Tim Walz touts being a ‘good neighbor,’ progressive values at DNC: ‘We’re all in this together’
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz emphasized the importance of being a "good neighbor" as he accepted the party's nomination Wednesday night, touting how his progressive values align with his past as a Midwestern high school coach and teacher.
Speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday evening to officially accept the nomination for vice president, Walz, who attends a church affiliated with the theologically progressive Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, circled a theme about what it means to be a good neighbor.
Growing up in a small town in Nebraska, he learned that the people living nearby "may not think like you do, they may not pray like you do, they may not love like you do, but they're your neighbors."
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"You look out for them and they look out for you. Everybody belongs, and everybody has a responsibility to contribute," he said. "We're all in this together."
As a former social studies teacher and football coach, Walz said his players and students inspired him to run for U.S. Congress in 2005.
"They saw in me what I had hoped to instill in them — a commitment to the common good and understanding that we are all in this together and the belief that a single person can make a real difference for their neighbors," he continued. "There I was, a 40-something high school teacher ... with zero political experience and no money, running in a deep red district. But you know what? Never underestimate a public school teacher."
Walz touted his record as governor of Minnesota, a position he has held since 2019 after serving for 12 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He said his time in office has made "a difference in our neighbors' lives" by advancing policies like paid family and medical leave, affordable housing, school meal programs, tax cuts for the middle class and abortion access.
"We made sure that every kid in our state gets breakfast and lunch every day. So while other states are banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours," Walz asserted. "We also protected reproductive freedom because, in Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make. Even if we wouldn't make those same choices for ourselves, we have a golden rule: mind your own d— business. And that includes IVF and fertility treatments."
He shared how he and his wife started their family through fertility treatments, saying such "freedom" is "what this election is about."
While promoting bipartisan efforts and loving one's neighbors despite differences, Walz also claimed that Democrats and Republicans are working under different definitions of "freedom."
"When Republicans use the word' freedom,' they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor's office, corporations free to pollute your air and water, and banks free to take advantage of customers," said Walz.
"But when we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love. Freedom to make your own healthcare decisions. And yeah, your kids' freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in the hall."
Walz also claimed that Trump will enact a national abortion ban if reelected president, even though Trump is on record as having said that he believes the issue should be left up to the states and had championed the GOP softening their platform's pro-life stance.
Touching on his decade-plus in U.S. Congress, Walz said he learned how to work across the aisle on issues such as "growing the rural economies" and taking care of military veterans.
"I learned how to compromise without compromising my values," he said.
Earlier this month, Vice President Kamala Harris selected Walz — a military veteran and a gun owner who represented a conservative Republican part of Minnesota while in Congress — to be her vice presidential running mate, having reportedly given serious consideration to Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Hispanic Evangelical leader the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez and Minnesota megachurch pastor and author Robert Ketterling issued a joint statement shared with The Christian Post earlier this month denouncing Harris' selection of Walz.
The Ketterling and Rodriguez statement called the Walz selection a "strategic blunder that could spell disaster for her campaign."
The two listed what they said were "five compelling reasons" why Walz "will tank Kamala Harris' presidential candidacy."
These included Walz being from a "deep blue" progressive state, his "open borders" position on immigration, his "widely criticized" response to the 2020 George Floyd protests, the lockdown measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic and his potential to alienate more moderate voters.
"By choosing Tim Walz, Kamala Harris has effectively alienated independent and moderate voters — an electoral demographic crucial for winning battleground states like Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, and North Carolina," wrote Rodriguez and Ketterling.
"Walz has signed laws restricting free speech for pastors, made derogatory comments about conservatives, and embraced socialism — all of which make him an unappealing choice for those in the political center. His lack of likability, often coming across as angry and on the edge of violence, only exacerbates his inability to connect with a broader electorate."
