I can't remember ever having a vice-presidential candidate that I can relate to more than Tim Walz. First, he is from Minnesota, where I came of age, attending high school at Shattuck School, followed by Gustavus Adolphus College, and finally, The University of Minnesota, Duluth. As an outsider from the Panama Canal Zone, I learned about these people and their friendly ways. There is such a thing as "Minnesota Friendly." I pondered why and concluded that they were descendants of a frontier people mainly from Scandinavia and lived in a place with winters that could get dangerous. Experiencing some of this weather for myself gave me a deep appreciation of why Minnesotans are how they are. They knew from pioneering days that if they did not look out for each other, their godforsaken winters would kill them all.
So many times, in my tropics-reared adolescent stupidity, I would put myself in danger of those extreme temperatures and be rescued by a Minnesotan who, rather than let me die from my stupidity, got me to someplace warm. What surprised me was there was no chastising, just calm, friendly advice about not going out when it is thirty below to hitchhike on an empty country road without proper winter attire.
Minnesotans don't dislike their freezing temperatures; they embrace them, and this makes them a hardy bunch. When Cindy and I moved to Duluth to start our lives together, she went to work at an abstract company and soon learned that complaining about the cold brought on swift rebukes. "This is Minnesota. What did you expect? If you don't like our winters, you should move." Eventually, we took that advice and moved to warmer Virginia.
So, I can relate to Mr. Walz being a Minnesotan, but that is not all. He was a social studies teacher, and so was I. Now, that draws me even closer to this fellow. You see, social studies teachers know there are two sides to an issue and practice presenting both sides without giving away too much of their beliefs. The job is not to indoctrinate. The job is to make young people think. And that kind of work not only enriches the minds of the youth, but it also enriches the soul of the teacher.
And then there is the China thing. He went to China and taught school. So, did I. He taught in Guangdong, and I taught in Hangzhou. It fits so nicely with the social studies motif. Here you have a country that went communist in 1949 and has been an adversary of the United States for decades. Now, with a more modern mixed economy, it has opened its doors to Americans, and while still a competitor to our country, they no longer consider us "foreign devils." A country like that would attract someone with a sense of history and social science. I learned a lot in China, as I am sure Mr. Walz did. Reports indicate he can speak some Mandarin. He is no doubt ahead of me on that one.
Kamala Harris was not my choice for candidate, but then my choices are rarely in the final rounds. She is the best choice in this contest by a long shot, and I think she added to her chances by putting Tim Walz on her ticket. At least she firmed up my vote.