Hot Dish 7.26.24

By Rochelle Olson

In the wee small hours of this Friday morning, former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama endorsed VP Kamala Harris for president on Twitter/X. They’re proud of her and going to try to help her win. Watch it here or go read about why the AP took down its “fact check” about Sen. JD Vance and why your feed is full of memes about sectionals, cats and now Jennifer Aniston and Ella Emhoff, the stepdaughter of Harris, have entered the chat to defend those who have not borne children. Remember ten minutes ago when everyone was bored because this was going to be a rehash of the 2020 campaign with the same two guys?

Harris isn’t even the nominee yet, but she’s already feuding about debates as she accuses former President Donald Trump of backing out of the Sept. 10 engagement he had with President Joe Biden. Harris says she’s ready to do it.

Is Gov. Tim Walz going to be on the national ticket this fall? I don’t know, but we must prepare. Has anyone, for example, pondered which Saturday Night Live cast member would play him? From the current cast, Mikey Day, maybe, but if we could go back in time, I’d like to see John Belushi spin on Walz. Because you know Belushi would have taken it someplace twisted.

I’m also extremely curious about what sort of glow-up they’d give Walz for a national campaign. You can’t make him too slick or he will lose his brand, aka Midwestern everyman in buffalo plaid who doesn’t comb his hair. Surely the Harris campaign staff would have some tweaks of Walz’s appearance to spiff up his look. Remember when former Gov. Tim Pawlenty wanted to be the late Sen. John McCain’s VP, he started wearing a lot of foundation, heavy TV makeup to every event with a camera. Haven’t seen that yet from Walz, but he’s clearly been workshopping his self-promotional pitch on national TV.

To MSNBC’s Jenn Psaki, Walz said of the GOP ticket, “They see people less fortunate as scapegoats and punchlines for their jokes. We see them as neighbors.” He said Trump inherited $400 million from his father then proceeded to “fail at everything.”

And in a sure sign that he’s hoping to catch someone’s eye, Walz has woven in more of his personal story, talking about how he and his brother received Social Security survivor benefits because their father died when they were young. “I’m all for pulling yourself up by the bootstraps. We didn’t have any boots,” Walz told Psaki. “JD Vance gets none of that.”

Watch him with Stephanie Ruhle, standing up for cat people and telling us to “turn on” the internet.

There’s a new Twitter handle @WalzWarRoom with just shy of 1,400 followers. There’s a hashtag #WeWantWalz. Neither of these has gone too crazy; it’s still low-key as they’re calling him stuff like Midwestern Dad and the Midwest funcle. (a portmanteau of fun and uncle).

D.C.-based colleague Sydney Kashiwagi reports that Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus likes Walz and told reporters Thursday she wants him on the ticket. ”I like the things that he’s been able to do, I like that he’s from a rural town, I like that he’s got a military background,” Jayapal said. Asked about another potential VP Pick, Sen. Mark Kelly, of Arizona, Jayapal said she does not see “how you can put somebody in that does not have a strong pro-labor record.”

Study up and prepare for your non-Minnesota friends to start asking about Walz. You will, of course, tell them that he’s a veteran and that diet Mountain Dew is the hardest stuff he drinks. You will tell them he has a gentle giant rescue dog named Scout who waits on his return home and greets him on the lawn at the end of every day after hearing the security announcement on the house speakers that the governor is “ten minutes out.” You’ll tell them he has a rescue cat named Honey, and you won’t make more than one or two inappropriate jokes there. Public school teacher married to a fellow teacher. Football coach. IVF advocate. Father of Hope and Gus, both of whom went to public schools. Early supporter of legalizing gay marriage.

You can also send your friends this Walz commentary from the Center of the American Experiment. From the aftermath of the George Floyd murder to his handling of COVID-19 to environmental standards and taxes, John Phelan and Bill Walsh find little to celebrate with Walz. The writers conclude with, “Now that we think of it, promoting Tim Walz could be a really good idea. He couldn’t possibly do more harm to Minnesota in the relatively meaningless job of vice president.”

VANCE VISIT: The Republican ticket - Trump and Vance - swoops into Minnesota on Saturday for a rally at a St. Cloud hockey arena. Am I attending? Yes, I am. The Star Tribune will have a healthy contingent of reporters at the event. I’m curious to see how the two Republicans command an arena together, what’s their energy. Make sure to check in online or in print late Saturday and in your Sunday editions to see what colleagues Jenny Berg, Anna Colletto, Glen Stubbe and I put together. Until then, read about the many names that Vance has used in his lifetime.

JUSTICE CEREMONY: Justice Sarah Hennesy’s investiture took place at the Landmark Center. She’s been on the court since mid-May, but this was the public event with flag bearers and many bold-faced names from the federal bench to the district court and Minneapolis Public Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette. Hennesy was funny, warm and smart as she talked about how her parents, who were present, leaned “pretty hard into the 1960s” when the family moved from Australia to Iowa in 1974.

Hennesy said her dad would drive them to see the fancy houses in town and declare money to be the root of all evil. Her mom wore combat boots and sewed all her daughter’s clothes. They didn’t own a TV, but they had lots of books. All but stealing the show was Aksel Hennesy Newman, the justice’s 15-year-old son, who spoke eloquently and sweetly of his mother’s care and compassion in a fashion that would melt the heart of any parent. This won’t be the last time you hear his name. He can write. And speak in public to a high-brow crowd.

I, of course, wanted to know about the rituals that the new junior justice would face so I spoke to Justice Karl Procaccini, who was the rookie justice from October until mid-May. What I could glean was it involved knocking on a door to enter the courtroom and setting out coasters for some gathering, but nothing too onerous. Hennesy will only be the newbie for a few more days as the fourth Walz appointee, Theodora Gaïtas, steps up next week when Justice Margaret Chutich steps down.

WHERE’S WALZ:

No public events scheduled, but if you should find yourself missing him, please turn on your TV where you’re certain to find him.

READING LIST

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