#balls to the walz

[abigailspinach]

Making people feel ‘joyful and hopeful’

Traditionally, running mates serve as attack dogs.

For the past six weeks of calibrated campaign appearances, Walz has been more emotional support animal for his party – whether, according to people who’ve been with them, that’s Harris feeling buoyed by his energy and vindicated by voters’ reactions to her pick (she was the one who suggested calling him “Coach” as they got ready for their first joint rally) or the voter who waited half an hour on a rope line last week for a fist bump and walked away squealing to a friend, “That’s all I needed.”

To Adrian Fontes, the Democratic secretary of state in Arizona, that’s the difference between what he calls the “machito” of the Republican ticket and true machismo, in a way that he believes will ripple well beyond the people who look and sound like Walz.

“Tim Walz epitomizes the Latino dad. He loves his family. He loves families generally. He’s got a good sense of humor. He’s warm. …. He’s just there to support, and he takes great pride in the success of others,” Fontes said. “‘Machito’ – it’s less mature. It has sort of to do with the big trucks and the loud music version of the Latino men. And there’s plenty of those guys out there, don’t get me wrong. But we grow out of that pretty quickly.”

Fontes said that distinction is reinforced by “the physical appearance that this is sort of a dad here who’s super proud of his daughter.”

Whatever Walz does, no one on his staff or Harris’ believes he can move the needle much during Tuesday’s debate, especially not with a line or two. More than anything over those 90 minutes in the CBS studio in New York, his aides just want him to keep giving off that feeling of joy and reassurance.

To Tim Ryan, the former Ohio congressman who was lauded for his performance in two 2022 debates against Vance in a Senate race he went on to lose, that’s the advice he relayed to Walz’s team without talking to his old House colleague directly.

“If I was Tim, I wouldn’t be the least bit intimidated by (Vance),” Ryan told CNN. “Just be who you are. Everyone is enjoying seeing you and seeing who you are. Just be that guy.”

[minnesotacore]

I saw this quote and was like, wait do people outside the Midwest even know about the twine ball???

It’s no longer the biggest ball of twine in the world, but the other balls of twine were more intentionally crafted and this one just kinda happened to one guy who really liked collecting string.

Here are some more pictures of it, including one with the twine collector himself, Francis A. Johnson.

The ball currently resides in a gazebo in Darwin Minnesota, where Johnson’s farm was, about and hour and a half west of the twin cities!

Also, Weird Al wrote a song about it and that’s pretty neat.

[tomorrowusa]

At The Center for Politics at University of Virginia, the Electoral Collage ratings for three states have changed this week. All three changes are more favorable for Democrats.

Georgia moves from Leans Republican to Toss-up

Minnesota moves from Leans Democratic to Likely Democratic

New Hampshire moves from Leans Democratic to Likely Democratic

These are the first ratings changes since Kamala Harris chose Tim Walz as her running mate. It would surprise me if Wisconsin did not move from Toss-up to Leans Democratic by the end of September.

As a born and bred Midwesterner I know that northwestern Wisconsin has vibes similar to adjacent parts of Minnesota. If there's a Tim Walz effect in the Midwest, it's likely to be felt there. One might also say the same about the Upper Peninsula of Michigan – but I'm not quite there yet.

In case you're not familiar with the UV Center for Politics Crystal Ball.

[myimaginaryradio]

Ball Of Confusion - The Temptations

[maxriderg]

To quote Vincent Martella as Phineas Flynn of Phineas and Ferb, once again as usual (but in my very own way): Fellers, I know what I just can't wait to share for Ray Chase's upcoming 37th Birthday by next Monday, complete with these and well, HAVE A VERY HAPPY EARLY 37TH BIRTHDAY TO the one and only, RAY CHASE (1987-present), Ladies and Gentlemen! ;)

[hiscursedness]

The my bals gif but inside the heart shaped locket is a picture of Tim Walz being goofy.

[qqueenofhades]

Not that anything's a for sure bet but my read on the general situation re: Harris-Walz is that there's going to be a lot less headwind to fight for Harris specifically as opposed to Clinton because the amazing right wing media hasn't had twenty years for poison to seep into the layperson's thoughts about Clinton's "worthiness"

Well, that and the fact that the MAGA crowd are just really, really bad strategic planners (especially since a solid 75% of their strategy is "lol we'll just cheat and win it that way, we don't need anything else.") They howled for 3.5 years about how Biden was too old to serve and should step down, and then when he did, they had zero plan how to run against Kamala and Trump is now practically begging Biden to magically get back into the race and save him. They ran an anti-Shapiro influence campaign by encouraging the antisemitic online left and planning to exploit the issue among Democrats divided on Israel/Gaza, then furiously melted down when Walz was picked and had no plan to deal with him either. Fascism is a helluva drug, kiddos. Don't try it at home.

The reason Harris has been able to rocket so high is simple, which is that she's channeling Obama 08 energy in more ways than one. Obama also came onto the national political scene four years before (with his speech at the 2004 DNC) and four years later, he was the party's nominee. It didn't even matter that he was a skinny brown guy named Barack Hussein Obama, because people were so tired of the chaos and war and incompetence of Bush Jr that they latched onto a simple message of hope and change and the historical nature of his candidacy felt like an optimistic risk worth taking. Why couldn't it be time for the first African American president? Yes, of course, there was incredible vitriol and we are still dealing with that backlash in some ways now, but still.

As I have said before, Trump is technically not the incumbent, but the last 8 years have been dominated by his hatred, chaos, division, rage, and treason in a way even Bush could never quite manage, and when people get to that point, there's a lot of coiled-up energy that has at last come bursting out. We needed Biden's old-moderate-white-man cred to defeat Trump as the sitting president in 2020, when most of his worst scandals hadn't even happened yet, but this is not 2020 (or 2016) and the dynamic is different. We are now on offense and playing to win, people have readily and eagerly embraced the absolute god tier karma that would come from a black female prosecutor finally ending the Orange Menace's reign of terror once and for all, and the Republicans are spitting smoke and spinning gears running frantically through their usual tired old stupid cliche attacks. GAY TRANS EVIL BIRTHERISM SWIFTBOAT FOREIGN FAR LEFT COMMIE LIBERAL HEATHEN!! they scream desperately, trying to find something that sticks. Except this time, no matter how hard the corporate media tries to help them out, nobody is listening. Nobody is buying it. We know exactly what BS they're trying and we're just shrugging and going "Yeah, no. Weird."

It absolutely helps that Kamala is not dragging the ball and chain of 20 years of Republican smear attacks, yes. But there are a lot of reasons why the GOP is imploding before our eyes and it's probably now more statistically likely that there is a blue tsunami than it is that Trump wins. I still cannot, CANNOT, believe it has been barely three fucking weeks. If this is a dream don't want to wake up, etc. Let me goddamn stay in this timeline just a little longer. And if we do the work, we can in fact make it that way, and Yeah. Yeah.

[brightlotusmoon]

Everyone knows Trump’s ego is fragile. Flatter him and he’s happy. Criticize him and he’s sad. To him, agreement with him is perfection. Disagreement is intolerable. He’s never wrong. He always wins. And he can be bought on the cheap, because his morals are cheap. A man like that, as Hillary Clinton said, can be baited, like a child, because he does not defer to any authority higher than his own immediate needs. (Over the weekend, he said, “I only like people who like me.”) His ego may be like the sun. The Republicans around him are pulled in by its gravity. But it’s a sun that’s always on the precipice of implosion. That is, after all, what happens when your self-worth is based on your success in dominating other people. The moment they resist, you’re worthless.

Trump seemed to dominate things pretty well as long as Joe Biden was in the running, and as long as the Washington press corps made a fetish of his age, thus obscuring virtually everything, including the fact that Biden’s presidency has been transformational. But now that the president is out of the running, Trump isn’t dominating anymore and, as is typical of people who must dominate or cry, he seems to want things to go back to the way they were or take his ball and go home.

[oppositionresearch]

Biden dropped out because progressives and young people complained. Harris picked Walz because progressives and young people complained. In my life I've never seen so many concessions to get us on board. We need to turn out like hell, donate like hell, volunteer like hell and turn this into an absolute blowout or we may never see this level of willingness to play ball with us again

[afloweroutofstone]

NBC cameraman dropped the ball on showing the Walz-Vance handshake smh. They're gonna take him out back later and shoot him

[mayasaura]

I don't post about politics much, but to anyone out there feeling anxious, apprehensive, or pants-shitting terrified about next week's American election: There is something you can do to help.

I signed up to phonebank for Harris today, because I'm honestly not sure I could live with myself if Trump won and I had done nothing to try to stop it. You're welcome to join me, if you want.

I'm not pressuring anyone. I know making phone calls sucks major balls, and I won't be disappointed or anything if anyone isn't up for it. But if this is something you can do, it will make a difference. All it takes is two hours, a phone, and some chutzpah.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Gideon Taaffe and Chloe Simon at MMFA:

Following Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, some in right-wing media are launching a desperate attack on Walz, claiming he misrepresented his role as a coach with his high school football team.   The attacks tried to minimize Walz’s role in taking a struggling high school football team to state championship by highlighting that Walz was a volunteer and bizarrely claiming he was “never a football coach” but an “assistant coach.”

The attacks on Walz, which started earlier this month, show how little right-wing media know about football

Walz accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president on Wednesday in a speech that highlighted, among other things, his role on the coaching staff at the high school where he taught. At no point did Walz claim to be head coach, and he even alluded to his role as a defensive coordinator in his speech, saying, “I wound up teaching social studies and coaching football at Mankato West High School. Go Scarlets! We ran a 4-4 defense, played through the whistle every single down, and even won a state championship.” [CBS News, 8/22/24]

Right-wing media had previously been attacking Walz for supposedly misrepresenting his coaching role, and then during the DNC, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump attacked Walz with the same claim. Right-wing journalist Raheem Kassam wrote on August 8, “Was Tim Walz even the head coach? Some records suggest otherwise” and called him “Water Boy Walz!” Newsmax’s Bianca de la Garza claimed the same day that Walz “was an assistant coach, a defensive coordinator, actually, not the championship-winning, banner-hanging head coach that the media wants you to believe he is.” Trump ally Laura Loomer posted, “Why is the media allowing this lie to continue? … He was an ASSISTANT COACH.” Then on August 22, Trump posted to Truth Social: “Walz was an ASSISTANT Coach, not a COACH.” [NBC News, 1/14/24; Twitter/X, 8/8/24; Newsmax, Prime News, 8/8/24; Twitter/X, 8/9/24; Truth Social, 8/22/24] 

SBNation: “Slamming Tim Walz’s football resume is a weird way to say you don’t know ball.” SBNation pointed out that defensive coordinators are essential to a team’s success, concluding, “We can disagree about a lot of things in the country. We can argue over how government is supposed to operate. We have to be united in giving defensive coordinators the respect they deserve.” [SBNation, 8/22/24]

Trashy right-wingers whine about Tim Walz’s coaching status.

[refblogsources]

Tim Walz is gaining confidence and getting the ball rolling, that's the speaker I trust and wanted to see during the debate.

[cemeterygrace]

balls to the walz should be a harris/walz campaign slogan. send tweet

[atwoodsfemalefantasy]

hey people! just a reminder that Vance quite literally said that he would willingly lie to Americans and make up a false story to feed them!

just a reminder that Trump has been convicted of actual real like rape!

just a reminder that Trump is a convicted felon!

Just a reminder that Trump dodged the draft and called vets "losers"!

Just a reminder that most of Trumps cabinet (aka the people HE CHOSE) aren't voting for him!

Just a reminder that project 2025 involves the government tracking women's pregnancies!

Just a reminder that Harris is pro ceasefire between Israel and Gaza (she can't call it a genoxide because Israel is our ally, and she can't risk upsetting them right now, but she CAN and IS calling for peace!)

Just a reminder that Trump mocked the disabled

Just a reminder that Harris came from a working class family and worked for what she has while Trump was always rich and had it handed to him!

Just a reminder that Trump sold his own modified Bibles, which is incredibly NOT GOOD CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOR PEOPLE

Just a reminder that Walz and Harris are both gun owners, so they are pro-gun, but they also understand the danger of guns, so they are pro-gun regulation! Walz feels this way because he fears for his kids' lives!

Just a reminder that Trump is a rapist. just thought i'd say it again.

Just a reminder that Harris is young! Trump is old as balls!

Just a reminder that Trump said he'd sleep with his own daughter if she wasn't his kid!

Just a reminder that Trump/Vance want to take away no fault divorce! mo fault divorce basically just protects women from their abusers! (but also allows for couples to divorce without financially harming the other, and to even get remarried if they wanted!)

Just a reminder that Trump made up a blatant racist lie! and Vance admitted it was a lie, yet kept on saying it!

Just a reminder that Trump made his hotel unusable for disabled people on purpose!

Just a reminder that if you're a woman, you might be republican, but if you value your life, you better be voting blue! even if you vote red again next election. (come on yall, take a page out of my conservative grandmas book. she's a republican, but she has the common sense to know Trump will steal her human rights!)

Just a reminder that Trump will make the rich richer, while Harris has been middle class and wants to help the middle class!

Just a reminder that Trump staged an insurrection. that's about as anti-American as you can get!

Just a reminder that abortion bans are unconstitutional, as the constitution demands a separation of church and state!

Just a reminder to all you transphobic queer people- once they come for trans people, they're coming for you! so stick by your own community damn it! stonewall was started by a trans black woman

Just a reminder to transphobic women that once they restrict trans women's rights, they're coming for ALL women's rights. this is only the beginning

Just a reminder that "Tampon Tim" should be a compliment, not an insult! what is so bad about helping women not bleed everywhere people??

Just a reminder that project 2025 brings back the draft (and guess who racist Trump and Vance will draft first! go on, guess!)

Just a reminder that you might not like Kamala Harris, but Trump is much worse, so settle.

Just a reminder that i saw a real Trump commercial that said (and i quote) "Crazy Kamala is for THEY/THEM. Trump is for you". i just think it's funny

Just a reminder that if you're mad Trump got shot, there's a very simple solution! it's called gun control, and it makes sure only people who are mentally stable and will use guns safely get guns! except yall have been calling it "taking away the second amendment"

Just a reminder that there is a goddamn genocide happening in Gaza. one candidate is a racist motherfucker who hates Muslims. one is a woman who wants a cease fire. go on, make that choice (look, again, Harris is not perfect on the Israel/Gaza thing but TRUMP IS A RACIST MF. HE WILL BE W O R S E!)

Just a reminder to women that we are STILL being ridiculed and not taken seriously because we don't have children. FUCK THAT THANK YOU

Just a reminder that Trump is a little bitch baby (or to quote my man Jack Antonoff a little bitch baby bitch muffin) who used AI to make Taylor Swift support him, and then when she released (a very polite actually) statement supporting Harris he was a little whiny bitch baby who tweeted "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!". you know, the way a competent grown up man does. not a kindergartner who had his little ball taken away.

Just a reminder to fucking vote. vote vote vote vote votevotevotevotevotevotevote! especially if you live in a battleground state! if you can't vote, get an absentee ballot. this is very important, and every vote counts.

Just a reminder that one candidate is an elderly, decrepit, extremely unhealthy, rich, military-hating, racist, rapist, pedophile, pervert etc etc etc etc.... and one is a woman liberals have a few problems with.

[bobcatmoran]

Walz refers to how the Trump-Vance ticket has said they don't know anything about Project 2025, "But as a football coach trust me, no one draws up a playbook unless they plan to use it."

"Is it weird? Absolutely?" *wild cheers*

He points out that former Trump administration folks are pointing out how bad this could be.

Walz leads a chant of, "We're not going back!"

And to go forward, we've got Kamala Harris! Man, Walz is such a good surrogate for her. Just pumping her up so hard.

"This is the part to save and send to your undecided family," Walz says, while making the sort of face you would make for anyone who is still undecided.

He outlines the Harris position.

"I haven't given a lot of big speeches like this, but I have given a lot of pep talks - It's the 4th quarter, but we're on the offense and we've got the ball. And boy do we got the right team!"

"Our job is to get in the trenches and do the blocking and the tackling. One phone call at a time. One door knock at a time. One $5 donation at a time. We've got 76 days, that's nothing. We'll sleep when we're dead."

He winds up leading the audience in a call-and-response of "When we fight" "WE WIN"

His family joins him on stage and his teenage sun Gus basically tackle-hugs him.

Glad I stayed up for this. Not sure I'll say the same in less than 8 hours, but. This was good.