His biggest pep talk: ‘Coach’ Walz introduces himself to America with an impassioned speech

CHICAGO — In what was the most important speech of his political career, Gov. Tim Walz introduced himself to the nation as the son of the Midwestern plains and a high school teacher and coach.

He touted a message of personal freedom and swiped at the GOP.

“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,” Walz told a cheering crowd.

But he said Democrats’ idea of freedom is “freedom to make your own health care decisions, your kids’ freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot.”

In accepting his party’s nomination for vice president Wednesday, Walz also said “in Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the choices they make.”

Walz’s task on prime time at the Democratic National Convention stage was to introduce himself to large segments of the American public that doesn’t know him. An AP poll released Wednesday indicates that about 4 in 10 women don’t know enough about Walz to have an opinion of him, nor do about half of the nation’s Black voters and 40% of Latino voters.

So, before the speech, the convention ran a video of Walz as a child in his hometown in Nebraska and of his career as a teacher and coach in Mankato. It also featured the surprise appearance on stage of some of the former football players he coached at Mankato West High School. 

In a tribute to Walz and to Minnesota, John Legend and Sheila E. performed a cover to Prince’s “Let’s go Crazy” to energize the crowd before the governor’s speech. 

Walz also pushed back on GOP attacks on his 24-year career in the National Guard by highlighting a personal story — his status as a veteran and his experience as a hunter. He said he was a “better shot than most Republicans in Congress and I’ve got the trophies to prove it,” having won a shooting competition year-after-year among lawmakers. 

But he said a father’s first responsibility was to protect their children from the threat of gun violence in school. 

Walz represented the rural 1st Congressional District that leans Republican for 12 years before he was elected governor, a feat that increased his worth to Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee for president. 

Walz has said he had never used a teleprompter before he was tapped by Harris to be her running mate. But he had no trouble delivering a forceful — and relatively short by convention standards — speech to energized delegates waving “Coach Walz” placards.

“You’d never know it, but I have never given big speeches like this before, but I have given a lot of pep talks,” he said.

As Walz spoke of his family, his daughter, Hope, teared up and son Gus stood up, crying and overcome with emotion, telling those around him, “He’s my dad! He’s my dad!”

Several delegates shouted encouragingly “you are doing great.”

To those who know him, Walz is considered a folksy, fatherly Midwesterner and that image was nurtured by Democratic officials throughout the week.

“Let me tell you something. I love this guy,” former President Obama said of Walz during his convention speech Tuesday night. “You can tell those flannel shirts he wears don’t come from some political consultant; they come from his closet, and they have been through some stuff.”

And Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who gave the nominating speech, said “in Minnesota, we love a dad in plaid,” referring to the buffalo plaid shirt Walz favors.

“It was the truth, so it was good,” said Jules Goldstein, a delegate from St. Louis Park, of Walz’s address.

State Sen. Steve Cwodzinski, who is also a delegate, said, “I love that he said his (school) kids motivated him to run for Congress.”

Minnesota delegates Issac Winkler and Beatrice Schierer, who are both 17 and the youngest delegates at the convention, also said Walz delivered.

Winkler said, “Gov. Walz and future vice president Walz did not pretend to be anyone he wasn’t. I mean, to bring him on, they brought out his old football team. He’s just trying to show America who he is.”

“I thought he was amazing,” Schierer said. “He fired up the crowd and he showed the crowd his love for his family and his love for America.”

At the end of the speech, the cavernous arena slowly emptied. But members of the Minnesota delegation refused to leave, shouting “Coach Walz” and “DFL” and “Walz-Harris” for more than a half hour on a nearly empty floor.

Walz is the first Minnesotan to join a major-party presidential ticket since former Vice President Walter Mondale, who ran for president in 1984 and lost. Lyndon Johnson’s vice president, Hubert Humphrey, another Minnesotan, also lost his presidential bid in 1968.

Thursday morning, Walz made a long-awaited visit to the Minnesota delegation’s breakfast, saying “the eyes of the world are focused on this day” — not because Harris was going to give a decisive speech that evening but “because it’s the day the Minnesota State Fair opens.”

Walz also thanked the home-state delegates and officials for “wrapping your arms around us and our family” and “giving us the strength to do the job that was asked of us.”

At a delegation breakfast earlier in the week, Klobuchar joked about Minnesotans’ ability to reach the vice presidency, but no further.

“We’re the state where moms bounce their babies on their knees and say, ‘One day you can grow up to be vice president,’” she said.

Editor’s Note: Ana Radelat wrote this story for MinnPost.com. Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C., correspondent. 

This article first appeared on MinnPost and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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