4mo ago

For these voters, Tim Walz is a reminder of their dad - before they were lost to partisan division

www.independent.co.uk For these voters, Tim Walz is the dad they wish they had

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz embodies everything liberal women see in their own fathers – except for their political views. For some, it makes them hopeful but also very sad. Ariana Baio reports.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz embodies everything liberal women see in their own fathers – except for their political views. For some, it makes them hopeful but also very sad.

He’s got jokes, enthusiasm and a smiley face that’s not even remotely trying to hide how he’s feeling. He’s Tim Walz- and he’s bringing major Midwestern dad energy to the Democratic ticket.

At least that’s how many white women feel when they see Walz in videos, riding the Slingshot at the state fair with his daughter, signing legislation to give kids in Minnesota free lunches or tweeting about his pet cat.

It’s in stark contrast to what some see in their own fathers - who often have more conservative political views.

“He is silly. My dad used to be very, very silly and goofy,” Pamela Wurst Vetrini, a woman who recently compared Walz to her father, said in a viral TikTok video.

...

“A lot of us had moderate to conservative, educated, sensible fathers that we lost to Rush Limbaugh. That we lost to Fox News. That we lost to Donald Trump. And the cult of conservatism that has grown and grown and grown has driven a wedge between millennial woman and her father,” she said.

156 comments

I think Tim Walz is very important, because he shows that "regular," working class, middle aged men don't HAVE to be conservative. We don't have to believe in baseless conspiracy theories, we don't have to reject scientific evidence, we don't have to divorce ourselves from reality. We don't have to believe that vaccines are evil, that climate change is a hoax, or that the 2020 election was stolen. Maybe we don't agree with everything the liberals say and do, but that doesn't mean we have to go full ding dong and start listening to Joe Rogan and Ben Shapiro. There are other options and Tim Walz is representative of at least one of those alternatives.
- Not to mention that he shows that you can be both masculine AND change your mind about things. Even letting your children change your mind. Shocking!
  
  And being masculine while openly giving support to the less fortunate. Contrasting with the might-makes-right view that these alt-right "masculine" types subscribe to.
  
  That's a really important point. For some reason, many men think it's somehow a sign of weakness to be wrong about something, or to admit that someone knows more about something than you do. I think you look weak if you refuse to admit when you're wrong and double down on some ignorant position out of stubbornness.
- The fact that so many blue collar people are conservative when they could just as easily be liberals amazes me. Democrats are the ones who want unions, better environment, better labor rights, better working conditions, but somehow the conservatives are really good at lying and making propaganda.
  
  "Some reason"
  It's called a lack of scruples, and no conscience.
  One party is actually somewhat beholden to the values it espouses, so they can't do the kind of shit the right does without losing support.
  
  A large part of the issue is that the Democratic Party (and Labour in the UK, and the Liberals in Canada) really drank the third-way neoliberal koolaid in the 1990s and have done a poor job of speaking to the anxieties and concerns of the poor.
  The political right has talked to those anxieties, albeit in a dishonest, manipulative and disingenuous way, but they do talk to it and--not only do they talk to it, they deliver results. Again, dishonest, manipulative and self-serving results, but if you don't look to closely it looks like they're taking action.
  I'm hoping Harris and Walz mark a new era, but after witnessing Trudeau in Canada and Starmer in the UK continuing to make the mistakes of the 1990s, I'm not holding my breath.

Had a good friend of 30 years, tell me over the phone that my kids and I should be shot because I didn't immediately feel sorry for Trump being shot at.
I told him, "This is a direct result of pushing division, guns being able to be bought with amazing ease, and it will probably happen again."
He said, "I wish the same thing that happened to Trump to happen to you and your kids." and hung up.
Friendship over. I'm not being friends with anyone who wishes my kids to be killed.
- Yikes. The parasocial relationship people have with Trump is psychotic - this guy clearly felt like an attempt on Trump's life by a random nutjob was equivalent to an attempt on his own life by whoever is arguing with him.
- Even if it's hyperbole, it's still a shitty thing to say.
  
  When someone is telling you who they are, listen.
- That sucks. I hope that cloud has a silver lining for you, somehow.

I lost a few people to Fox News. Neighbors, in-laws.
Maybe lost isn't the right word. Those who tried to rebuild the relationship often start with accusations like "When will you wake up that the libs & immigrants are going to cause Armageddon?" Or some racist bullshit.
- i heard immigrant friends say that, they keep sending me links to x.com 🤦, far right media is a hardcore drug
  
  Send them links to xvideos.com
  
  I’ve seen that too. An immigrant saying the problem with U.S. are immigrants. I’m like “so when are you moving back?”
- It is loss. Grief is appropriate.
  
  Nothing is safe from Loss.

Walz is what I imagine my parents would be like if my parents had actually believed the moral lessons they taught me as a kid
- The probably did at the time. There must be something in the water, or after effects of leaded gasoline, or something.
  I am from norway so I only see this slow train wreck from the sidelines, but how the heck else can that wierd clown DT have a cult of personality. It boggles the mind.
  
  Usually the refrain is "you'll get more conservative as you get older".
  What they means is "... as you get more wealthy*".
  i.e. as in own their home, retire, etc.
  
  Propaganda is a hell of a drug.
  Add in a dose of fear, and baby you got a stew goin'
  Turns out 9/11 REALLY broke a lot of people's brains. Bin Laden would be loving this shit, because it was probably the most effective attack on a nation-state ever.
  
  This kind of right wing populism has sadly arrived here in Europe as well. Here in Germany we have the AFD which basically does the same thing.
  My mother, her boyfriend and my brother have sadly also fallen into the right wing disinformation trap, it really sucks, its like a thought virus.
  At least I still have my other half of the family whith which I can still have some political discussions where everyone enjoys doing it and its more about smaller details and how to turn the theory into practice.
- This is the thing that gets me the most... I'm like this because of you. Thanks, I guess?
  Maybe they should have been sitting right next to me and paying attention to every episode of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, and Sesame Street like I did. Seems like they could have learned a lot.
  Or I dunno, maybe I got lucky by not having a rapey children's (and later, youth) pastor who actually taught valuable lessons while the adults were being radicalized in the main sanctuary (ew, as someone who hasn't stepped into a church for anything besides weddings and funerals for 20 years or so, just typing that word feels gross).

My dad died to cancer four years ago. He was my hero. UNTIL he became a red hat wearing piece of shit. I was sad obviously, but it didn't hurt nearly as bad as it would have if he was still my dad. I lost all the respect I ever had for him.
- Yeah. The person I grew up with spent lots of effort telling me not to be lot the person he became overnight in 2015.
  Sucks to say, but the world will be a better place without him.

Yes!!!! I’ve already had it out with my dad who tried to diss Walz on his service record.

I haven't spoken to my dad since the pandemic when he rode the anti vaxxer bandwagon. He was also deeply into Trump, Putin and all that 5G spreading COVID conspiracy shit. At the time my spouse worked in hospitality and we were on the edge of our seats every day wondering if some douchebag customer would give us COVID. Eventually that's exactly what happened but of course that didn't matter to dad. I'm so tired of this extremist right wing ideology being normalised as a type of conservative - doesn't seem very family oriented to me when you beat your wife and alienate your traumatised adult kids.
- so tired of this extremist right wing ideology being normalised as a type of conservative
  The real truth that people don't like to admit is that this isn't a "type" of conservative. This is what conservatism is at its core.
  It literally exists to prevent progress, it's right in the goddamn name. They sure as shit ain't conserving the environment.
  It may express itself in different ways, but it's purely reactionary, and thrives on this kind of generational strife.
- My dad did this stuff too. My mom was going through chemo and he refused to take the smallest precautions like just wearing a mask. I don't think I'd ever been angrier in my life. I'm appalled by this kind of behavior, but maybe try to talk to him. You or your siblings (if you have any) are probably the only people who can talk him down. Also, life is short and anything can happen. Losing your father on your current terms would suck.
  
  Tried talking to my family. Only got more trauma. Am very happy when they die and I feel safe. Maybe some sort of compromise works for you but not everyone works the same.
- I think the idea many of these right wing people have about family is a very authoritarian one.

It’s difficult for Vetrini to see the rhetoric espoused by right-wing media and not feel hurt. Since going viral, Vetrini has been subject to vulgar and offensive comments from people who disagree with her perspective.
“Those comments are really hard to deal with, mentally. The hardest part is my dad feels the same way as these vitriolic commenters,” she said.
But she still recognizes the qualities in her father that remind her of Walz. Those are what keep her maintaining a “complicated” relationship with him.
After her TikTok went viral, Vetrini called her dad to tell him about it – hoping to hear it from her first rather than a news show.
“He responded exactly the way I would predict he would respond. Which was to remind me that socialism will ruin America,” she said.
- “He responded exactly the way I would predict he would respond. Which was to remind me that socialism will ruin America,” she said.
  Fucking Christ.

It's amazing to see how Walz is outshining Harris as far as the media attention goes. He's so good at making the case for his positions and striking back at the right in a way that anyone can understand and embrace. Hope the campaign takes a note from Walz' policy accomplishments, because that's honestly the only thing lacking still. If they just copy paste from Walz' Minnesota populist accomplishments, you'll see them winning in a landslide.
- Walz is what gives me hope.
  Harris taking up the candidacy was great. It felt good to be listened to but the hype wore off quickly as you realized that the party itself had not changed, only the face. She's also been quietly changing her stances on some issues, shifting around center right. The Biden-Harris administration does have its own achievements but it tends to feel like the rest of the Democrat party where you're voting more so for ideals which may or may not be implemented. Walz is more than talk though and it's not like he hasn't faced some of the same hurdles that other Democrats have either.
  Walz is entirely what keeps me from feeling like I'm just voting to keep Trump out right now.

I like the guy and everything, but can we cool it with the dad stuff? It's kind of weird. He's a politician.
- He’s also a father and a guy that gives off sitcom- dad energy.
  As opposed to Vance, who gives off HBO drama-distant father energy.
  
  I think he gives off Netflix True Crime creepy uncle energy
- How about: Can we cool it and just have a little fun? The dude is a dorky elder to most of us, and it’s kinda cute.
  
  Nah. A key difference between left and right is that the left doesn't worship their political candidates like the right does. That shit is weird.

He seems like a nice dude, I've met him at my uni once and he seemed cool for a politician, like genuine and not fake.

he's going to run for president in 8 years and we're going to have the old people problem again
- TIL 60+8=78

Does that mean we could lose T-Dubz to Fox News, too?

Partisan fucking division? Fucking partisan division?
Christ.
- Partisan division is when your dad wants to put immigrants in concentration camps and you don’t!

Yeah I heard the same thing on Internet Today.

Media Bias Fact Check | bot support

The deep longing so many people have for their lost fathers is really heart breaking.
Like, fuck. He's not your dad! Please stop trying to fill the hole in your heart with politicians and celebrities. Please go talk to a therapist about how your father abandoned you, or you lost him to right wing conspiracies, or how you miss him now that he's dead. Don't replace him with a guy you saw on TV! This isn't good for you and you're just going to get hurt.
- I mean, saying someone feels like the dad you could've had doesn't mean there's anything pathologic going on. They're just being wistful and pointing out that Walz is giving cool dad vibes.
  I think you're being a bit hyperbolic by suggesting these women have literally formed a parasocial father-daughter relationship with him in 3 weeks.
  
  Calling it pathological might be going too far, but it's heart breaking when someone talks at length about losing their father in the context of saying Walz reminds them of their dad. Whenever people elaborate it becomes clear there's something wrong.
  There's a broken and sick society that's producing all these people who are longing for their lost fathers and it's just. Heartbreaking.
- They aren't trying to fill the hole with someone else, they are just saying one person reminds them of how someone else used to be. They see how this one famous person acts and remember when their dad used to act that way. They aren't turning the famous guy into a father figure, but they are mourning the loss of their actual father figure. You are way over-analyzing what is being said here.
  
  And then they're choosing to materially support their new father figure, because he reminds them of their lost father.
  I've said it elsewhere, but at least they aren't giving him money.
- I see my father all the time but I still love what Walz is out there doing, because he’s the kind of dad that I try to be.

Reminds me of my dad in the sense that i get a bad vibe and i dont trust him to not beat me the second i raise a concern lol

This supports my theory that left wingers are often born out of households with weak or absent fathers
- So you're saying most father's that turned into MAGA fanatics were weak or absent when their children were young? I don't know how to interpret it otherwise.
- Lol alright Mr Freud, and right wingers are born out of a lack of unconditional motherly love, or what?
  
  Change it out for a lack of positive perspective for the future and you might even be right.
  Thats maybe why the empty promises work to begin with.
- Oh nice, so you're collecting evidence for a theory? I'm sure you've stated your formal hypothesis, and are devising a way to test it?
  Do you know what peer review journal you were going to submit it to yet? I'd love to read it when you're done.

Instead of all this garbage about 'dad energy' and whatever else PR nonsense is being pushed, why not focus on what he stands for or has tried to achieve in his career?
There's no hope for politics in America when both sides engage in this petty personality cultism.
- There's a ton of policy coverage re: Tim Walz. This article isn't about that, it's about a really common reality young people in the US face, where they have parents who have been brainwashed by right-wing media and who can't spend an afternoon with you without bringing up politics. I'm from a pretty conservative area and know this dynamic all too well. I think Tim Walz's personality is to be celebrated, and I don't see at all how this is "cultism" compared to what we see with MAGA
- It mentions what he achieved. How is this cultism?
  
  It's called projection.
- I've learned more about Tim Walz stands for in the last couple of weeks than I ever had before that, including when he was just in the running as VP. And every time I learn something knew about what he stands for, I get more impressed.
- You first. I'd love to hear some more about Tim Walz outside of his voting record / legislation he helped pass in Minnesota.
- This isn't cultism you goofball.
  
  It really is, American politics are all about personality and fanboying your chosen leader.
- Attachment figures that project wholesome vibes and safety and good times (silliness) are what every mammal wants unless they have somehow repressed that fundamental instinct. Maybe get in touch with your feelings and you'd understand.
  
  Yeah but that's how we got Trump. We shouldn't choose leaders based on vibes.
  
  How about you stop electing leaders based on vibes and maybe focus on what’s actually important?
- Because American voters are fickle, and unfortunately this is the shit people vote on. Vibes.
  Luckily, his record is also great apparently.
- Every accusation is a confession.
  
  Im confessing to looking at candidates stances and history over supporting them based on the energy they give off?
  . . . okay, is that meant to be a negative thing?
  You do understand I like this guy, right?

Goofy dad calling in the national guard on BLM protestors. Silly goose!
- Who's shocked?
  
  I AM shocked. The cropping of this screenshot is terrible.
  
  Lol yeah dismiss facts because you didnt like the instance I have a second account on.
  also lol keep lapping up the dem propaganda unquestioningly
- He waited to verify that there was a rioter and looter problem before calling them in. Explicitly so he wasn't calling them in on mere protesters, but looters who deserve it.
  
  Anything youre basing this on? To clarify: who deserved the terrorisation of the national guard and how did Tim Walz make sure they were targeted.
- If you actually listen to his recounting of the situation... Yeah, actually. I would say that the way he handled that was absolutely the way a (good) dad would.
  Including the bit afterwards where they tell you they were wrong for the initial overreaction, but they did it out of fear for your safety.
  But after actually listening to why you're mad, you talk it out and guess what? He recognizes that your anger is valid and opened a dialogue to help fix those problems.
  If that's not "great dad" energy, then I dunno what is.
  But let's not let actual facts get in the way of you pretending to be a progressive on the internet to make leftists look bad.
  
  Got any links because the search engines are cluttered with articles fact checking trump who keeps wanting to take credit for calling in the national guard.
  edit:
  If you actually listen to his recounting of the situation
  How can I if I only get downvoted with no replies? I'm not even arguing here just asking what it is that I haven't seen.
- the police state violently crushing dissent is actually good when it's done by someone who reminds me of my dad!
  
  two comments below yours:
  he made sure only those who deserved it got abducted from the streets
  sometimes daddy needs to put his foot down and disappear people I guess?

156 comments