{"id":2530637,"date":"2026-01-06T16:54:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T21:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-spectacular-failure-of-the-tim-walz-democrat\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T16:56:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T21:56:50","slug":"the-spectacular-failure-of-the-tim-walz-democrat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-spectacular-failure-of-the-tim-walz-democrat\/","title":{"rendered":"The spectacular failure of the Tim Walz Democrat"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-spectacular-failure-of-the-tim-walz-democrat%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2530637&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, once cast as a blue\u2011collar, working\u2011class bridge for Democrats and briefly the party&#8217;s 2024 vice\u2011presidential nominee, has seen his political standing collapse. Praised as an affable everyman who could appeal to white, rural, and Rust Belt voters, he failed to move key states, performed poorly in the vice\u2011presidential debate, and was criticized for awkward public moments. The exposure of the Somali day\u2011care fraud scandal tied to state agencies under his watch-most notably the Feeding Our Future case-forced him to abandon his bid for reelection and threatens his political future. Critics and some allies, including Kamala Harris in hindsight, suggested he wasn&#8217;t an ideal pick. The episode is presented as evidence that mixing populist appeals with cultural liberalism hasn&#8217;t won over working\u2011class voters and could complicate Democratic strategies heading into future midterms and 2028.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-rep-tom-tiffany-time-for-u-s-to-recognize-reality-by-recognizing-taiwan\/\" title=\"Exclusive\u2014Rep. Tom Tiffany: Time for U.S. to Recognize Reality by Recognizing Taiwan\">spectacular failure<\/a> of the Tim Walz Democrat<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2464205\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Before Gov. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tim-walz\/\">Tim Walz<\/a> (D-MN) became the first casualty of the burgeoning <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/minnesota\/\">Minnesota<\/a> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/minnesota-fraud\/\">day care fraud scandal<\/a>, he was supposed to be the reason white men and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >working-class white people<\/a> more generally might vote Democratic.<\/p>\n<p>Walz, who <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4406501\/tim-walz-drops-reelection-bid-minnesota-governor\/\">abandoned his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-nh-gov-chris-sununu-declines-senate-race-against-maggie-hassan\/\" title=\"GOP NH Gov.\u00a0Chris Sununu Declines Senate Race Against Maggie Hassan\">gubernatorial reelection bid<\/a><\/a> on Monday, was the Democratic nominee for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hunter-biden-defector-emails-pipeline-to-obama-admin-seen-as-currency\/\" title=\"Hunter Biden Defector Emails: &#039;Pipeline&#039; to Obama Admin Seen as &#039;Currency&#039;\">vice president<\/a> in 2024. He was billed as a dad&rsquo;s dad, an affable football coach, a fixer of trucks who was not afraid to get his hands dirty under the hood.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4408470\/utah-allows-ai-to-renew-medical-prescriptions\/\">Utah allows AI to renew medical prescriptions<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4407227\/califraudia-report-losses-250-billion\/\">&lsquo;Califraudia&rsquo; report puts state fraud, waste, and abuse losses at $250 billion<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4406585\/total-failure-tim-walz-drops-minnesota-reelection-mixed-reaction\/\">&#8216;Total failure&#8217; Tim Walz drops reelection bid to mixed reaction<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Instead, Walz was <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/3124341\/walz-worse-than-weird\/\">judged<\/a> by many voters to be as &ldquo;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/3113043\/aoc-progressives-walz-normal-compared-trump-vance-ticket\/\">weird<\/a>&rdquo; as he <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3171548\/the-view-hosts-hope-walz-calls-vance-weirdo-moron-vp-debate\/\">claimed<\/a> Vice President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jd-vance\/\">JD Vance<\/a> &mdash;&nbsp;then a freshman Ohio senator and junior partner on the 2024 Republican ticket &mdash;&nbsp;was. He, or at least his aides, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3206731\/trump-mocks-tim-walz-deleted-social-media-football-post\/\">bungled a basic football metaphor<\/a>. He didn&rsquo;t swing any of the competitive Rust Belt states into the Democratic column.<\/p>\n<p>The Minnesota governor bombed the vice presidential debate as badly as any candidate to make the stage since Ross Perot&rsquo;s 1992 running mate, James Stockdale. Former Vice President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kamala-harris\/\">Kamala Harris <\/a>appears to regret selecting Walz and wrote in her campaign memoir, <em>107 Days, <\/em>that he certainly wasn&rsquo;t her first choice.<\/p>\n<p>Harris makes clear she would have preferred former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, but thought he would make an already-diverse ticket too diverse in what could most charitably be described as a rare concession to cultural conservatism &mdash;&nbsp;or her own <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/3113043\/aoc-progressives-walz-normal-compared-trump-vance-ticket\/\">uncharitable view of the general electorate<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Walz was supposed to be a less threatening and ambitious version of Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), a heartland Democrat who could cut into President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a>&rsquo;s appeal with key demographics. Republicans were starting to peel away from her party&rsquo;s electoral coalition.<\/p>\n<p>After the election, Walz appeared on Gov. Gavin Newsom&rsquo;s (D-CA) podcast when the latter was exploring ways to win back voters their party had lost to Trump. Walz took the position that there was nothing that Democrats could learn from MAGA populists, who are fearful of the Minnesotan&rsquo;s manliness. &ldquo;I do think I could kick most of their ass,&rdquo; Walz said. While Newsom has since abandoned his feints to the center, Walz failed to impress in his efforts to get out of Harris&rsquo;s shadow.<\/p>\n<p>Walz&rsquo;s political failure suggests that populism wedded to cultural liberalism won&rsquo;t get the job done with rural and working-class voters. Minnesota shouldn&rsquo;t have been a remotely competitive state at the presidential level at all. It was the only one of the 50 states to vote against Ronald Reagan during his 1984 landslide victory. No GOP presidential nominee has carried Minnesota since Richard Nixon, then an incumbent president winning a 49-state landslide of his own, in 1972.<\/p>\n<p>Trump didn&rsquo;t win it either. Like New Jersey, the Gopher State has become the GOP&rsquo;s white whale in presidential elections. But Harris received 50.92% of the vote in Minnesota with Walz, the sitting governor, as her running mate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This was before the Somali day care scandal seemingly ended Walz&rsquo;s quest for a third term and possibly his whole political career. &ldquo;Walz will never live down the frauds committed under the watch of the state agencies within&nbsp;his jurisdiction,&rdquo; veteran Minneapolis-based conservative blogger Scott Johnson <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/take-my-governor-please-2\/\">predicted<\/a> before Harris had even settled on Walz as her running mate. &ldquo;By far the most notorious of these is the Feeding Our Future case.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>It isn&rsquo;t just Walz, of course. The coalition that elected New York City Mayor <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/zohran-mamdani\/\">Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, a socialist who did more to downplay his cultural progressivism in last year&rsquo;s elections than Walz ever did, wasn&rsquo;t exactly working class.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/take-my-governor-please-2\/\"><strong>HOW MINNESOTA&rsquo;S SOMALI FRAUD INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX STOLE MILLIONS FROM MEDICAID&nbsp;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Maybe none of this will matter in the midterm elections, when angry voters tend to rebuke the party in power. Suburban anti-Trump voters turn out reliably, while many Trump supporters stay home when he isn&rsquo;t on the ballot himself.<\/p>\n<p>But Walz-style Democrats could become an issue again in 2028. Walz himself doesn&rsquo;t want to risk it in Minnesota in what should be a fairly Democratic year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tim Walz collapses amid daycare fraud scandal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2659,"featured_media":2530638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP25239802686410_9832f2.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[32923,37326,4902,68630,36113],"class_list":["post-2530637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-democratic-party","tag-minnesota-politics","tag-opinion","tag-political-failure","tag-tim-walz"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP25239802686410_9832f2.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2530637"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2530641,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530637\/revisions\/2530641"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2530638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2530637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2530637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2530637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}