What Kind of Liberal is Tim Walz?

And what it says about the Democratic coalition's prospects

This week Vice President Harris picked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, yet the immediate efforts to define him seemed to mutually contradict each other.  The contradictory response reveals much about the Democratic Party - and how it might build a winning identity.

Before Governor Walz was announced, there was already a pressure campaign from the far left for him to be the pick. Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal urged Kamala Harris to pick Tim Walz. Upon his selection, the Congressional Progressive Caucus released a statement saying that it “enthusiastically endorses” his selection.

MAGA also celebrated the pick, emphasizing that he was “dangerously liberal”. Senator Marco Rubio called his selection proof that the “lunatic left has completed its takeover of the democrat party [sic],” and former Trump campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, responded with glee on Twitter, “Tim Walz? What a Relief.” According to The Bulwark, the Trump campaign tried to undermine Governor Walz’s biggest competition for the job, Governor Josh Shapiro with opposition research that stirred up discontent on the far left against him, while not doing the same for Walz.

With both progressives and MAGA world celebrating his far “leftiness,” you would think the center-left would be deeply dismayed about the pick. Not the case. 

While there is some angst from folks like Nate Silver, Sarah Longwell, and Matt Yglesias that Shapiro would have been the wiser electoral choice and a stronger signal that Harris was pivoting to the middle, those folks did not hate the Walz pick. 

In fact, most of the center-left is loudly proclaiming their enthusiasm for him as a pragmatic centrist. The New Dems, a 100-Member coalition of moderates in the US House, celebrated that Walz is a “no-nonsense, down-to-earth, and authentic candidate” “that leads from the middle.”

Third Way proclaimed that he is “what America needs” with his bipartisan voting record and unusual, approachable background as a “gun owner, hunter and a former high school football coach.”

And our friends at Welcome Party extolled his centrist voting record, reminding us that he flipped a rural, red seat, then kept it blue by voting more centrist than 70% of Democrats for a decade.

How is it possible that both the far left and the center-left can be so genuinely excited about the Walz pick? 

It is because Governor Walz scrambles the traditional binary of far left and center-left. Understanding his flavor of liberal requires an updated framework for thinking about the types of liberals in the Democratic Party. 

While there are infinite ways to categorize Democrats, I think America’s geography provides a nice simplification of the three major wings of the party: West Coast liberals, East Coast liberals, and Middle America liberals. Of course, every type of liberal lives in each of these regions, but there is just enough cultural difference to make them useful proxies for understanding the various coalitions - and opportunities for collaboration. 

West Coast liberals represent the well-educated, social justice wing whose mission is to fight inequity wherever it may exist. They combine a California personal wellness vibe with skepticism of “the man” to produce a type of liberal that is high on personal moral conviction, but low on governing effectiveness. They are the ones that removed Abraham Lincoln’s name from an elementary school, softened penalties for shoplifting, and advanced “tolerant containment” of homelessness - primarily in the name of racial and social justice. They are passionate about enacting climate “justice,” but resist market-based solutions to do so. They want more affordable housing but tend to prefer rent control over permitting reform to build more housing stock. They are also deeply skeptical of American leadership in the world. 

Trump world is making a concerted effort to frame Vice President Harris - and Tim Walz - as this kind of liberal. “It’s no surprise that San Francisco Liberal Kamala Harris wants West Coast wannabe Tim Walz as her running-mate,” Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt recently said in a statement.

East Coast liberals also tend to be well-educated but are more “Type A,” and they channel those vibes in a more conventional direction. This liberal archetype includes policy wonks that read The Economist and promote economically efficient policies like free trade, carbon taxes, and supply side progressivism. They appeal to college-educated suburbanites who are comfortable with capitalism, especially if combined with limited, targeted regulations to ensure broader opportunity for the less fortunate. They are socially liberal, but in more of a “you do you” kind of way. And they still have enough faith in America’s values to defend them internationally, such as in Ukraine.

Tim Walz does not fit cleanly into either of these archetypes and, frankly, neither do most Americans. Walz represents Middle America liberals. These small-town and rural types do not share the cultural elitism or purist ideologies of either coast. They bring a kind and pragmatic approach to solving tangible problems for their neighbors. You might call them “Minnesota nice.” But that does not make them pushovers. They come from a strong tradition of liberals that are fierce advocates for the underdog, proudly champion American values, and have an enduring belief in the nobility of public service. That makes them strong allies of the labor movement and defenders of social rights. As Tim Walz has said multiple times, “In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule. Mind your own damn business.”

By being a Middle America liberal, Governor Walz bypasses some of the most fervent disagreements between the East Coast and West Coast liberals while enabling both to see themselves in him. Even though Walz is no social justice warrior, West Coast liberals see his generous school lunch and paid medical family leave as evidence that he is a “true progressive.” Meanwhile East Coast liberals see a pragmatic moderate who built a business friendly economy in Minnesota and called for a $4 trillion dollar deficit reduction package when he was in the US House. 

And therein lies the opportunity for Democrats. If West Coast liberals can eschew some of their most unpopular identity politics and East Coast liberals can dial back some of their cultural elitism, both can converge on a Middle America vision that prioritizes widespread economic empowerment. 

When pressed by CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview in July about whether his liberal policies such as universal gun background checks, free school lunches, and tuition-free community college for low-income Minnesotans might make him vulnerable to Republican attacks of being “too liberal”, Walz joked that he was, indeed, a “monster.” He said:

“Kids are eating and having full bellies so they can go learn, and women are making their own health care decisions, and we’re a top five business state, and we also rank in the top three of happiness…. So yeah, my kids are going to eat here, and you’re going to have a chance to go to college, and you’re going to have an opportunity to live where we're working on reducing carbon emissions. Oh, and by the way, you’re going to have personal incomes that are higher, and you’re going to have health insurance. So if that’s where they want to label me, I’m more than happy to take the label.”

Pragmatic, tangible policies that enable widespread prosperity is a powerful vision. The Harris-Walz ticket still has much more work to do to win over swing voters, but following the lead of a Middle America liberal might just be a winning strategy this November.