Thursday, July 3, 2025
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Thursday, July 3, 2025

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MISCALCULATION: Kamala Harris’s Disastrous Tim Walz Pick Proves She Doesn’t Get Rural Midwestern Voters

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This is an opinion piece.

Wisconsin conservatives we know are giddily applauding the disastrous choice of Tim Walz because they think it helps Trump.

Kamala Harris’s bizarre vice presidential pick of pro-BLM, pro-illegal-immigrant, high-taxing, far-leftist Tim Walz only makes sense if you view it from a liberal point of view. But Harris fundamentally misunderstands rural, Midwestern voters, including independents, including those in our home state, the battleground of Wisconsin.

Many Democrats will vote for a person based on ideology or title. Ask any Democrat for a specific accomplishment of Kamala Harris, and they’re likely to focus on her identity (“first black-Indian-female, etc.!”) or her titles (VP, AG, DA.)

The Associated Press ridiculously gushed of Walz, “It would be hard to find a more vivid representative of the American heartland than Walz.”

Well, we live in the American heartland, and we beg to disagree.

Rural Midwestern voters are not going to vote for “Weird Walz” just because he’s a rumpled-looking ruddy-faced older white dude with a baseball hat and a drunk driving arrest. That’s insulting to those voters, and it’s frankly the only reason we can think of for why Harris picked the Minnesota governor – to court the flag-waving pickup-truck-driving white guy “deplorable” vote, or at least her stereotype of it.

You know, guys like we grew up with in rural Wisconsin who “cling” to their religion and their guns, according to Barack Obama, and have FJB signs in their front yards.

Yeah, Walz has the BIOGRAPHY – football coach, small-town teacher, National Guard service, that kind of stuff. But rural (especially male) Midwestern voters are motivated right now by the economy and the border, not identity politics, and Walz is absolutely terrible on both issues. They won’t vote for Walz because of his far-leftist ideology and the Biden/Harris economy. He’s not even remotely moderate. He’s a joke factory of liberal insanity, once saying he wanted to “invest in a 30-foot-ladder factory” because he opposes Trump’s border wall.

Fundamental to this misunderstanding by Harris is the fact that it’s not your father’s Minnesota anymore. Do Americans really want the “Minnesota experiment” to go nationwide? They won’t when they learn more about it.

Minnesota has been hijacked by radical one-party leftist rule, and that’s turned the state into California overnight. It’s also sent Walz on a leftist policy gorge fest (as opposed to, say, Tony Evers in Wisconsin, whose worst instincts have been constantly checked by the Republican-controlled Legislature.)

Why the Tim Walz Pick Is an Ideological Disaster

The Tim Walz pick will inevitably draw new attention to Harris’ tweet supporting a bail fund for Minnesota rioters. Even the New York Times has a story out reporting that, two days after George Floyd died, “with protests in Minneapolis turning increasingly violent, the city’s mayor, Jacob Frey, asked Mr. Walz to deploy the National Guard. Hours later, the city’s police chief submitted a written request for 600 troops. But it was not until the next afternoon that Mr. Walz signed an executive order allowing the Guard to assist cities.”

“It was obvious to me that he froze under pressure, under a calamity, as people’s properties were being burned down,” said State Senator Warren Limmer, a Republican, to The Times. The Times quoted a 2020 Minnesota then Republican-controlled Senate report on the riots:

“Governor Walz had the ability and duty to use force and law enforcement to stop criminal violence, but he did not. Governor Walz was not willing to do what was necessary to stop the rioting right away because he was having a philosophical debate about whether the use of force should be used to stop violence.”

If even the New York Times can’t bail Walz cleanly out of the issue, you know it’s going to be a problem.

For good measure, Walz mandated INDOOR masking and created a hotline encouraging Minnesotans to rat out their neighbors who ignored his draconian COVID-19 mandates.

“Some of the most progressive laws in Minnesota’s history were passed in the last two years,” Patch.com reported, in a story headlined, “What To Know About Gov. Tim Walz’s Controversial Tampon Bill.” It reported that Walz signed a bill to put tampons in boys’ restrooms. Yeah, that will play well among Wisconsin musky fishermen and Pennsylvania steel factory workers. Not. Heck, even in Minnesota he’s a lot less popular than the more moderate Amy Klobuchar.

Patch also reported that Walz helped make Minnesota a “Trans Refuge” state where, by law, Minnesota “cannot enforce an out-of-state court order that penalizes a parent or their child for seeking transgender-related procedures.

And then there’s the economy, including jacking up sales and capital gains taxes, which aren’t wildly popular positions with independents or the mythological forgotten men of the Midwest.

Minnesota voter Roger Ellingson, who is from the Walz demographic, went on Minnesota TV and advised, “He used to be what I’d call a middle-of-the-road Democrat. Now he’s a straight-up socialist.” That’s what one-party rule – and not serving in a somewhat red congressional district anymore – will do to you.

We’re not the only ones to notice this miscalculation. Intelligencer, no conservative site at all, responded to the Walz pick by questioning whether Harris understands the assignment – which we read as fraudulently flipping on her extreme liberal positions to move to the center, so she can win and jettison the centrist positions to eventually lead from the far-left. They’re practically begging her to have a Sister Souljah moment.

She initially looked like she might, tossing previous liberal positions overboard on fracking and abolishing ICE and lots of other crazy things. But then came Weird Tim Walz, reminding all of America that Harris is a radical.

Intelligencer called Walz “possibly the most liberal” governor in America, noting that his budget included a plan to give illegal immigrants free health care. This is no small change. Minnesota Reformer reported that “17% of Minnesota’s uninsured” are illegal immigrants, and the price tag for the health care expansion plan that includes them “is estimated to cost Minnesota about $8 million in the first two years and will jump to $100 million in the following two years as enrollment increases.”

They left out the fact that he also signed plans to give illegal immigrants FREE College tuition and driver’s licenses. Walz supported plans to make Minnesota a sanctuary state. He applauded governors for pulling their troops from the southern border.

So one of, if not the, most liberal governors in America is on a ticket with a woman named the most liberal senator in the U.S. in 2019 (the site just zapped its ranking, by the way, but we wrote about it at the time.)

In their cringe “White Dudes for Harris” Zoom call, also a clear attempt to pander to these rural voters, Harris and Democrats again proved they just don’t get what moves these folks. Weird Walz showed up and spoke glowingly about…socialism. He’s no Joe the Plumber.

“Don’t ever shy away from our progressive values,” Walz gushed. “One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.” Yeah, that will go over really well in Cadott. Or Hayward. Walz is like the Ryan Clancy of Minnesota (that’s our socialist here in the Milwaukee area, and he predictably was applauding Walz’s selection.) She’s got the socialist vote locked down!

They say a month is a lifetime in politics. Now a day is. Harris, in one fell swoop, perhaps ego over-inflated with the media hype boomlet, just reinforced the key conservative narrative against her – that she’s a radical in a Hillary-like suit. How did that work out for Hillary? The anti-police rioting in the cities didn’t help her. Reminders of Walz’s role in enabling that – we all remember when that police precinct burned – won’t help Harris either. Voters don’t like disorder.

It seems like Harris’s people were thinking Walz is a more coherent Biden substitute – you know sort of recreate, but flip, the ticket that won before. But Biden had roots in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a must-win state, and he initially seemed vaguely moderate (no more!) – or at least not as far left as the crazy wing, at least for those who remember the 1994 crime bill. We said INITIALLY.

The left wants to turn Kamala Harris into a female Barack Obama, but she’s got more in common with Hillary.

The younger, more eloquent Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania, was the no-brainer better VP pick for Harris, but, sickeningly, the pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat party would have gone in full revolt if she’d picked a Jew. Just saying it like it is.

Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Andy Beshear of Kentucky were also more moderate picks than Walz. Heck, even Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers – he with the milquetoast middle school principal Mr. Rogers-taking-off-his-shoes vibe – would have been a better pick than raging Tim Walz, unfettered from any Republican legislative check, who makes AOC look like a voice of reason. After all, Harris needs Wisconsin more than she needs Minnesota, which she’s likely to win.

Where are independents who don’t like Trump to go now? RFK Jr. dumped a dead bear in Central Park and picked a liberal running mate, and the stock market just tanked. It’s hard to see how Harris/Walz doesn’t nudge some of them back toward Trump/Vance – or at least spark memories of Trump’s economy. Who are the weird ones now?

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(The Center Square) – Josh Schoemann, the only Republican currently in the race for governor next year, is criticizing Gov. Tony Evers’ approach to the next state budget by comparing it to his plans in Washington County.

“In Washington County our budget cycle starts right now, and it’s not due until November. We will propose our budget goals to the County Board in the next couple of months. We will share ‘This is what we’re thinking.’ It gives them months of time to think those through, give us feedback, and [have] that kind of dialogue,” Schoemann explained in an interview on News Talk 1130 WISN.

Schoemann said that is far better than the approach Evers is taking again this year.

“That’s not how government is supposed to work,” Schoemann said. “It’s not the vision of the governor. It’s not the vision of any one person.”

Evers and the Republican legislative leaders who will write the budget have been involved in on-again, off-again budget talks this month. On Thursday, the governor’s office said those talks were off once again because of gridlock in the Senate.

“Ultimately, the Senate needs to decide whether they were elected to govern and get things done or not,” Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in a post on X.

Schoemann’s criticism of Evers is nothing new. He has long been a critic of the governor and has turned that criticism up since launching his campaign for governor.

But the recent criticism was also aimed at other Republicans who may jump into the 20206 governor’s race later this year.

“Nobody else in this race on the Republican side, being rumored to this point, has the executive leadership of skills and history to be able to show ‘This is how I’ve done it before, and here’s how we’ll do it Madison,’” Schoemann said. “The results in Washington County speak for themselves.”

Northwoods Congressman Tom Tiffany is also rumored to be looking to get into the Republican race. Before he went to Congress, Tiffany was a Republican lawmaker in Madison.

Businessman and veteran Bill Berrien is also on the short list of likely GOP candidates for 2026.

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(The Center Square) – Wisconsin budget negotiations have reached an impasse with both sides pointing fingers at the other in Wednesday afternoon statements.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said Republican Legislative leaders backed out of negotiations after he agreed to “an income tax cut targeting Wisconsin’s middle-class and working families and eliminating income taxes for certain retirees.” He said Republican leaders would not agree to “meaningful increased investments in child care, K-12 schools, and the University of Wisconsin System.”

Republican Assembly leaders said the two sides were "far apart. Senate leaders say Evers’ desires “extend beyond what taxpayers can afford.”

“The Joint Committee on Finance will continue using our long-established practices of crafting a state budget that contains meaningful tax relief and responsible spending levels with the goal of finishing on time,” said a statement from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Assembly Finance Co-Chairman Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam.

Evers said that there were meetings between the sides every day this week before the impasse.

“I told Republicans I’d support their half of the deal and their top tax priorities – even though they’re very similar to bills I previously vetoed – because I believe that’s how compromise is supposed to work, and I was ready to make that concession in order to get important things done for Wisconsin’s kids,” Evers said.

Senate Republican leadership said that good faith negotiations have occurred since April on a budget compromise.

“Both sides of these negotiations worked to find compromise and do what is best for the state of Wisconsin,” said a statement from Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, and Senate Joint Finance Co-Chairman Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green.

In early May, the Joint Committee on Finance took 612 items out of Gov. Tony Evers’ budget proposal, including Medicaid expansion in the state, department creations and tax exemptions.

Born previously estimated that Evers’ budget proposal would lead to $3 billion in tax increases over the two-year span.

Wisconsin Policy Forum estimated that the proposal would spend down more than $4 billion of the state’s expected $4.3 billion surplus if it is enacted.

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The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced it is investigating California for violating Title IX by allowing males to participate in female student sports.

“Title IX exists to protect women and girls in education,” said Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for Civil Rights. “It is perverse to allow males to compete against girls, invade their private spaces, and take their trophies.”

In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning males from participating in female student sports, and he has threatened to block California's federal funding for continuing to defy his order. With California facing deficits in the tens of billions of dollars each year, it's unclear how the state would offset any losses or pauses in federal funding.

Notably, California Gov. Gavin Newsom hosted conservative pundit Charlie Kirk on his podcast and told Kirk that he thinks it’s “deeply unfair” that boys are participating in girls’ sports.

When asked later at a press conference what this means for state policy, Newsom demurred, painting the matter as a marginal, non-issue not worth his time.

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Title IX was signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1972 to ensure that schools could not discriminate against female students. It requires they be provided with equal opportunities to engage in athletics, extracurriculars and education.

DOJ’s letter of interest says it is investigating whether California’s Assembly Bill 1266, which requires transgender-identifying students to be allowed to participate in sports consistent with their gender identities, violates Title IX.

“As a result of CIF’s policy, California’s top-ranked girls’ triple jumper, and second-ranked girls’ long-jumper, is a boy,” wrote the DOJ. “As recently as May 17, this male athlete was allowed to take winning titles that rightfully belong to female athletes in both events.”

“This male athlete will now be allowed to compete against those female athletes again for a state title in long, triple, and high jump,” continued the DOJ. “Other high school female athletes have alleged that they were likewise robbed of podium positions and spots on their teams after they were forced to compete against males.”

Should the DOJ find California is in violation of Title IX, it says it will “take appropriate action to eliminate that discrimination, including seeking injunctive relief.”

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