Tim Walz says ‘we wouldn’t be in this mess’ if it wasn’t for him and Harris
Tim Walz says ‘we wouldn’t be in this mess’ if it wasn’t for him and Harris
The former vice presidential nominee offered a blunt mea culpa on MSNBC.
Summary
Former vice presidential nominee Tim Walz criticized Trump for economic chaos while taking personal responsibility for the situation during an MSNBC interview.
"We wouldn't be in this mess if we'd have won the election — and we didn't," Walz told Chris Hayes. He called Trump the "worst possible business executive" and praised the Wall Street Journal's editorial criticizing Trump's tariff war.
Walz emphasized Democrats must offer something better, not just criticize Trump. Recently, he acknowledged a leadership void in the Democratic Party and admitted spending too much time combatting Trump's false claims about immigrants.
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Turns out holding back the things that work (like calling fascists "weird") while not breaking with some of Biden's unpopular policies was a terrible idea... who would've thought? At least Walz is honest enough to admit it. I doubt the DNC will let the social democrats like Walz or Bernie take the lead though... establishment dems would rather stand by and praise Reagan while Trump dismantles the constitution.
"Weird" alienated voters. It's an example of bad messaging that the dems doubled down on that made them lose.
They lacked a platform that promised anything but more of the same that Americans were tired of. They needed to present something new and hopeful, not just lob an insult that much of America identifies with. A suite of policies to help the working class attracts votes to your side. Calling your opponents weird attracts votes to the weird anti-establishment.
Weird plays into the republican's hands, and it annoys the hell out of me how the dems decided to throw the election to focus on petty insults that come off as compliments to most observers.
A part of the problem is that they didn't hold back on broken and alienating messaging like "weird". They should have focused on talking about what they can do for the people.
No, weird was a successful offensive attack on Republicans that was both popular and was great at making them get flustered and double down on their weirdness (which is itself an incredibly charitable way to describe their fascist policies)
Other messaging that was very popular
https://blueprint2024.com/polling/harris-poll-positive-message-8-8/
https://blueprint-research.com/polling/distance-biden-ads-message-test-10-15/
Progressive policies that a majority of Americans support
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How Trump and Harris Voters See America’s Role in the World
Majority of Americans support progressive policies such as higher minimum wage, free college
Democrats should run on the popular progressive ideas, but not the unpopular ones
Here Are 7 ‘Left Wing’ Ideas (Almost) All Americans Can Get Behind
Finding common ground: 109 national policy proposals with bipartisan support
Progressive Policies Are Popular Policies
Tim Walz's Progressive Policies Popular With Republicans in Swing States
Just because it flustered republicans doesn't mean it didn't alienate voters.
I agree with the rest of your message listing progressive policies that the majority of Americans support. That's the winning strategy.
This is the Clinton-era way of thinking. A losing campaign must have done everything wrong, and a winning campaign must have done everything right.
No, Clinton-era thinking is trying to fluster the Republicans without being concerned with alienating the voters.
Where's the proof that it alienated voters? The vox article has evidence voters received it positively
It alienated me and others like me that identify as weird.
You can't win the left while shit talking non-hegemonic personalities and preferences.
You don't find Republican policies that dehumanize immigrants, attack women's rights, and demonize LGBT rights weird? To put it as nicely as possible, fascist policies are weird
Why are you proposing that we be as nice as possible to fascists?
I'm not, I'm pointing out that even that miniscule amount of pushback during the campaign was well received. You seem to be the one opposed to even that
The Democrats are a controlled opposition, genuine opposition must come from grassroots organization and solidarity. Peaceful opposition backed by militant support is preferred, but I'm completely on board with revolution as well discussed by Franz Fanon
I'm not opposed to pushback.
I'm opposed to pushback that also pushes out queers and anyone that doesn't match the corporate/centrist definition of normal.
Pushback against the nazis, not against "weird".
Be weird and proud.
You were never going to vote for Dems anyways, you keep saying alienation but you have not provided any proof. The fact that your being flustered means it's actually working against Republicans, yes we know you are one.
I did vote for the dems.
"Weird" as an insult is fundamentally pro-centrist and pro-status-quo.
“Weird” alienated voters.
Oh? got any proof of that? Was your proof on fox news maybe? I saw plenty of articles praising it.
It alienated me.
Most queer people identify with the label "weird".
I also saw pro-corporate outlets praising it.
Oh see you said it alienated voters, plural.
What a ridiculous take.
I'm sure I'm not alone. America is a very pro-weird place.
Most queer people identify with the label “weird”.
OK. First of all, words can have multiple meanings. Like the word "screw" or "bark" or "current". We dont need to deprecate these multiple meanings in favor of just one. In conversation you pick the applicable meaning, and if you cant thats more a 'you' problem. I have enough problems of my own without taking yours on too. My use of the word doesnt affect you at all.
Secondly, I will stick with the normal usage that most people use. Language is an agreement between people around meaning, and the vast majority of the population doesnt agree that it has this new meaning. Sorry. Maybe in a few years "wierd" will have a more predominant meaning that you prefer, but today it does not, and again, even if it did, the word need not mean only one thing.
I also saw pro-corporate outlets praising it.
But it seems like your memories dont match your ability to show it now. Human memories are notoriously unreliable.
It alienated me.
If you simply dont like that the word means what it means because you wish another meaning was more dominant, then I have a hard time feeling like you've much of a right to be aggreived at anyone about that. But by all means, be alienated if you want to. Just dont expect anyone else to make your alienation into a thing. Cheers.
It alienated me.
Most queer people identify with the label “weird”.
That's fair actually. When I first heard it without context, I also felt kind of alienated by it.
I think you can be weird in good and bad ways, context matters in this case. I think it's fair to call out fascists for being "weird" in the sense that they are evil, crooked and - crucially - not relatable for the vast majority of voters. The "weird" thing is about the fascists not being "like us" - and thus very instinctively not trustworthy.
At the same time it's also possible to be "weird" in an individualistic, relatable and validating way. Most people have insecurities or fears on some level and accepting this "weirdness" can be validating and actually show likeness. I think it's very clear that Tim Walz didn't mean it like this.
He didn't call them weird out of the blue, but rather to sum up his other points about their unrelatable, evil behaviors. The message was something like: "The fascists are not real, believable people. They don't seem driven by everyday worries like us. They don't seem to have the same kind of feelings like us."
And I think that is actually exactly the message that wins elections in this political climate. Debating the issues is getting you nowhere if your opponent has no actual beliefs to debate against. Calling them out for being fake people with no actual beliefs is a better strategy.
Alienated which voters?
Me.