How I "inspired" Tim Walz to run for office.

In most good plays there is a villain and a hero. In the theater of politics, it’s not always that easy to tell who is who.

**Update 8.14.24**

Since originally writing this post I have learned that I misspoke on several details. One of the students who was with Walz on 8.2.2000 reached out to me and very politely clarified that Walz was NOT at the ticket distribution and the incident of me asking him to leave was actually at the event on 8.4.2000. I am not surprised that I confused some of the details of something that happened 20 years ago. The rally at the gravel quarry was a logistical disaster so that is mostly what I remembered. A lot of people yelled at me that day, Tim Walz was just one of them. I still think he is a terrible Governor for lots of other reasons that everyone is getting to know lately.

“Right this way sir, we have a table on the other side of the tent,” I politely instructed the teacher with the two teenage students accompanying him. I was about to tell him to get out of here but did not want to do it in front of a crowd. Perception mattered, even before everyone had cameras on their cell phones.

It was a balmy August in southern Minnesota in 2004, and I was the State Director for the RNC’s ground game there. I had been here almost a month and realized that most people didn’t expect us to win the state but everyone wanted the Kerry Edwards campaign to waste money here fighting with us. I had simple instructions from up the food chain: “No protests inside our events. “Faulkner, you need to understand Karl will not be pleased if someone interrupts President Bush.” It was all I needed to understand. If Karl Rove wanted things to go smoothly I better make sure went smoothly.

We rounded the back side of the ubiquitous pop up tent found in almost any midwestern minivan or SUV and I looked at them with my best smile, “Time to go. This rally is a private event and you were, literally, here yesterday protesting President Bush.” 

It felt clever and politically calculated as I said it. Volunteers had pointed him out to me three hours previously and asked if we should ask him to leave. “No, let’s let him wait in line for a while…THEN I will throw him out.” Not one of the most mature decisions I have ever made but it seemed to be the right move during the partisan rancor of a Presidential race.

“What?!?," the teacher said in indignation, clearly giving his full Oscar performance of surprised outrage. “I am taking these kids to go see our President!,” he said with a boiling anger that almost would make you think he was surprised. “I am a 20-year Army veteran!,” he yelled, invoking the veteran moniker that makes most non-veterans back down.

“I am a Marine veteran and I could care less. You were out here yesterday with a sign protesting President Bush’s visit," I said. "You can leave now.”

(What happened next is a combination of curse words and maybe some minor shoving.)

“I will be back.” the deflated high school teacher said. “Political thug,” he muttered as he walked away.

I laughed, “Cool. I look forward to it.”

And 45 minutes later the self-righteous high school teacher was back with a TV crew and put on an impromptu press conference across the street from where we were handing out tickets for President Bush's forthcoming appearance. That pain in the ass was, then, just Tim Walz, High School teacher and Army veteran.

Two years later, Tim Walz ran for Congress repeating this story at campaign stops throughout rural Minnesota. It launched him on a 12-year run in Congress, two terms as governor of Minnesota and now the Vice Presidential pick for current VP Kamala Harris. 

I had my role to play. I was the political operative carrying out my responsibilities. Was I a mature political operative? Of course not. I probably didn’t need to make him wait so long just to be told “no”, he couldn’t come in.  I like to think I’ve matured a bit since then. 

The question is, did Walz learn anything from that experience like I did? 

His actions were calculated from the beginning of his career. He’s always been a climber.

He knew we would ask him to leave. He literally was standing outside our HQ the day before protesting. He brought those students as “cover”. Tim Walz will try hard to make you believe his adopted Minnesota nice attitude but he is a political operator at heart. He will play his part and he knows his role. The only thing that is “weird” about Walz is that people still buy his schtick.