of her campaign.
And then we got to meet the Governor of Minnesota, dubbed by the media a “Happy Warrior”. (That’s the nickname for one of Minnesota’s favorite sons of the 1950s and 60’s, Senator and Vice President Hubert Humphrey). What’s not to like. He’s a farm boy who joined the National Guard and rose to sergeant-major and a hunter and fisherman who favors reasonable gun reform. He’s a twenty-year public school social studies teacher and state championship football coach, a Democratic Congressman who served a dozen years in a “purple” district, and the Governor who led the state response to the George Floyd killing. The Coach can do his own speech-making as well. He’s got “the touch”; he make his points, laughs with the crowd, and gets them “ready for the big game” on election day.
Game On
The Harris-Walz campaign made a strategic decision. While Joe Biden’s campaign was based on the existential threat to Democracy posed by Donald Trump, Harris-Walz has stepped back from that nightmare. They define their opponents not as dangerous, just “weird” and “out-of-date”, and define their goals as bringing more freedom to a diverse American society. It’s a positive campaign goal rather than a dark negative. It doesn’t mean that Trump is any less a threat, but it’s a positive contrast to the Trump Campaign’s, Steven Miller induced, nightmare of America.
It’s a powerful strategy, vote for us for the future, not against them for the past. And it only works with candidates for the future: Harris, Walz, and the rest of the strong Democratic ticket. Don’t be surprised when the Coach has us ready for the “big game” in November.
Deep Background
Looming in the background of the Trump Campaign are the radical conservative “think tanks”. Their goal is to establish not just the foundations of the second Trump Administration, but to literally change the course of the American experiment. Their view is that the essence of Americanism is in the core values of the Northern Europeans who settled on the North American continent. Any other cultures entering the United States need to “assimilate”, otherwise they contaminate the “Great American Melting Pot”.
The most recognizable of those “think tanks” is the Heritage Foundation, authors of “Project 2025”. That’s a 900 page step-by-step guide to “root out” the “evil of progressivism” in the American government and replace it with those loyal to the Foundation’s values. But another essential pillar of the radical-conservative movement is a small educational institution (with a decent cross country team) in the southern part of Michigan, Hillsdale College. Over the past decade, Hillsdale has gone from a conservative Christian school, to the single most important source of opposition to progressive government. They are a major supporter of home schooling, encouraging parents to get their students “out” of public school where they might be “indoctrinated” into a broader view of American society.
Proud Discriminators
Hillsdale takes great pride in refusing all forms of government educational aid. Their students can’t get guaranteed student loans, because the College wants no part of the Federal regulations that come from accepting those funds. So there are no diversity rules at Hillsdale, no Title IX regulations, no guaranteed equity requirements. Hillsdale doesn’t want to be diverse or equitable, they want their students to follow their ideology.
I wanted to know about the Hillsdale endorsed curriculum for American History a few years ago, “Project 1776” (to contrast with the “1619 Project”), so I got on their mailing list. I receive a constant stream of Hillsdale “surveys”, damning the actions of the current government. The latest is an attack on the Department of Justice, a “mirror image” of what Democrats accuse the court system as doing for Donald Trump. According to Hillsdale, heres’ what the DOJ does:
…Instead of protecting your God-given constitutional rights, the administration uses the Department of Justice to attack its political opponents…as well as Christians, parents, and anyone who dares to stand up for our constitutional liberties.
At the same time, with the help of the media it…
- Covers up a two-tiered justice system that violates your constitutional rights
- Hides the corruption of the ruling class
- Attacks those with traditional viewpoints.
What’s at Stake
When Vice President Harris talks about freedom, she’s talking about the freedom of a woman to control her own body, and the freedom of a person of color to succeed in American society. When Hillsdale thinks of freedom, they are thinking about the “right” to tell others how to act, what to do, and to stay “in their place”. Their “freedom” is the freedom to sustain a conservative Christian culture that doesn’t represent the majority of Americans. But who needs a majority of Americans, when there’s a majority on the Supreme Court, and with a potential Trump re-election, the “unitary executive” power to alter the American Government guided by “Project 2025”.
It’s what Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are standing against. It’s what’s really is at stake in the election of 2024. Either we move onto the future, or we are certainly “going back”, following the route planned out by Heritage and Hillsdale.
That’s America’s choice. And as Coach Walz would say, those folks who want to “go back” are just weird.
